Erwin Kalser

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Erwin Kalser (born February 22, 1883 in Berlin ; † March 26, 1958 there ; born Erwin Kalischer ) was a German actor and theater director .

Life

He studied at the University of Berlin and was there in 1907 as a result of work on Conrad Ferdinand Meyer in his relationship with the Italian Renaissance to Dr. phil. PhD. In 1907 he took part as an actor in Emil Geyer's Märkisches Wandertheater. In 1911 he began his career at the Münchner Kammerspiele , where he stayed until 1922. One of his roles was the cashier in the world premiere of Georg Kaiser's From Morning to Midnight in 1917 . In 1918 he took on the title role in Johst's Der Einsame and in 1920 in Der König , in 1920 he played the poet in Sorges Der Bettler .

In 1922 he moved to Berlin. Here he first played at the State Theater and from 1926 under Erwin Piscator at the Volksbühne Berlin and at the Theater am Nollendorfplatz . Important roles here included the colonel in the world premiere of Paquets Sturmflut in 1926, the Tsar in the world premiere of Tolstoy's Rasputin (with Tilla Durieux ) in 1927 and his participation in the world premiere of Mehring's Der Kaufmann von Berlin . Several times he worked as a director. Occasionally and in the age of talkies, Kalser also stood in front of the camera.

In 1933 he emigrated to Switzerland and worked at the Zurich theater . Here he was seen in 1936 as an old rabbi in Else Lasker-Schüler's Arthur Aronymus , and in 1939 he staged Wilder's Our Little City .

Since 1939 he lived in Hollywood and worked here in several film productions in which he played older, cultured men. Several times he embodied a doctor or Red Cross representative, as in Billy Wilder's Stalag 17 , where he examined the accommodation of American prisoners of war in German camps as such.

From 1946 to 1951 Kalser was again on stage at the Schauspielhaus Zurich, in 1952 he returned to Germany. Until his death he was a member of the ensemble of the Staatliche Schauspielbühnen Berlin . At the Schillertheater and at the Schlossparktheater he received important senior roles such as Shrewsbury in Maria Stuart (1952), Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlos (1955), Arnolphe in Molières The School of Women (1955), Philemon in Ahlsen's Philemon and Baucis , Polonius in Hamlet (1957) , Kaiser in Das Käthchen von Heilbronn (1957) and the title role in Nathan the Wise (1957).

Kalser was married to the screenwriter Irma von Cube . His son was the producer and director Konstantin Kalser .

Filmography (selection)

literature

  • Anna Beck: Erwin Kalser . In: Andreas Kotte (Ed.): Theater Lexikon der Schweiz . Volume 2, Chronos, Zurich 2005, ISBN 3-0340-0715-9 , pp. 958 f.
  • Erwin Kalischer: Conrad Ferdinand Meyer in his relationship to the Italian Renaissance . Mayer & Müller, Berlin 1907 (= Berlin, Univ., Phil. Diss., 1907).
  • Kay Less : 'In life, more is taken from you than given ...'. Lexicon of filmmakers who emigrated from Germany and Austria between 1933 and 1945. A general overview. P. 273 f., ACABUS-Verlag, Hamburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-86282-049-8

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Kalser, Erwin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kalischer, Erwin (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German actor and theater director
DATE OF BIRTH February 22, 1883
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH March 26, 1958
Place of death Berlin