Leon Askin

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Leon Askin in " Alma - A Show Biz to the End "

Leon Askin (born September 18, 1907 as Leo Aschkenasy in Vienna ; † June 3, 2005 there ) was an Austrian - American actor , drama teacher, director , screenwriter and producer.

Life

Leo Aschkenasy was born as the son of the married couple Samuel and Malwine Aschkenasy in Vienna, where he grew up. After his first stage appearances in 1926, he became an apprentice in the Theater in der Josefstadt under the direction of Max Reinhardt . From 1928 to 1932 he was engaged at Louise Dumont's Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus and played a. a. the roles of “Legendre” in Büchner's Dantons Tod , “Filch” in Brecht's Threepenny Opera , “Aljosha” in Gorki's night asylum and “Baccalaureus” in Goethe's Faust II . From autumn 1932 Aschkenasy played under Leopold Lindtberg at the Städtische Bühnen Düsseldorf with Walter Bruno Iltz and had great success as “Pfeifer” in Hauptmann's Die Weber , as well as in his last role before Hitler's takeover as “Spiegelberg” in Schiller's Die Räuber .

Aschkenasy was given a forced leave of absence from the theater on March 11, 1933 due to his Jewish origins. In April 1933 he was arrested on the street and taken to the police prison for short periods of time, where he was subjected to harassment and abuse. After his release on the intervention of the Austrian consul, he fled to Paris , where he founded the cabaret "Künstler-Klub Paris-Wien" and employed actors such as Lilli Palmer , Felix Bressart and Kurt Gerron .

In 1935 Aschkenasy returned to Vienna. In addition to theater appearances, he worked as a director and artistic director of the “ ABC ”, which was considered to be an emphatically anti- National Socialist cabaret from the interwar period . In this position he also protected Jura Soyfer . In the March days of 1938 he again fled to Paris. He never saw his parents again; they were deported from Vienna to the Theresienstadt concentration camp in 1942 and have been missing ever since. Aschkenasy was when war broke out in France as an enemy alien interned and entered into the castle Meslay-du-Maine , which he was allowed to leave after six months because his US - visa had arrived.

In 1940 Leo Aschkenasy came to the USA, where he directed the Civic Theater in Washington DC until December 1941. He became an American citizen and called himself Leon Askin from 1943. As a non-commissioned officer in the American Army , he was stationed in England , where he was responsible for creating education and information programs in the barracks.

In 1947/1948 he taught at Erwin Piscator's famous Dramatic Workshop in New York . In 1947 he staged Faust with Albert Bassermann as " Mephisto " and was on stage himself in the role of the title hero. From 1952 to 1994 he lived in Hollywood and played in numerous films, including a. in the first Cinemascope film Das Gewand or in Billy Wilder's one, two, three . This was followed by appearances in German film and at German theaters. a. as “ Othello ” in the Hamburger Kammerspiele in 1957 in William Shakespeare 's play of the same name and as “ Volpone ” in Berlin in 1958/1959 in the play of the same name by Ben Jonson .

Grave of Leon Askin

In the 1960s, Leon Askin became known to a larger audience through his portrayal of "General Burkhalter" in the American television series A Cage Full of Heroes .

After separating from his second wife, Askin finally returned to Vienna in 1994. In the same year he was in the Austrian movie heights fear and as " Lanz von Liebenfels " in Adolf Hitler - Mein Krampf in front of the camera. In 1995 he worked as a cabaret artist under the title "Cabaret once and now". In the festival week production Der Vater he appeared as the Catholic priest “Sixtus O'Connor” in the Theater an der Wien . In 1996/1997 he played the role of "Tschang" in the operetta The Land of Smiles at the Vienna Volksoper .

For six years he was a contemporary witness in the production Alma - A Show BIZ ans Ende by Joshua Sobol , directed by Paulus Manker . From 2002 to 2004 he read the end of the world by Jura Soyfer on 25 evenings in the Wiener Schauspielhaus . In the same year, the 95-year-old married a third time.

