Herman Bing (March 30, 1889 – January 9, 1947) was a
German-American
German Americans (german: Deutschamerikaner, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. With an estimated size of approximately 43 million in 2019, German Americans are the largest of the self-reported ancestry groups by the Unite ...
character actor
A character actor is a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014, "..a breed of actor who has the ability to b ...
. He acted in more than 120 films and many of his parts were uncredited.
Biography
Bing was born in
Frankfurt am Main
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
, Germany.
He was son of the opera singer Max Bing (1865-1919) and Frieda Seckback (1869-1939), and brother of actor Gustav Bing (1893-1967), Clara Bing (1895-1976), and Erna Bing Swarzchild. He was married to Carla Lichtenstein and had one daughter.
Bing began his career at the circus, at age 16, and vaudeville showing comedic talent.
In 1921 he made his film debut in "Ciska Barna, die Zigeunerin".
He was production chief of several films in Germany before he went to America, in 1923, with director
Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau
Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau (born Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe; December 28, 1888March 11, 1931) was a German film director, producer and screenwriter.
He was greatly influenced by Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Shakespeare and Ibsen plays he had seen at th ...
as Murnau's interpreter and assistant director. He also worked under John Ford and Frank Borzage, before establishing himself as a successful character actor well known for his wild-eyed facial expressions and thick German accent.
He
provided the voice for the Ringmaster in
Walt Disney
Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
's ''
Dumbo
''Dumbo'' is a 1941 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The fourth Disney animated feature film, it is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl, a ...
'' (1941). The start of World War II in Europe caused all things German to be unpopular with audiences. His German accent was no longer in demand in the years following World War II. He became increasingly depressed in the mid-1940s, as he was unable to secure work in Hollywood, and committed suicide by gunshot in 1947.
Selected filmography
* ''Ciska Barna, Die Zigeunerin'' (1921)
* ''
4 Devils
''4 Devils'' (also known as ''Four Devils'') is a 1928 American silent drama film directed by German director F. W. Murnau and starring Janet Gaynor. It is considered to be lost.
Premise
The plot concerns four orphans (Janet Gaynor, Nancy Drex ...
'' (1928)
* ''
Married in Hollywood
''Married in Hollywood'' (1929) is an American musical film. The only footage known to survive is the final reel, filmed in Multicolor, held by the UCLA Film and Television Archive. The film is based on two Oscar Straus operettas.
Plot
A show ...
'' (1929) as German Director
* ''
A Song of Kentucky
''A Song of Kentucky'' is a 1929 American lost Pre-Code romantic drama film produced and distributed by the Fox Film Corporation. It is an early sound film with full dialogue. It was directed by Lewis Seiler, and stars Lois Moran and Dorothy Bu ...
'' (1929) as Jake Kleinschmidt
* ''
The Three Sisters'' (1930) as Von kosch
* ''
Show Girl in Hollywood
''Showgirl in Hollywood'' is a 1930 American pre-Code all-talking musical film with Technicolor sequences, produced and distributed by First National Pictures, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. The film stars Alice White, Jack Mulhall and Blanche ...
'' (1930) as Mr. Bing – Otis' Assistant
* ''
Men Behind Bars'' (1931) as Lawyer
* ''
Women Love Once
''Women Love Once'' is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film directed by Edward Goodman and written by Zoë Akins. The film stars Paul Lukas, Eleanor Boardman, Juliette Compton, Geoffrey Kerr, Judith Wood and Marilyn Knowlden. The film was rele ...
'' (1931)
* ''
The Great Lover'' (1931) as Losseck
* ''
The Guardsman
''The Guardsman'' is a 1931 American pre-Code film based on the play '' Testőr'' by Ferenc Molnár. It stars Alfred Lunt, Lynn Fontanne, Roland Young and ZaSu Pitts. It opens with a stage re-enactment of the final scene of Maxwell Anderson's ' ...
'' (1931) as A Creditor
* ''
Westward Passage
''Westward Passage'' is a 1932 American pre-Code drama film directed by Robert Milton and starring Ann Harding, Laurence Olivier, ZaSu Pitts and Irving Pichel. The screenplay concerns a woman who falls in love and marries, but soon discovers ho ...
'' (1932) as Otto Hoopengarner – the Dutchman
* ''
Flesh
Flesh is any aggregation of soft tissues of an organism. Various multicellular organisms have soft tissues that may be called "flesh". In mammals, including humans, ''flesh'' encompasses muscle
Skeletal muscles (commonly referred to as mu ...
'' (1932) as Pepi – Headwaiter
* ''
Hypnotized
Hypnosis is a human condition involving focused attention (the selective attention/selective inattention hypothesis, SASI), reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion.In 2015, the American Psychologica ...
