Oskar Leopold Karlweis (often credited Oscar Karlweis; 10 July 1894 – 24 January 1956) was an Austrian-American stage and film actor, active internationally.

Career

Born in Hinterbrühl, Austria-Hungary, he was the son of playwright Carl Karlweis and younger brother of the writer . Karlweis abandoned his youthful law studies for the stage, first for eight years at Vienna's Stadttheater. After service in World War I, he was active with

Max Reinhardt Max Reinhardt (; born Maximilian Goldmann; 9 September 1873 – 30 October 1943) was an Austrian-born theatre and film director, intendant, and theatrical producer. With his innovative stage productions, he is regarded as one of the most pro ...

Theater in der Josefstadt The Theater in der Josefstadt is a theater in Vienna in the eighth district of Josefstadt. It was founded in 1788 and is the oldest still performing theater in Vienna. It is often referred to colloquially as simply ''Die Josefstadt''. Following ...

in Vienna, followed by engagements at various theaters in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

and Vienna, and then to the Berlin stage where he had a popular following playing singing and dancing roles, including as Prinz Orlofsky in ''

Die Fledermaus ' (, ''The Flittermouse'' or ''The Bat'', sometimes called ''The Revenge of the Bat'') is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée, which premiered in 1874. Background The original li ...

''. His general manner was humorous, charming, naive, and cheerful. In Berlin between 1930 and 1933 he worked as a recording artist and acted in more than a dozen German light comedy and musical films, most famously as one of

Lilian Harvey Lilian Harvey (born Helene Lilian Muriel Pape; 19 January 1906 – 27 July 1968) was an Anglo-German actress and singer, long based in Germany, where she is best known for her role as Christel Weinzinger in Erik Charell's 1931 film ''Der Kongr ...

's suitors in the hugely successful operetta film '' The Three from the Filling Station''. With

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 ...

's rise to power in 1933, Karlweis, who was Jewish, returned to the Austrian stage; but with the Nazi

Anschluss 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 ...

in 1938 he was again forced to flee, first to Switzerland and then Paris where, at both locations, he took to the stage with fellow Austrian law school dropout, writer/director, and cabaret performer

Karl Farkas Karl Farkas (28 October 1893 – 16 May 1971) was an Austrian actor and cabaret performer. Biography In accordance with the wishes of his parents, he was to study law, but decided to follow the call of the stage. After attending the Academy of ...

. When German forces took Paris in 1940, Karlweis, along with his friend Austrian writer

Friedrich Torberg Friedrich Torberg (16 September 1908, Vienna, Alsergrund – 10 November 1979, Vienna) is the pen-name of Friedrich Kantor, an Austrian writer. Biography He worked as a critic and journalist in Vienna and Prague until 1938, when his Jewish he ...

, fled via Spain to Portugal, whence they made their way to New York. Not knowing English, Karlweis was at first limited to acting in German emmigré productions, but he soon got his English legs and appeared in eight Broadway shows in the early 1940s, including the title role in

Franz Werfel Franz Viktor Werfel (; 10 September 1890 – 26 August 1945) was an Austrian- Bohemian novelist, playwright, and poet whose career spanned World War I, the Interwar period, and World War II. He is primarily known as the author of ''The For ...

's long-running "Jacobowsky and the Colonel," garnering outstanding reviews. In the early 1950s Karlweis played supporting roles in TV productions and in several Hollywood and European films. He died in 1956 of a heart attack in New York, and is interred at the Matzleinsdorf Protestant Cemetery in Vienna.

Personal life

In 1946, Karlweis married theatrical and film producer Ninon Tallon, the niece of three-time prime minister of France

Édouard Herriot Édouard Marie Herriot (; 5 July 1872 – 26 March 1957) was a French Radical politician of the Third Republic who served three times as Prime Minister (1924–1925; 1926; 1932) and twice as President of the Chamber of Deputies. He led the f ...

.Time Magazine, 29 April 1946. She continued to use his surname professionally until after his death.

Selected filmography

* '' The Bohemian Dancer'' (1926) * '' Give Me Life'' (1928) * '' Love in the Cowshed'' (1928), as Wedelski, Oberleutnant a.D. * ''

Two Hearts in Waltz Time 2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many cultur ...

