Luther Adler

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Luther Adler (actually: Lutha J. Adler ; born May 4, 1903 in New York City , New York , USA ; † December 8, 1984 in Kutztown , Pennsylvania , USA ) was an American film and stage actor .

Life

Luther Adler was born in New York as one of six children of Jacob P. and his wife Sara Adler , the founders of one of the most famous Jewish acting dynasties in America. Although each of the Adler siblings later celebrated success on Broadway , Jay and Stella Adler are still best known today. The latter was regarded as one of the most renowned acting teachers in Hollywood .

In 1908, at the age of five, Luther Adler appeared in his father's theater on New York's Lower East Side in a play called Schmendrick . At the age of 13, the first major roles followed in 1916, and on December 5, 1921, the 18-year-old Adler was engaged for the first time on Broadway in The Hand of the Potter , a play by Theodore Dreiser . Adler's breakthrough as a stage actor came on February 27, 1923, when he took on the lead role in Humoresque .

Luther Adler took on numerous theater roles in the 1920s and 1930s and, along with his sister Stella, was one of the founding members of the Group Theater in 1931 , chaired by Harold Clurman , who would later become his brother-in-law.

In 1937, Adler also made his film debut as an actor in the agent film Lancer Spy . This was followed by an eight-year break in order to concentrate on his new role from 1942, directing plays on Broadway. It wasn't until 1945 that Adler made a comeback on screen with the drama Cornered .

Adler's acting career in film was largely limited to television series from the early 1950s. One of his most famous films at that time was the war film Rommel, the desert fox , produced in 1951 , in which Adler played Adolf Hitler only six years after the end of World War II and as the first Jewish actor ever . Adler made guest appearances on television series in the Twilight Zone , Cobra, Take Over and The Streets of San Francisco, among others .

Luther Adler was married twice. His first marriage to actress Sylvia Sidney , with whom he was married from 1938 to 1942, resulted in his only child, son Jacob. After that he was married to Julia Roche.

Adler died of natural causes in the small town of Kutztown, eastern Pennsylvania, in 1984, at the age of 81.

Filmography (selection)

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personal data
SURNAME Adler, Luther
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Adler, Lutha J.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film and stage actor
DATE OF BIRTH May 4, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City , New York , USA
DATE OF DEATH December 8, 1984
Place of death Kutztown , Pennsylvania , USA