'' (1932) as Capt. Otto Von Stormberg
* ''The Plumber and the Lady'' (1933 short) as Otto Mauser
* ''
The Nuisance'' (1933) as Willy
* ''
Dinner at Eight'' (1933) as Waiter
* ''
My Lips Betray
''My Lips Betray'' is a 1933 American pre-Code musical comedy film directed by John G. Blystone and starring Lilian Harvey, John Boles and El Brendel.Solomon p. 343 The film's sets were designed by the art director Joseph C. Wright.
Plot
In ...
'' (1933) as Weininger
* ''
Footlight Parade
''Footlight Parade'' is a 1933 American pre-Code musical film starring James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell and featuring Frank McHugh, Guy Kibbee, Hugh Herbert and Ruth Donnelly. The film was written by Manuel Seff and Ja ...
'' (1933) as Fralick
* ''
The Bowery
The Bowery () is a street and neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The street runs from Chatham Square at Park Row, Worth Street, and Mott Street in the south to Cooper Square at 4th Street in the north.Jackson, Kenneth L. "Bo ...
'' (1933) as Max Herman
* ''Fits in a Fiddle'' (1933 short) as Heinrich Mickelmeier
* ''
College Coach
''College Coach'' (UK title ''Football Coach'') is a 1933 American pre-Code drama film starring Dick Powell and Ann Dvorak. The film features John Wayne in his last bit-part role.
Plot
Calvert College begins taking football more seriously, over ...
'' (1933) as Prof. Glantz
* ''Trimmed in Furs'' (1934 short) as Engles the Lodge Owner
* ''
Mandalay
Mandalay ( or ; ) is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. Located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631km (392 miles) (Road Distance) north of Yangon, the city has a population of 1,225,553 (2014 census).
Mandalay was fo ...
'' (1934) as Prof. Kleinschmidt
* ''
Melody in Spring
''Melody in Spring'' is a 1934 American pre-Code musical film directed by Norman Z. McLeod and written by Benn W. Levy, Frank Leon Smith, and Jane Storm. The film stars Lanny Ross, Charlie Ruggles, Mary Boland, Ann Sothern, George Meeker, and ...
'' (1934) as Wirt
* ''
I'll Tell the World'' (1934) as Adolph
* ''
Manhattan Love Song
''Manhattan Love Song'' is a 1934 American pre-Code film directed by Leonard Fields.
Plot summary
Although sisters Geraldine and Carol Stewart live luxuriously in a Park Avenue apartment in New York City, their money has run out due to some ...
'' (1934) as Gustave
* ''
Hide-Out
''Hide-Out'' is a 1934 American pre-Code comedy, crime, drama, romance film directed by W. S. Van Dyke and starring Robert Montgomery and Maureen O'Sullivan. It also features a young Mickey Rooney. The film was nominated for an Academy Award f ...
'' (1934) as Jake
* ''
Embarrassing Moments'' (1934) as Bartender
* ''
When Strangers Meet
''When Strangers Meet'' is a 1934 American drama film directed by Christy Cabanne and starring Richard Cromwell, Arline Judge, and Lucien Littlefield. It was released on July 20, 1934.
Cast
* Richard Cromwell as Paul Tarman
* Arline Judge as Ru ...
'' (1934) as Mr. Oscar Schultz
* ''
The Merry Widow
''The Merry Widow'' (german: Die lustige Witwe, links=no ) is an operetta by the Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt t ...
'' (1934) as Zizipoff
* ''
Crimson Romance
''Crimson Romance'' is a 1934 American drama film directed by David Howard (director), David Howard and written by Milton Krims and Doris Schroeder. The film stars Ben Lyon, Sari Maritza, Erich von Stroheim, James Bush (actor), James Bush, Willia ...
'' (1934) as Himmelbaum
* ''
Love Time'' (1934) as Istvan
* ''
The Mighty Barnum
''The Mighty Barnum'' is a 1934 film starring Wallace Beery as P.T. Barnum. The movie was written by Gene Fowler and Bess Meredyth, adapted from their play of the same name, and directed by Walter Lang. Beery had played Barnum four years earlier ...
'' (1934) as Farmer Schultz
* ''
The Night Is Young
''The Night Is Young'' is a 1935 American romantic musical film starring Ramon Novarro and Evelyn Laye. The film is based on a story written by Vicki Baum and directed by Dudley Murphy.
Plot
When ballerina Fanni learns that the Vienese archduk ...
'' (1935) as Nepomuk
* ''
The Great Hotel Murder
''The Great Hotel Murder'' is a 1935 American mystery film directed by Eugene Forde and starring Edmund Lowe, Victor McLaglen, Rosemary Ames and Mary Carlisle. It is based on ''Recipe for Murder'' a 1934 story by Vincent Starrett.