'' (1930), as Nicky Mahler * '' A Tango for You'' (1930), as Flooch * '' The Three from the Filling Station'' (1930), as Kurt * ''

Dolly Gets Ahead ''Dolly Gets Ahead'' (german: Dolly macht Karriere) is a 1930 German musical film directed by Anatole Litvak and starring Dolly Haas, Oskar Karlweis, and Grete Natzler. It was shot at the Babelsberg Studios in Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the ...

'' (1930), as Fred Halton * '' The Firm Gets Married'' (1931), as Solly Friedländer * '' The Forester's Daughter'' (1931), as

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

* '' Der Tanzhusar'' (1931), as Turi Weidinger * '' Mamsell Nitouche'' (1931), as Célestin * ''

The Men Around Lucy ''The Men Around Lucy'' (German:''Die Männer um Lucie'') is a 1931 American drama film directed and produced by Alexander Korda and starring Liane Haid, Walter Rilla and Oskar Karlweis.Warsh & Malleck p.250 Made at the Joinville Studios in Pa ...

'' (1931), as Robert * '' The Concert'' (1931), as Doctor Jura * '' The Naked Truth'' (1932) * '' Spell of the Looking Glass'' (1932), as Menzel * '' Three on a Honeymoon'' (1932), as Heinz Schaller * ''

The Gentleman from Maxim's ''The Gentleman from Maxim's'' (german: Die Herren vom Maxim) is a 1933 German comedy film directed by Carl Boese and starring Lee Parry, Johannes Riemann and Oskar Karlweis. It was shot at the Johannisthal Studios in Berlin. The film's sets we ...

'' (1933), as Werner Radke * '' No Day Without You'' (1933), as Leo * '' Today Is the Day'' (1933), as Peter Schlemm * '' Voices of Spring'' (1933), as Franz Waldmüller * '' Last Love'' (1935), as Teddy Langhammer * '' Alles für die Firma'' (1935), as Otto Sonndorfer * '' St. Benny the Dip'' (1951), as Mr. Kovacs * ''

5 Fingers ''5 Fingers'', known also as ''Five Fingers'', is a 1952 American spy film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and produced by Otto Lang. The screenplay written by Michael Wilson was based on the 1950 book ''Operation Cicero'' (original German: ' ...

'' (1952), as Moyzisch * ''

Anything Can Happen ''Anything Can Happen'' is a 1952 American comedy-drama film directed by George Seaton, starring José Ferrer and Kim Hunter. José Ferrer stars as Giorgi Papashvily, who emigrates from Georgia in the Soviet Union to the United States and gradu ...

'' (1952), as Uncle Besso * ''

Tonight We Sing ''Tonight We Sing'' is a 1953 American musical biopic film directed by Mitchell Leisen and starring David Wayne, Ezio Pinza and Roberta Peters. It is based on the life and career of the celebrated impresario Sol Hurok. The film is based on the 19 ...

'' (1953), as Benjamin Golder * '' The Juggler'' (1953), as Willy Schmidt * '' Dutch Girl'' (1953), as Professor Schmidtchen * ''

Meet Me in Las Vegas ''Meet Me in Las Vegas'' (1956) is an MGM musical comedy produced by Joe Pasternak, directed by Roy Rowland, filmed in Eastman Color and CinemaScope, and starring Dan Dailey and Cyd Charisse. The screenplay is by Isobel Lennart, cinematograph ...

'' (1956), as Lotzi

Bibliography

* Palmer, Jean Michel. ''Weimar in Exile: The Antifascist Emigration in Europe And America''. Verso, 2006. * Traubner, Richard. ''Operetta: A Theatrical History''. Psychology Press, 2003. * Weniger, Kay: Es wird im Leben dir mehr genommen als gegeben ...' Lexikon der aus Deutschland und Österreich emigrierten Filmschaffenden 1933 bis 1945: Eine Gesamtübersicht'' (Hamburg: ACABUS Verlag, 2011). , 9783862821426

References

External links

* *
Oskar Karlweis
at Virtual History {{DEFAULTSORT:Karlweis, Oskar 1894 births 1956 deaths Austrian male television actors Austrian male film actors Austrian male silent film actors Male actors from Vienna Jewish emigrants from Austria to the United Kingdom after the Anschluss Austrian male stage actors 20th-century Austrian male actors