Egon breaker

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Egon Brecher (born February 18, 1880 in Olomouc , Moravia , Austria-Hungary , now the Czech Republic , † August 12, 1946 in Los Angeles ) was a German-speaking actor . He made his debut on German and Austrian theaters, was involved in Jewish theaters and moved to the United States in 1921 , where he first played in Yiddish theaters in New York and then in numerous Hollywood films.

Life

Egon Brecher was born in Olomouc as the son of a professor. He attended secondary school and began studying philosophy in Heidelberg in 1899 , which he did not graduate. Instead, he embarked on an acting career. He has made guest appearances with various German-speaking ensembles in the German and Austrian provinces and has since lived in Berlin and Vienna. His acting debut he committed, according Zalmen Zylbercwaig in 1900 in Vienna, when he with a semi-professional ensemble The new ghetto of Theodor Herzl aufführte. According to the New York Times obituary , he first appeared in 1903 in a Viennese performance of Franz Grillparzer's Sappho . In 1907 he founded together with Siegfried Schmitz and members of the “Student Club 'Theodor Herzl'” ( Hugo Zuckermann , Leo Goldhammer , Oskar Rosenfeld , Max Gold ) a theater initiative (which was active in this form for one to two years) to present modern Yiddish dramas in German language. They performed pieces by Shalom Asch , Avrom Koralnik and David Pinski (“Eternal Jews”) in a semi-professional manner . The “Intime Theater” in Praterstrasse 34 served as their venue .

From 1910 to 1921 Brecher was employed at the theaters directed by Josef Jarno ( Josefstädter Theater , Fürst-Theater ). At the same time, Brecher continued to support Jewish theater production in Vienna. In 1919 he was involved in founding the Free Jewish People's Theater . There he appeared as an actor, director and director, and the performances were in Yiddish . In 1921 he organized performances by the Volksbühne at the Jarno theaters.

In 1921 an offer lured him to New York, where from then on Brecher appeared on Yiddish and English-speaking stages on Broadway . He became a teacher and director of the theater school in Cleveland and moved to Los Angeles in 1933 , where he played in over 50 Hollywood films, mainly horror, crime and spy films, until his death. Including: The Black Cat (1934), The Werewolf of London (1935), The Black Room (1935), The Mark of the Vampire (1935), The Devil-Doll (1936) and the Black Legion Secret Society (1937).

In 1927, Brecher became a US citizen . He died of a heart attack on August 12, 1946 in Hollywood, Los Angeles .

Filmography (selection)

literature

  • Brigitte Dalinger: extinct stars. History of the Jewish Theater in Vienna. Picus Verlag, Vienna 1998, ISBN 3-85452-420-X , pp. 65, 198.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. findagrave.com (accessed September 25, 2010)
  2. ^ Zalmen Zylbercwaig: Leksikon fun Yidishn Teater. Volume 1, p. 248; quoted from: Dalinger, 1998, p. 198.
  3. ^ Obituary in New York Times . August 14, 1946; quoted from: Dalinger, 1998, p. 198.
  4. ↑ a b cf. imdb.com - biography of Egon Brecher
personal data
SURNAME Breaker, Egon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Actor, director, theater director
DATE OF BIRTH February 18, 1880
PLACE OF BIRTH Olomouc
DATE OF DEATH August 12, 1946
Place of death los Angeles