The film stars ...
'' (1935) as Hans
* ''
The Florentine Dagger
''The Florentine Dagger '' is a 1935 American film noir mystery film directed by Robert Florey.
The film numbers among the first Hollywood movies in which psychoanalysis is a significant factor in the story.Smith, Richard Harland"The Florentin ...
'' (1935) as Baker
* ''
The Misses Stooge'' (1935 short) as Sazarac the Magician
* ''
In Caliente
''In Caliente'' (also known as ''Viva Señorita'') is a 1935 American romantic musical comedy film directed by Lloyd Bacon, starring Dolores del Río and Pat O'Brien. The film was written by Ralph Block and Warren Duff. The musical numbers wer ...
'' (1935) as Florist
* ''
Stage Frights'' (1935 short)
* ''
Calm Yourself'' (1935) as Mr. Sam Bromberg
* ''
Don't Bet on Blondes
''Don't Bet on Blondes'' is a 1935 American romantic comedy film.
Plot summary
When top Broadway bookmaker Odds Owen (Warren William) loses $50,000 on a horse owned by Everett Markham (Clay Clement), he investigates and finds out that the horse ...
'' (1935) as Prof. Friedrich Wilhelm Gruber
* ''
Every Night at Eight
''Every Night at Eight'' is a 1935 American comedy musical film starring George Raft and Alice Faye and made by Walter Wanger Productions Inc. and Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Raoul Walsh and produced by Walter Wanger from a screenplay ...
'' (1935) as Joe Schmidt
* ''
Call of the Wild'' (1935) as Sam
* ''
Redheads on Parade
''Redheads on Parade'' is a 1935 American musical film directed by Norman Z. McLeod and written by Don Hartman and Rian James. The film stars John Boles, Dixie Lee, Jack Haley, Raymond Walburn, Alan Dinehart and Patsy O'Connor. The film was ...
'' (1935) as Lionel Kunkel
* ''
His Family Tree
''His Family Tree'' is a 1935 comedy film directed by Charles Vidor.
Plot
Patrick Murphy, is a former Boatswain and fondly called Bosun. He is retired now, and owns a pub in Ireland. Down hearted because he hasn't heard from his son in Americ ...
'' (1935) as Mr. 'Stony' Stonehill
* ''
Three Kids and a Queen
''Three Kids and a Queen'' is a 1935 American drama film directed by Edward Ludwig, written by Samuel Ornitz and Barry Trivers, and starring May Robson, Henry Armetta, Herman Bing, Frankie Darro, Bill Burrud and William "Billy" Benedict. ...
'' (1935) as Walter Merkin
* ''
1000 Dollars a Minute'' (1935) as Vanderbrocken
* ''
Fighting Youth'' (1935) as Luigi
* ''
Rose Marie
Rose Marie (born Rose Marie Mazzetta; August 15, 1923 – December 28, 2017) was an American actress, singer, comedian, and vaudeville performer with a career ultimately spanning nine decades, which included film, radio, records, theater, night ...
'' (1936) as Mr. Daniells
* ''
Slide, Nellie, Slide'' (1936 short) as The Hot Dog King
* ''
Tango
Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...
'' (1936) as Mr. Kluckmeyer – Tango Hosiery
* ''
Laughing Irish Eyes
''Laughing Irish Eyes'' is a 1936 American comedy film directed by Joseph Santley and written by Olive Cooper, Ben Ryan and Stanley Rauh. The film stars Phil Regan, Walter C. Kelly, Evalyn Knapp, Ray Walker, Mary Gordon and Warren Hymer. Th ...
'' (1936) as Weisbecher
* ''
The Great Ziegfeld
''The Great Ziegfeld'' is a 1936 American musical drama film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and produced by Hunt Stromberg. It stars William Powell as the theatrical impresario Florenz "Flo" Ziegfeld Jr., Luise Rainer as Anna Held, and Myrna L ...
'' (1936) as Costumer
* ''
The King Steps Out
''The King Steps Out'' is a 1936 American light comedy film directed by Josef von Sternberg based on the early years of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, known as "Sisi" or "Sissi", and her courtship and marriage to Franz Joseph I of Austria, after ...
'' (1936) as Pretzelberger
* ''
The Three Wise Guys
''The Three Wise Guys'' is a 1936 American drama film directed by George B. Seitz, written by Elmer Blaney Harris, Elmer Harris and Damon Runyon, and starring Robert Young (actor), Robert Young, Betty Furness, Raymond Walburn, Thurston Hall, Bruc ...
