Conrad Veidt
Hans Walter Conrad Veidt (22 January 1893 – 3 April 1943) was a German actor best remembered for his roles in films such as Different from the Others (1919), The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), and The Man Who Laughs (1928). After a successful career in German silent film, where he was one of the best-paid stars of Ufa, he was forced to leave Germany in 1933 with his new Jewish wife after the Nazis came to power. They settled in Britain, where he participated in a number of films, including The Thief of Bagdad (1940), before emigrating to the United States around 1941, which lead to him having a supporting role in Casablanca (1942). From 1916 until his death, Veidt appeared in more than 100 films. One of his earliest performances was as the murderous somnambulist Cesare in director Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), a classic of German Expressionist cinema, with Werner Krauss and Lil Dagover. His starring role in The Man Who Laughs (1928), as a disfigured circus performer whose face is cut into a permanent grin, provided the (visual) inspiration for the Batman villain the Joker, created in 1940 by Bill Finger. Veidt also starred in other silent horror films such as The Hands of Orlac (1924), another film directed by Robert Wiene, The Student of Prague (1926) and Waxworks (1924) where he played Ivan the Terrible. Veidt also appeared in Magnus Hirschfeld's film Anders als die Andern (Different from the Others, 1919), one of the first films to sympathetically portray homosexuality, although the characters in it do not end up happily. He had a leading role in Germany's first talking picture, Das Land ohne Frauen (Land Without Women, 1929). He moved to Hollywood in the late 1920s and made a few films, but the advent of talking pictures and his difficulty with speaking English led him to return to Germany. During this period he lent his expertise to tutoring aspiring performers, one of whom was the later American character actress Lisa Golm.
121 acting credits · 2 directing credits
Acting · 121
Casablanca
1942
Napoleon
1927
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
1920
The Thief of Bagdad
1940
A Woman's Face
1941
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
1940
Nazi Agent
1942
The Man Who Laughs
1928
The Horror Hall of Fame: A Monster Salute
1974
Above Suspicion
1943
The Beloved Rogue
1927
Escape
1940
Contraband
1940
The Hands of Orlac
1924
All Through the Night
1942
The Spy in Black
1939
Different from the Others
1919
Whistling in the Dark
1941
The Many Faces of Dracula
2000
Vito
2011
Waxworks
1924
Eerie Tales
1919
Dark Journey
1937
The Last Company
1930
The Film in the Film
1924
The Indian Tomb, Part II: The Tiger of Eschnapur
1921
The Indian Tomb, Part I: The Mission of the Yoghi
1921
Under the Red Robe
1937
The Passing of the Third Floor Back
1935
Universal Horror
1998
Congress Dances
1931
Bella Donna
1934
The Other Side
1931
F.P.1
1933
Danton
1921
Das Geheimnis von Bombay
1921
The Head of Janus
1920
The Black Hussar
1932
Jew Süss
1934
Lucrezia Borgia
1922
Desire: The Tragedy of a Dancer
1921
Rasputin, Demon of the Women
1932
The Wandering Jew
1933
The Great Passion
1930
The Movie City of Hollywood
1928
Two Brothers
1926
Rome Express
1932
The Men in Her Life
1941
A Man's Past
1927
The Story of Dida Ibsen
1918
Wilhelm Tell
1934
The Last Performance
1929
Jettchen Geberts Geschichte. 1. Jettchen Gebert
1918
Around the World in 80 Days
1919
Opium
1919
Die Liebschaften des Hektor Dalmore
1921
Christian Wahnschaffe II: Escape from the Golden Dungeon
1921
Husbands or Lovers
1924
Fear
1917
Landstraße und Großstadt
1921
The Student of Prague
1926
The Wife's Crusade
1926
Jettchen Geberts Geschichte. 2. Henriette Jacoby
1918
Prostitution
1919
Wenn Tote sprechen
1917
The Chess Player
1938
The Ingmar Inheritance
1925
The Only Girl
1933
Es werde Licht! 4. Teil: Sündige Mütter
1918
Diary of a Lost Woman
1918
I Was a Spy
1933
Lady Hamilton
1921
Prinz Kuckuck
1919
Wilhelm Tell
1923
Laws of Love: Innocently Outlawed!
1927
Journey into the Night
1921
Prostitution II
1919
Colomba
1918
Tempête sur l'Asie
1938
Der Leidensweg der Inge Krafft
1921
Don Carlos und Elisabeth
1924
King of the Damned
1935
Patience
1920
The Flight in the Night
1926
Paganini
1923
The Man Who Committed the Murder
1931
Figures of the Night
1920
Should We Be Silent?
1926
The Count of Cagliostro
1920
Impetuous Youth
1926
Wahnsinn
1919
Opfer der Gesellschaft
1919
Christian Wahnschaffe I: Weltbrand
1920
Love is Blind
1926
Das Land ohne Frauen
1929
Peer Gynt - 2. Teil: Peer Gynts Wanderjahre und Tod
1919
Das Dreimäderlhaus
1918
Künstlerlaunen
1920
Evening – Night – Morning
1920
The Japanese Woman
1919
The Mexican
1919
The Merry-Go-Round
1920
Moriturus
1920
The Night of the Decision
1931
Nocturno der Liebe
1919
Die Augen der Welt
1920
Glanz gegen Glück
1923
Kurfürstendamm
1920
Die Nacht auf Goldenhall
1920
Die Okarina
1919
The Love Storm
1930
Manolescu's Memoirs
1920
Der Spion
1917
Der Weg des Todes
1917
People in Ecstasy
1921
Visual Effects: The Thief of Bagdad
2008
Not of the Woman Born
1918
Liebestaumel
1921
Le Comte Kostia
1925
Schicksal
1925
The Mystery of Bangalore
1918