Theodor Loos

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Theodor Loos around 1920 on a photograph by Alexander Binder

Theodor August Konrad Loos (born May 18, 1883 in Zwingenberg an der Bergstrasse , † June 27, 1954 in Stuttgart ) was a German theater and film actor . He is known for his roles in Fritz Lang films, among other things .

Life

Theodor Loos was born as the oldest of six siblings. The father was a watchmaker and also ran a production facility for components for musical instruments in the family home. After four years of attending elementary school in his hometown, he went to secondary school in Heppenheim for two years and finally switched to grammar school in Bensheim , which he left in high school (corresponds to today's 9th grade) at the age of 14 because the family moved to Leipzig for professional reasons. After three years of apprenticeship and work in an export company for musical instruments in Leipzig, Theodor Loos went to Berlin to see his uncle, who ran a warehouse for handicrafts. Since his enthusiasm for acting, which had already shown in his early youth, led to the neglect of his actual work, he was fired by his uncle. He returned to Leipzig and worked in his father's shop. But he was sure that he would take up the acting profession against his parents' wishes. After contact with the Leipziger Schauspielhaus, an apprenticeship as an actor followed, his first successful appearances and, after guest appearances in Gdansk and Frankfurt am Main , Theodor Loos was committed to the Lessing Theater (Berlin) in December 1911 .

Until the end of the Second World War in 1945 Loos worked on several Berlin theaters, but especially at the Deutsches Theater , 1930–1933 under Max Reinhardt and 1934–1944 under Heinz Hilpert .

Theodor Loos rose to become one of the most famous actors on the German-speaking stage, who as a film actor also participated and shaped the entire development from silent films to talkies. From the very beginning of broadcasting, he was a sought-after speaker.

Since 1913 he has appeared in over 220 feature films, initially silent films . He made his debut in the film The Golden Bed (1913). He played in films by the director Fritz Lang such as Die Nibelungen (1924), Metropolis (1927) and M (1931). He also appeared in the Nazi propaganda film Jud Süß (1940) directed by Veit Harlan .

In 1935 Goebbels appointed him Reichskultursenator, in 1937 Adolf Hitler made him a state actor .

In 1942 he became head of the artistic word broadcasts at Großdeutscher Rundfunk . He directed the Sunday program: "Our Treasure Chest". In addition, he was a member of the board of trustees of the Goebbels Foundation for cultural workers and was the presidential advisory board of the Comradeship of German Artists and the Reich Film Chamber .

In August 1944 Goebbels added him to the God-gifted list of indispensable actors he needed for his propaganda films .

In November 1943 Loos was bombed out in Berlin. Illness, operations and lengthy hospital stays marked the last years of the war. At the end of the war he fled from Prague via the Bavarian Forest to Salzburg and from there to Tübingen . His goal was to work as an actor again in Stuttgart. But the Americans imposed a two-year performance ban on the American zone of occupation. Loos was initially able to perform after the opening of the municipal theater in Tübingen, which was located in the French zone, but was then banned from the profession by the French military administration, which brought the now penniless actor into economic distress.

Artist colleagues and people from business and politics, including those who had been persecuted by the National Socialists, testified that despite membership in the party, he was not an active National Socialist. For him the work as an actor was in the foreground, he was an apolitical person who stood up for the interests of his fellow men, even if they came into conflict with the political leadership. It was emphasized that the awards and honors that Theodor Loos received during the Nazi era were based on the merits he had as an actor on the stage and in film, as well as as an employee at the radio in the years before the dawn of the Nazi period and before joining the party (1938). In his application for permission to perform, Theodor Loos himself stated that in his position on the radio it would hardly have been possible for him to avoid joining the NSDAP and that the awards were the result, not the prerequisite for his successful career.

After completing the denazification process, Loos played again from 1947 as a member of the Städtetheater Tübingen Reutlingen and was engaged at the Staatstheater Stuttgart from August 1949 until his death in 1954 . He has also participated in many radio productions.

