Lothar Müthel (né Lothar Max Lütcke; 18 February 1896 – 4 September 1964) was a German stage and film actor and director.

Career

Müthel was born 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 ...

, where he attended the acting school of

Max Reinhardt Max Reinhardt (; born Maximilian Goldmann; 9 September 1873 – 30 October 1943) was an Austrian-born Theatre director, theatre and film director, theater manager, intendant, and theatrical producer. With his innovative stage productions, he i ...

, ''Schauspielschule, Berlin''. Following the

Anchluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "Greater Germany" ...

of Austria to

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, Müthel was appointed as director of the

Burgtheater The Burgtheater (literally:"Castle Theater" but alternatively translated as "(Imperial) Court Theater"), originally known as '' K.K. Theater an der Burg'', then until 1918 as the ''K.K. Hofburgtheater'', is the national theater of Austria in Vi ...

in Vienna. He held that position from 1939 until the fall of the Nazi regime in 1945. Under his directorship in 1943, a notoriously extreme production of ''

The Merchant of Venice ''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock. Although classified as ...

'' was staged at the Burgtheater, with

Werner Krauss Werner Johannes Krauss (''Krauß'' in German; 23 June 1884 – 20 October 1959) was a German stage and film actor. Krauss dominated the German stage of the early 20th century. However, his participation in the antisemitic propaganda film ''Jud S ...

Shylock Shylock is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's play ''The Merchant of Venice'' (c. 1600). A Venetian Jewish moneylender, Shylock is the play's principal antagonist. His defeat and conversion to Christianity form the climax of the ...

Death

Müthel died 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 ...

at age 68.

Selected filmography

* '' The Galley Slave'' (1919) * '' The Golem: How He Came into the World'' (1920) as Knight Florian *''

The Woman in Heaven ''The Woman in Heaven'' (German:''Die Frau im Himmel'') is a 1920 German silent film directed by Johannes Guter and starring Lil Dagover and Werner Krauss.Bock & Bergfelder p.1 The film's art direction was by Franz Seemann. Cast In alphabetica ...

'' (1920) as Feodor * ''

The Mayor of Zalamea ''The Mayor of Zalamea'' ( es, El Alcalde de Zalamea) is a play written by Pedro Calderón de la Barca (1600–1681) during the Golden Age of Spanish drama. It was probably written in 1636. It pays homage to a play by the same name by Lope de Ve ...

'' (1920) as Juan * ''

The Night of Queen Isabeau ''The Night of Queen Isabeau'' (german: Die Nacht der Königin Isabeau) is a 1920 German silent historical drama film directed by Robert Wiene and starring Fern Andra, Fritz Kortner, Hans Heinrich von Twardowski and Elsa Wagner. The film depicts ...

'' (1920) as Jehan *''

Destiny Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...

'' (1921) as the messenger * ''

The False Dimitri ''The False Dimitri'' (german: Der falsche Dimitri) is a 1922 German silent historical film directed by Hans Steinhoff and starring Alfred Abel, Agnes Straub and Eugen Klöpfer.Klossner, Michael. ''The Europe of 1500–1815 on Film and Televisi ...

'' (1922) as the Polish envoy * ''

Lucrezia Borgia Lucrezia Borgia (; ca-valencia, Lucrècia Borja, links=no ; 18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was a Spanish-Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. She reigned as the Govern ...

'' (1922) as

Juan Borgia ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

* '' Goetz von Berlichingen of the Iron Hand'' (1925) as Brother Martin *''

Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroads ...

'' (1956) as the monk * ''

Yorck ''Yorck'' is a 1931 German war film directed by Gustav Ucicky and starring Werner Krauss, Grete Mosheim and Rudolf Forster.Noack p.59 It portrays the life of the Prussian General Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg, particularly his refusal to serve i ...

'' (1931) as General von Clausewitz

References

Lothar Müthel biography
cyranos.ch. Retrieved 25 January 2018. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Muthel, Lothar 1896 births 1964 deaths German male stage actors German male film actors German male silent film actors German theatre directors Opera managers Sturmabteilung personnel 20th-century German male actors