Fritz Delius (28 September 1890 20 September 1966) was a German film actor and theater artist. He played leading parts opposite

Henny Porten Frieda Ulricke "Henny" Porten (7 January 1890 – 15 October 1960) was a German actress and film producer of the silent era, and Germany's first major film star. She appeared in more than 170 films between 1906 and 1955. Biography Frieda Ulrick ...

and

Fern Andra Fern Andra, Dowager Baroness von Weichs (born Vernal Edna Andrews, November 24, 1893 – February 8, 1974) was an American actress, film director, script writer, and producer. Next to Henny Porten and Asta Nielsen, she was one of the most po ...

in several silent films. After the advent of

talkies A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...

he shifted his focus to theater. When

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

came to power and several restrictions began to be imposed on Jews, Delius emigrated to Switzerland where he continued his theater and film career.

Biography

The actor Fritz Delius was born on 28 September 1890 as Friedrich Wilhelm Diamant in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. He made his theater debut in 1909 at the

Meiningen Court Theatre The Staatstheater Meiningen (State Theatre Meiningen), also called the Meiningen Theatre, is a four-division theater in the Thuringian town of Meiningen, Germany. The theater was founded in 1831 and was called ″Meininger Hoftheater″ (Meiningen ...

and later acted frequently at the Reinhardt theaters in Berlin and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. When the production of

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

s began during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Delius started his film acting career. He played the leading actor opposite actress

in several films. Some of his early films include ' (1915), ' (1916), ' (1917).

was another actress opposite whom he starred in several films. He was also credit as writer of two films ' and ' (both 1916). He also acted in the 1930 Spanish language film '. Some of his successful films include ' (1920), ' (1920), ' (1921), ' (1924) and ' (1925). He also starred in the silent film ''

The Women House of Brescia ''The Women House of Brescia'' (german: Das Frauenhaus von Brescia) is a 1920 German-language silent film directed by Hubert Moest. The film's alternative name was ''The House of Pillory''. The film was considered highly controversial for the de ...

''. It was rejected by the

British Board of Film Classification The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC, previously the British Board of Film Censors) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of f ...

. After talkies began to be produced in Germany he acted in only one film ' (1930). In the historical film ' (1920), Delius played the character of

Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Versa ...

. In the 1920s Delius turned more to the theater and then worked for many years with the Theater in Der Josefstadt in Vienna. He later received an engagement at the Comedy in Basel. In 1938, because of his Jewish origin he left Germany and moved to Switzerland where he continued his theater and film career. He died on 20 September 1966 in Basel.

Selected filmography

* '' The Prisoner of Dahomey'' (1918) * ''

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'' (1920) * ''

Lotte Lore ''Lotte Lore'' is a 1921 German silent film, historical film directed by Franz Eckstein and starring Erna Morena, Alfred Abel, and Margarete Schlegel.Bock & Bergfelder p. 1 Cast In alphabetical order References Bibliography * External link ...

'' (1921) * '' Louise de Lavallière'' (1922) * ''

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'' (1931) * ''

Madness Rules ''Madness Rules'' (German: ''Matto regiert'') is a 1947 Swiss crime film directed by Leopold Lindtberg and starring Heinrich Gretler, Heinz Woester and Elisabeth Müller.Fritsche p.31 It is based on the 1936 novel of the same name by Friedrich Gla ...

'' (1949)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Delius, Fritz 1890 births 1966 deaths German male film actors Male actors from Berlin 20th-century German male actors Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Switzerland German male stage actors German male silent film actors