In addition to films from the silent and sound film era, there are sound recordings with radio plays and readings that give an idea of ​​the effect that Theodor Loos had on his listeners and viewers.

Theodor Loos was married four times. His two sons from his first marriage died in World War II.

He died at the age of 71 during surgery on his gallbladder. His grave is in the forest cemetery Stuttgart-Degerloch .

Awards and honors

Filmography (selection)

Radio plays

literature

  • Rolf Badenhausen :  Loos, Theodor. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 15, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-428-00196-6 , p. 153 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Fritz Kilthau: Theodor Loos. A famous film and theater actor from Zwingenberg an der Bergstrasse. Arbeitskreis Zwingenberger Synagoge eV, Zwingenberg 2005, 2nd, expanded edition 2008. More information at www.arbeitskreis-zwingenberger-synagoge.de. (In personal conversations with family members and the meticulous evaluation of the existing documents, the author made a significant contribution to the understanding of the actor Loos. His research is particularly indispensable for assessing his work during the National Socialist period and the period after 1945 largely based on his information).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gerhard Lamprecht : German silent films 1913 . Deutsche Kinemathek eV, Berlin 1969, p. 36 .
  2. ↑ a b c Ernst Klee : The culture lexicon for the Third Reich. Who was what before and after 1945. S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2007, ISBN 978-3-10-039326-5 , p. 377.
  3. ↑ The subtitle of the program was: Words and ways from eternal German possession . The program was broadcast every Sunday from 9 am to 10 am. The verbal contributions were framed by chamber music. In addition to Theodor Loos, well-known actors such as Mathias Wieman , Käthe Gold , Paul Henckels u. a., with.
    The series was started in autumn 1939 by the German broadcaster. For the content and schedule of the program, see Heinz Ohlendorf / Mathias Wiemann (eds.): Our treasure chest. From eternal German possession . Ludwig Voggenreiter Verlag, Potsdam 1941.
  4. ↑ The following personalities supported Theodor Loos in letters: Elisabeth Flickenschildt (letter of March 9, 1946), Paul Verhoeven (letter of March 15, 1946), Heinz Hilpert (letter of June 5, 1946), Erich Engel (letter of March 14, 1946), Helmut Henrichs (letter of March 20, 1946), Anna Dammann (letter of March 26, 1946), Albrecht Schoenhals (letter of April 10, 1946), Ernst Rogowski (letter of March 18, 1946), Karl Heinz Ruppel (letter of March 23, 1946), Maria Koppenhöfer (letter of March 15, 1946), Werner Finck (letter of March 15, 1946), Werner Hinz (letter of July 23, 1946), Alfred Braun (letter of March 22, 1946), Robert Adolf Stemmle (letter of March 15, 1946), Axel von Ambesser (letter of March 15, 1946), Carlo Schmid (entry of March 19, 1946).
    Source: Sigmaringen State Archives, signature Wü T2 No. 2097/001, s. also: web links. Denazification file Theodor Loos.
  5. ^ Request of April 5, 1946. Source: s. previous comments.
  6. ↑ After examining and evaluating the political questionnaire, Theodor Loos was allowed to resume artistic activity in a judgment of February 18, 1947. According to the rationale, despite his party membership (1938–1943) and offices, he was "never actively involved in the National Socialist sense". Source: s. previous notes.
    For the assessment from today's perspective, see Theodor Loos' role in National Socialism , in: Fritz Kilthau: Theodor Loos. A famous film and theater actor from Zwingenberg an der Bergstrasse. Arbeitskreis Zwingenberger Synagoge eV, Zwingenberg 2005, 2nd, expanded edition 2008. p. 23.
  7. ↑ Published in the swr-edition series by SWR Mediaservices, Stuttgart and also available on various audio book portals.
personal data
SURNAME Loos, Theodor
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Loos, Theodor August Konrad
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German actor
DATE OF BIRTH May 18, 1883
PLACE OF BIRTH Zwingenberg
DATE OF DEATH June 27, 1954
Place of death Stuttgart