'' (1936) as Baumgarten
* ''
Human Cargo'' (1936) as Fritz Schultz
* ''
Blackmailer'' (1936) as Dr. Rosenkrantz – Coroner
* ''
Adventure in Manhattan
''Adventure in Manhattan'' (UK title: ''Manhattan Madness'') is a 1936 American screwball comedy thriller film directed by Edward Ludwig and starring Jean Arthur and Joel McCrea. The screenplay was written by Sidney Buchman, Harry Sauber, Jack ...
'' (1936) as Otto
* ''
Come Closer, Folks'' (1936) as Herman
* ''
That Girl from Paris
''That Girl from Paris'' is a 1936 American musical comedy film directed by Leigh Jason and starring Lily Pons, Jack Oakie, and Gene Raymond. The film made a profit of $101,000. John O. Aalberg was nominated for an Academy Award in the category ...
'' (1936) as 'Hammy' Hammacher
* ''
Champagne Waltz'' (1937) as Max Snellinek
* ''
Maytime'' (1937) as August Archipenko
* ''
Oh, What a Knight!
''Oh, What a Knight!'' is a 1910 American silent film, silent short film, short drama produced by the Thanhouser Company. The film follows a young woman, named May Brandon, who dreams a medieval fantasy in which she is wooed, rescued and married ...
'' (1937 short)
* ''
Beg, Borrow or Steal
''Beg, Borrow or Steal'' is a 1937 American comedy film directed by Wilhelm Thiele and written by Leonard Lee, Harry Ruskin and Marion Parsonnet. The film stars Frank Morgan, Florence Rice, John Beal, Janet Beecher, Herman Bing and Erik Rho ...
'' (1937) as Von Giersdorff – aka Count Herman
* ''
Every Day's a Holiday'' (1937) as Fritz Krausmeyer
* ''
Paradise for Three
''Paradise for Three'', titled ''Romance for Three'' in the United Kingdom, is a 1938 romantic comedy film starring Frank Morgan as a wealthy industrialist who decides to find out about his German workers by temporarily living among them incognit ...
'' (1938) as Mr. Polter
* ''
Bluebeard's Eighth Wife
''Bluebeard's Eighth Wife'' is a 1938 Paramount Pictures American romantic comedy film directed and produced by Ernst Lubitsch and starring Claudette Colbert and Gary Cooper. The film is based on the 1921 French play ''La huitième femme de Bar ...
'' (1938) as Monsieur Pepinard
* ''
Four's a Crowd
''Four's a Crowd'' is a 1938 American romantic comedy film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Rosalind Russell, and Patric Knowles. It was written by Casey Robinson and Sig Herzig from a story by Wallace Sul ...
'' (1938) as Barber
* ''
Vacation from Love
''Vacation from Love'' is a 1938 American comedy film directed by George Fitzmaurice, written by Patterson McNutt and Harlan Ware, and starring Dennis O'Keefe, Florence Rice, Reginald Owen, June Knight, Edward Brophy and Truman Bradley. It was ...
'' (1938) as Oscar Wittlesbach
* ''
The Great Waltz'' (1938) as Dommayer
* ''
Sweethearts'' (1938) as Oscar Engel
* ''
Bitter Sweet'' (1940) as Market Keeper
* ''
Dumbo
''Dumbo'' is a 1941 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The fourth Disney animated feature film, it is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl, a ...
'' (1941) as The Ringmaster (voice, uncredited)
* ''
The Devil with Hitler
''The Devil with Hitler'' (released in Great Britain as ''The Devil Checks Up'') is a black-and-white 1942 comedy short propaganda film that was one of Hal Roach's Streamliners short film series. When the board of directors of Hell want Adolf Hitl ...
'' (1942 short) as Louis
* ''
The Captain from Köpenick'' (completed in 1941, released in 1945) as City Hall guardian Kilian
* ''
Where Do We Go from Here?'' (1945) as Hessian Col. / Von Heisel
* ''
Rendezvous 24
''Rendezvous 24'' is a 1946 American drama film directed by James Tinling and written by Aubrey Wisberg. The film stars William Gargan, Maria Palmer, Patrick O'Moore, Herman Bing, Kay Connors and Kurt Katch. The film was released on May 6, 1946, ...
'' (1946) as Herr Schmidt
* ''
Night and Day'' (1946) as Ladisaus Smedick – 2nd 'Peaches' (uncredited) (final film role)
References
External links
*
Portrait of the Actor Herman Bing by Thomas Staedeli*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bing, Herman
1889 births
1947 deaths
German emigrants to the United States
Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery
German male film actors
German male voice actors
Actors from Frankfurt
People from Hesse-Nassau
Suicides by firearm in California
20th-century German male actors
1947 suicides