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Conrad Veidt
From Outcyclopedia, the free and queer encyclopedia. Conrad Veidt was a German bisexual film actor. He was born Hans Walter Conrad Veidt on 22 January, 1893 in Berlin, though he later claimed to have been born in Potsdam, a fallacy which still turns up in articles about him. Veidt attended secondary school in Berlin, graduating last in a class of 13 without a diploma in 1912. Soon after, he managed to get a part in a production of Shaw's "The Doctor's Dilemma," and quickly became a regular favorite on the Berlin stage. Veidt was drafted into the German army six months after the outbreak of World War I and sent to the eastern front, but was hospitalized with jaundice soon afterwards. Continuous bouts of ill health eventually lead to his being declared "unfit for active duty." Discharged in 1916, he returned to acting on the Berlin stage. That same year he appeared in his first film, Der Weg des Todes ("The Road of Death"). Three years later he appeared in the film that made him an international star, Das Kabinett des Doktor Caligari, released in the United States in 1921 as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Cesare, the hypnotized sleepwalker who ventures out to commit the murderous commands of the evil doctor, was the first in a long line of villainous screen roles for Veidt, including the title role in Der Januskopf, F.W. Murnau's version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Veidt's first marriage, to silent screen actress Gussy Holl, lasted only four years, ending in 1922. He married his second wife, Felicitas Radke in 1923, and with her had one daughter, Viola. Divorcing Felicitas in 1933, Veidt that same year married his third and last wife, Ilona Preger, whom he called "Lily." Lily was Jewish, and while he does not seem to have officially converted, Veidt from then on listed his religion as "Juden" when checking into German hotels or filling out official forms and papers. Veidt also led a secret gay life and was a frequent visitor to Berlin's gay bars and nightclubs. The same year that Veidt did Caligari, he also appeared in Anders als die Andren ("Different from the Others"), a film sponsored by the Institute for Sexual Science which advocated greater tolerance for gays and the repeal of repressive anti-gay laws in Germany and other countries. In 1926 he appeared in the second film version of Hanns Heinz Ewers' The Student of Prague, a tale which combined elements of both Faust and The Picture of Dorian Gray. At the invitation of John Barrymore, Veidt traveled to America with his wife and one year old daughter to film The Beloved Rogue in 1926. This led to a three year stay in the US, during which he completed three more films, including Abel Gance's classic Napoleon (1927), in which he played the Marquis de Sade. Perhaps Veidt's most well-known role during this period was in The Man Who Laughs (1928), in which he played a man horribly disfigured by having his mouth cut into a macabre, permanent smile. Batman creator Bob Kane later credited this film character as the inspiration for the Caped Crusader's arch-nemesis, the Joker. Veidt's English was limited at the time, and when talking pictures made their debut in 1929, he returned with his family to Germany. Veidt continued to make films in Germany, Britain, and France. His popularity in the States proved still sufficient enough for him to be considered before Bela Lugosi for the title role in Dracula. His career and life underwent a major change shortly after Hitler's rise to power in 1933. Veidt had just completed a sound remake of his 1923 Wilhelm Tell and accepted a role in the British film Jew Süss (aka Power), when he was detained by the Nazis because of his anti-Nazi opinions and his marriage to a Jew. While initial inquiries brought the official statement that he was "too ill to travel," diplomatic protests on the part of the studio which had hired him eventually led to Veidt and his new wife Lily being allowed to make the journey to Britain, while his daughter and second wife Felicitas relocated to Switzerland. He was immediately blacklisted and labeled an "unperson" in Germany, and his films were banned. Anders als die Andren and indeed the entire library of the Institute for Sexual Science were burned. Veidt would never see his homeland again. In 1940 Veidt and his wife braved the risk of attack by German submarines to travel to the United States with a copy of his film Contraband, which he planned to show in the States as a means of raising funds for the British war effort. While there he accepted a starring role in the anti-Nazi film Escape, and this led to a second Hollywood career. Among his most famous roles during this time were as the evil magician Jaffar in The Thief of Bagdad, Torsten Barring in A Woman's Face, and Nazi Major Heinrich Strasser in Casablanca. Together with other ex-patriates, Veidt organized the European Film Fund to assist members of the theatrical and film industries who had come to Hollywood fleeing Nazi occupied Europe. For this and other acts on behalf of the war effort, he received numerous awards and certificates. Shortly after completing Above Suspicion in 1943, Conrad Veidt was playing golf on the Riviera Country Club course in Los Angeles on 3 April when he suffered a sudden and fatal heart attack. Because of his status in Germany, his death was not reported there until after the war's end in 1945. His daughter and second wife only learned of it from a radio report. The once internationally renowned star soon faded into obscurity, and today is still known mostly to fans and scholars of classic films. Select Filmography, per IMDB Entry External links: The Conrad Veidt Society OFFICIAL Home Page Internet Movie Database - Conrad Veidt Entry revised 19 January, 2005. All text is available for use under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (see Copyrights for details). DISCLAIMER: This is not an adult site, and does not contain any pornographic images or material. Any references to sex or other adult material or behavior is made from a purely academic standpoint. Images used on this site are credited whenever possible, and any whose copyright status is in dispute will be gladly removed or credited upon request. Not all persons listed on this site are or were openly homosexual, but reasonable conclusions about their sexuality may and has been made from diaries, letters, and other writings and accounts made by them and/or those who knew them. Several others are heterosexual and are included here for the impact, whether positive or negative, they have made on queer culture and history. |
