Ferdinand Gottschalk

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Ferdinand Gottschalk in the play Amazons (1894, second from left)

Ferdinand Gottschalk (born February 24, 1858 in London , England ; † November 10, 1944 there ) was a British actor and playwright who mainly worked in America.

Life

Born in Britain, Ferdinand Gottschalk made his theatrical debut in Toronto in 1887 . After a few years of further theater experience, he came to Broadway in New York in 1894 , where he took part in around 45 plays over the next 40 years and earned a good reputation as a character actor. In addition to his work as an actor, he also participated as a writer, playwright and producer of plays. The relatively small, early bald-headed Gottschalk was often used in his appearances as a strict, slightly snobbish authority figure and often played judges, doctors, civil servants or politicians in his later film career.

Gottschalk made his film debut in 1917, but it was not until 1932, when the sound film began, that the theater actor was regularly seen on the screen. In Hollywood, Gottschalk was not only considered one of the oldest actors, but also played supporting roles in the Oscar-winning drama People in the Hotel (1932) and in the Cecil B. DeMille films Under the Sign of the Cross and Cleopatra . Many of Gottschalk's film appearances were quite small but striking and were mostly mentioned in the credits. He ended his acting career in 1938 after making 75 films and returned to his native England, where he died in 1944 at the age of 86.

Filmography (selection)

Web links