John Decker

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Leopold von der Betten changed his name to John Decker
Cartoons in Greenwich Village Quill (1922)

John Decker , birth name: Leopold Wolfgang von der Betten or Leopold Wolfgang Avenarius , (born November 8, 1895 in Berlin , † June 8, 1947 in Hollywood ) was a painter , set designer and caricaturist in Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s.

origin

John's great-great-grandfather Count Friedrich von der Betten bought Ringelheim Castle near Salzgitter , three estates and the forest around the Bodensteiner Klippen am Hainberg in 1817 . All his possessions became a family fideikommiss . Friedrich received the title of Count for his services in the Royal German Legion during the Napoleonic Wars .

John's paternal grandfather, Count Georg von der Betten , was a member of the German Reichstag and an artist, like his grandson later. Georg painted large-format oil paintings of his castle and paintings for the neighboring church. He also created large wooden sculptures.

His father, Count Ernst August von der Betten (1867–1934), grew up at Ringelheim Castle near Salzgitter . He renounced his inheritance and became a reporter for British and German newspapers. John's mother Anna Maria Avenarius (1865-1918) was an opera singer in Berlin , she sang and Bayreuth Wagner - opera . Her father Ferdinand Avenarius was an actor. John Decker's parents met at the opera in Berlin and in Bayreuth. They emigrated to London in 1897 and married in Greenwich in 1898 .

Life

As a teenager he lived in London . He painted sets for various theaters . At the beginning of the First World War he was interned as an enemy alien on the Isle of Man . In 1921 he emigrated to the USA and took the name John Decker . In New York he worked as a cartoonist for the New York World newspaper until 1928 , after which he went to Hollywood and continued to work as an artist. Many movie stars like Anthony Quinn , Clark Gable , Errol Flynn , Charlie Chaplin , Greta Garbo , Mickey Rooney, and the Marx Brothers allowed Decker to paint a portrait of them. Many of his works have been used in films, such as the paintings by the frustrated artist in Fritz Lang's film Scarlet Street (1945) by him. One of his most famous paintings, depicting his friend and drinking companion WC Fields as Queen Victoria , hung for several years in Chasen's restaurant in West Hollywood. John Decker died on June 8, 1947.

Works

literature

  • Stephen C. Jordan: Bohemian Rogue. The Life of Hollywood Artist John Decker. Scarecrow Press, 2005, ISBN 0-8108-5159-8 , online .
  • Stephen C. Jordan: Hollywood's Original Rat Pack. The Bards of Bundy Drive. Scarecrow Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0810860322 online .
  • Gregory William Mank, Charles Heard, Bill Nelson: Hollywood's Hellfire Club. The Misadventures of John Barrymore, WC Fields, Errol Flynn and 'The Bundy Drive Boys'. Feral Press, 2008, ISBN 978-1-932595-24-6 , online .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Albrecht of the ceiling: John Decker - a versatile painter of the family of the ceiling. P. 3, online ( Memento from February 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 3.3 MB).
  2. ↑ a b c Herwart and Thassilo from the ceiling: genealogical tables of the family from the ceiling. 1994, p. 35
  3. ↑ a b c Stephen Jordan: Bohemian Rogue: The Life of Hollywood Artist John Decker. P. 9
  4. ↑ Ancestry.com: Search there with: Marriage 1898 in England [1]
  5. ↑ John Decker Dies. Coast Artist, 52. Painted Portraits of Screen Stars in Styles of Masters. Won JB Payne Medal , New York Times . June 9, 1947. Retrieved August 21, 2007. "Decker, Hollywood artist, bon vivant and close friend of the late John Barrymore, died tonight after undergoing- ..." 

Web links


personal data
SURNAME Decker, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES from the ceiling, Leopold Wolfgang; Avenarius, Leopold Wolfgang
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British-American painter of German origin
DATE OF BIRTH November 8, 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH June 8, 1947
Place of death Hollywood