Leon Askin died on June 3, 2005 at the age of 97 in a hospital in Vienna. He was buried in a grave of honor (Group 33G, number 34) at the Vienna Central Cemetery.

Awards and honors
House Hütteldorfer Straße 349 with a memorial plaque
  • 2007: Leon-Askin-Platz in Vienna- Penzing by local council resolution of March 6th (at the end of tram line 52)
  • 2007: Installation of a bust by the sculptor Hubert Wilfan in Vienna's Türkenschanzpark on the occasion of his 100th birthday
  • 2007: On the same occasion , a memorial plaque was unveiled at Hütteldorfer Strasse 349 in Vienna- Penzing , his last residence.
  • 2009: A community building was named after him in Sechsschimmelgasse 19 in Vienna- Alsergrund .
  • 2010: On May 27, the two green spaces in Grundsteingasse in Ottakring were named Leon-Askin-Park.

Honorary functions

  • Honorary President of CCC-International - Children's Communication Corner
  • Honorary Artistic Director of the "Academy of Continuing Education in the Arts"

theatre

Productions

  • 1935: The first Legion of Emmet Lavery , Linz
  • 1933–1938: Literary and political cabaret productions in Paris and Vienna
  • 1941:
  • 1946: La locandiera by Carlo Goldoni , New York
  • 1947:
  • 1954: Saint Joan by George Bernard Shaw, Los Angeles
  • 1955: Mrs. Warren's business from George Bernard Shaw, Hamburg
  • 1957: The houses of Mr. Sartorius by George Bernard Shaw, Hamburg
  • 1975: The Egg by Félicien Marceau , Los Angeles
  • 1979: Fever in the Brain by Marvin Aron, Los Angeles

Theater actor

  • 1926:
    • Scream from the street by Rolf Lauckner, Pan Spiele, Vienna
    • The Dutch merchant from Lion Feuchtwanger , Pan Spiele, Vienna
    • The apostle play by Max Mell , Pan Spiele, Vienna
  • 1928:
  • 1929:
    • “Lancaster” in the life of Edward II of England by Bertolt Brecht and Lion Feuchtwanger, Düsseldorf
    • “Filch” in The Threepenny Opera by Bertolt Brecht (collaborators E. Hauptmann, K. Weill), Düsseldorf
  • 1930:
    • "Aljosha" in Depths of Maxim Gorky , Dusseldorf
    • “Gunner” in Misalliance by George Bernard Shaw, Düsseldorf
    • "Dreyfuss" in Affaire Dreyfuss by Hans José Rehfisch , Düsseldorf
  • 1931: “Pistol” in Heinrich IV. II by William Shakespeare, Düsseldorf
  • 1932:
    • "Baccalaureus" in Faust II by Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Düsseldorf
    • “Borachio” in Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare, Düsseldorf
    • "Pfeifer" in Die Weber by Gerhart Hauptmann , Düsseldorf
  • 1933: "Spiegelberg" in The Robbers by Friedrich Schiller, Düsseldorf
  • 1935:
    • “Benvolio” in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Linz
    • “Gorotschenko” in Towarisch by A. Duval, Linz
  • 1936: “Stogumber” in St. Johanna by George Bernard Shaw, Bratislava
  • 1937: "Pater Ahern" in The First Legion by Emmet Lavery, Linz
  • 1937:
    • "Greene" in Dr. Clitterhouse , Vienna
    • “Le soldat inconnu” in “Le Tombeau du Soldat Inconnu” by P. Raynal (in French), Vienna
  • 1947:
    • "Ringmaster" in Temporary Island by Halstead Welles, New York (Broadway)
  • 1947/1948:
    • "Faust" in Faust I by Johann Wolfgang Goethe (in German), New York (Broadway)
    • "President" in The Madness of Chaillot by Jean Giraudoux, New York (Broadway)
    • "Shylock" in The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, New York (Broadway)
  • 1948/1949:
    • “Sandor Turai” in The Play's the Thing by Ferenc Molnár
    • "Uncle Chris" in I Remember Mama by John van Druten, guest performance / tour
  • 1950/1951: "Judas" in 20th Century by Ben Hecht and Charles McArthur , New York (Broadway)
  • 1955: "Croft" in Mrs. Warren's business by George Bernard Shaw, Hamburg
  • 1957:
    • “Othello” in Othello by William Shakespeare, Hamburg
    • “Sartorius” in The Houses of Mr. Sartorius by George Bernard Shaw, Hamburg
  • 1958/1959: "Volpone" in Volpone by Ben Jonson , Berlin
  • 1959 "Berullis" in the hostel of Fritz Hochwälder , Berlin
  • 1960: “Landlord” in The Green Cockatoo by Arthur Schnitzler with Klaus Kinski , Berlin
  • 1962: "Pozzo" in Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett with Otto Schenk , Vienna
  • 1968: “Marquis de Sade” in The Persecution and Murder of Jean Paul Marat performed by the acting group of the Charenton Hospice under the guidance of Mr. de Sade by Peter Weiss , Vienna
  • 1971: "Dumptsy" in Idiots Delight by Robert Sherwood, Los Angeles
  • 1995:
    • Cabaret - then and now, Vienna
    • "Sixtus O'Connor" in Der Vater , by Niklas Frank and Joshua Sobol, directed by Paulus Manker, Vienna
  • 1996–1999: “Tschang” in The Land of Smiles, Volksoper Vienna, director: Klaus Maria Brandauer , Vienna
  • 1996–2001: "Contemporary witness" in Joshua Sobol's polydrama Alma - A Show Biz to the End . Sanatorium Purkersdorf, director: Paulus Manker , Vienna
  • 2002–2004: “The end of the world” by Jura Soyfer - monologized drama, Schauspielhaus Wien

