Ernst Reicher

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ernst Reicher before 1930 on a photograph by Alexander Binder

Ernst Reicher (born September 19, 1885 in Berlin , † May 1, 1936 in Prague ) was a German actor , screenwriter , film director and film producer .

Life

The son of the actor Emanuel Reicher attended the Dr. Lietz in Ilsenburg and then the University of Dramatic Arts in Berlin, which his father directed. After further training in Italy and London, he made his debut at the Münchner Kammerspiele in 1909 . In 1910 he played in Rixdorf , in 1911 at the New Theater in Frankfurt and in 1912 in Berlin for the first time in film.

Here he met the director Joe May , under whose direction he appeared in 1913 at home and abroad together with his father and became known through this. Shortly afterwards he embodied the fairy tale king Ludwig II of Bavaria in the musician biography Richard Wagner .

Richer's first directorial work was the film Das Werk in 1913 .

In 1914, Ernst Reicher invented the character of the detective Stuart Webbs . In this role he stood in front of the camera for twelve years and established the genre of the detective film in the German-speaking area. After a dispute with Continental-Kunstfilm GmbH, Reicher and May founded their own production company called “Stuart Webbs Film Company”. May left as early as 1915 and started his own Joe Deebs detective series with the main actor Max Landa and later Harry Liedtke .

Stuart Webbs was a gentleman detective modeled on Sherlock Holmes , who smartly and elegantly solved even the most difficult cases. This fictional character was popular with German cinema audiences throughout the First World War. It wasn't until 1918 that Reicher turned to other topics. His most elaborate production was the monumental film The Book of Esther with himself in the lead role.

On April 1, 1919, he moved the headquarters of his film company to Munich. At the beginning of the twenties he suffered a serious car accident in which he broke his spine and skull. He later reappeared on the screen, but could no longer build on previous successes.

After the National Socialists came to power , Reicher, who was of Jewish origin, emigrated to Czechoslovakia in 1933 , where he was forgotten. His last, tiny role in the remake Le Golem was cut from the final version. He was found dead in a Prague hotel room, "in a small, narrow room, on a street far from the stages of fame." In the 20s he was married to the actress Stella Harf . His half-brother Frank Reicher and his sister Hedwiga Reicher also worked as actors.

Filmography (selection)

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gerhard Lamprecht: German silent films 1913 . Deutsche Kinemathek eV, Berlin 1969, p. 60 .
  2. ^ Obituary of the Paris daily newspaper of May 8, 1936, p. 4
personal data
SURNAME Richer, Ernst
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German actor
DATE OF BIRTH September 19, 1885
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin , Germany
DATE OF DEATH May 1, 1936
Place of death Prague , Czechoslovakia