Albert Dekker

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Albert Dekker (actually Albert van Ecke , born December 20, 1905 in Brooklyn , New York City , † May 5, 1968 in Hollywood , California ) was an American film and stage actor and politician of the Democratic Party .

Life

Albert van Ecke was of Dutch descent. He used Dekker , his mother's maiden name, as his stage name. In 1927 he graduated from Bowdoin College , then began working as a theater actor on Broadway . Dekker played in the world premiere of Eugene O'Neill's play Marco Millions . After having worked on a few short films since 1933, he made his feature film debut in 1937 in The Great Garrick alongside Olivia de Havilland . He stayed in Hollywood and became a popular and eclectic supporting actor who occasionally took on leading roles. He was in the title role of the horror film Dr. Cyclops (1940) to see - Dekker played a mad scientist here who shrinks his visitors to the size of a doll. In The House of Seven Sins (1940), his character was able to win over Marlene Dietrich at the end of the film .

Between the 1940s and 1960s, Dekker played supporting roles in some of the classics of Hollywood films. In Robert Siodmak's film noir Avengers of the Underworld , he played the brutal gang boss "Big Jim" Colfax in 1946. In the following year, Dekker starred in the Oscar-winning film drama Tabu der Gerechten at the side of Gregory Peck . In 1955 he played the role of businessman Will Hamilton in Elia Kazan's literary film adaptation Jenseits von Eden (1955) based on the novel of the same name by John Steinbeck ; also in 1955 he was seen as a villainous doctor in the film noir Rattennest . In 1959 he played the head of a hospital in Suddenly last summer . Dekker's last film was Sam Peckinpah's western classic The Wild Bunch - They Knew No Law , which came out posthumously in theaters in 1969. In addition to his film appearances, Dekker was also regularly active as a popular guest actor on television since the 1950s.

The actor was also politically active. From 1944 to 1946 he sat as an MP for the Democrats in the California Parliament . Since the long journeys to Parliament in Sacramento did not go well with his job, he gave up his seat after two years. During the McCarthy era , Dekker was a vocal critic of Joseph McCarthy and the Un-American Activities Committee . Although he was never on a blacklist , his engagement against the McCarthy era should cost him many role offers and even result in death threats.

Albert Dekker had been married to Esther Guernini since 1929 and had two sons and a daughter with her. The two got divorced. At the time of his death, he was in a relationship with Geraldine Saunders. His 16-year-old son in January 1957 committed in suicide .

In 1968 Albert Dekker was found dead in his apartment. He was hanging naked on a shower curtain in his bathroom, his body was knotted in a bizarre way and he was handcuffed. His body was smeared with swear words and several valuables had been stolen from Dekker's apartment. The police initially assumed a suicide, but later his death was counted as an accident; he may have suffocated during a sex game. The exact circumstances of his death remain unclear to this day.

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Albert Dekker at Allmovie
  2. ^ The Life and Death of Albert Dekker
  3. ^ The Life and Death of Albert Dekker
  4. ^ The Life and Death of Albert Dekker
  5. ^ Albert Dekker at Allmovie
personal data
SURNAME Dekker, Albert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Albert van corner
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American actor and politician
DATE OF BIRTH December 20, 1905
PLACE OF BIRTH Brooklyn , New York
DATE OF DEATH 5th May 1968
Place of death Hollywood , California