Filmography (selection)

Autobiography

literature

  • Susanne Blumesberger, Michael Doppelhofer, Gabriele Mauthe: Handbook of Austrian authors of Jewish origin from the 18th to the 20th century. Volume 1: A-I. Edited by the Austrian National Library. Saur, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-598-11545-8 , p. 45.
  • Kay Less : Between the stage and the barracks. Lexicon of persecuted theater, film and music artists from 1933 to 1945 . With a foreword by Paul Spiegel . Metropol, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-938690-10-9 , p. 41.

Web links

Commons : Leon Askin  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Leon Askin Biography (1907-) . On filmreference.com
  2. ^ Leon Askin, C. Melvin Davidson: Quietude and Quest: Protagonists and Antagonists in the Theater, on and off Stage as Seen Through the Eyes of Leon Askin. Aridane Press, Riverside / California 1989, p. 122
  3. ^ Leon Askin, C. Melvin Davidson: Quietude and Quest. Aridane Press, Riverside / California 1989, pp. 123-125
  4. ^ Leon Askin, C. Melvin Davidson: Quietude and Quest. Aridane Press, Riverside / California 1989, pp. 127-143
  5. ^ A b Leon Askin: A portrait . On: jfw.at (PDF, 145 kB)
  6. ^ Leon Askin, C. Melvin Davidson: Quietude and Quest. Aridane Press, Riverside / California 1989, pp. 229, 237
  7. ↑ Actor Leon Askin marries . On December 9, 2002 on derstandard.at
  8. ↑ Actor Leon Askin has died . On June 3, 2005 on wienerzeitung.at
  9. ↑ City Hall correspondence of June 10, 2002 (accessed on May 29, 2010)
  10. ↑ apa broadcast of March 8, 2007 (accessed on January 11, 2013)
  11. ↑ Leon Askin bust revealed in Währing. In: ORF.at , last updated on April 11, 2012.
  12. ↑ City Hall correspondence of May 27, 2010 (accessed on January 11, 2013)
personal data
SURNAME Askin, Leon
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Aschkenasy, Leo (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian actor, drama teacher, director, screenwriter and producer
DATE OF BIRTH September 18, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH June 3, 2005
Place of death Vienna