Friedrich Gnaß

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Friedrich Gnaß (born November 13, 1892 in Langendreer , today Bochum , † May 8, 1958 in East Berlin ) was a German actor .

Life

Friedrich Gnaß grew up on a farm in Westphalia and after an apprenticeship as a machinist, initially worked as a seaman, miner, fitter and crane operator. At the age of 31 he took acting lessons in Hamburg before coming to Berlin in 1925 through engagements at the Hamburger Kammerspiele and in Beuthen in 1926 , where he appeared at the Volksbühne Berlin and in the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm . He also took part in various progressive theater groups.

Friedrich Gnaß, whose trademark was his furrowed character face and his hoarse voice, began his film career in 1929 with a supporting role in a production of the small Berlin-based Hisa-Film GmbH. In the same year he came to the politically left-wing Prometheus Film , in which he played a sailor in the prostitute drama Beyond the Road and a construction worker in Phil Jutzi's famous worker film Mother Krausens Fahrt ins Glück . Further small supporting roles in films, which, however, were among the most commercially successful and artistically interesting of their time, followed: Luise, Queen of Prussia , Fritz Langs M , Danton , Kameradschaft (all 1931).

After the Nazi seizure of power , Friedrich Gnaß mostly appeared in trend films , despite his left-wing political convictions , including Morgenrot (albeit as early as 1932), Refugees (1933), Pour le Mérite (1938) and Legion Condor (1939).

On the way back from filming in America, where he in the film The Emperor of California by Luis Trenker had been involved, he is on the ship in a drunken state wild threats against 1936 Adolf Hitler have launched. The colleagues present at the scandal did not denounce him, but Gnaß's curses were known at home in Berlin and the actor was sentenced to prison in the autumn of 1936. The scenes filmed with glee were removed from the finished film and the actor was temporarily excluded from the Reichsfachschaft film .

After the end of the Second World War , engagements at Berlin theaters followed. From 1949 until his death in 1958 he was a member of the Berliner Ensemble founded by Bertolt Brecht . In addition to his theater work, Gnaß also took part in film productions as an actor, such as in Wozzeck in 1947, followed by numerous larger roles for DEFA , where he - meanwhile in the senior profession - was a sought-after character actor.

Friedrich Gnaß's partner was the actress and cabaret artist Ilse Trautschold .

Filmography (selection)

theatre

Radio plays

literature

  • Hans-Michael Bock (Ed.): CineGraph. Lexicon for German-language films. Edition Text + Criticism, München 1984 ff. (Loseblattausgabe).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ according to the film archive Kay Less .
personal data
SURNAME Gnaß, Friedrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German actor
DATE OF BIRTH November 13, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH Langendreer , today Bochum
DATE OF DEATH May 8, 1958
Place of death East Berlin