Torben Meyer
Torben Emil Meyer (born December 1, 1884 in Aarhus , Denmark , † May 22, 1975 in Hollywood , California ) was a Danish actor.
life and career
Torben Meyer began his acting career in Denmark at the theater. After his film debut in Afgrunden (1910), he was regularly used in supporting roles in Danish silent films. Meyer immigrated to America in the mid-1920s and worked in Hollywood from then on. In the silent film era, he mostly played larger roles, but with the beginning of the sound film in the late 1920s, his heavy accent became a disadvantage for Meyer, so that he was then mostly only offered smaller roles. In Casablanca (1942), for example, he played for just a few seconds the former president of the second largest bank in Amsterdam, who is now sitting as a refugee in Rick's Cafe. In the 1940s, the bald Meyer became a favorite actor of director Preston Sturges , who often used him in eccentric roles in comedies such as Christmas in July (1940) or Breathless to Florida (1942). Despite his Scandinavian origins, Meyer mostly played German characters, often waiters or butlers.
In one of his last roles, Meyer played an accused German Nazi judge in The Judgment of Nuremberg in 1961 , who in the course of the trial recognizes his guilt but cannot explain his actions. In total, he played around 250 films by the end of his career in 1966, and he also had several television appearances in the 1950s and 1960s. He died of pneumonia in Hollywood in 1975 at the age of 90 .
Filmography (selection)
- 1910: Abysses (Afgrunden)
- 1912: Heart fight (Hjerternes Kamp)
- 1913: Atlantis
- 1915: Revolutionary wedding (Revolutionbryllup)
- 1921: film, flirtation and engagement (revolutionary bullup)
- 1925: When two love each other (Fra Piazza del Popolo)
- 1926: Don Quixote
- 1926: The dancing gate (Klovnen)
- 1928: The Man Who Laughs (The Man Who Laughs)
- 1928: The Drama of the Flood (Noah's Ark)
- 1928: The Devils of the North Sea (The Viking)
- 1929: The Final Warning (The Last Warning)
- 1930: The Clumsy (Lummox)
- 1932: The Man Who Driven His Conscience (Broken Lullaby)
- 1932: Murders in the Rue Morgue (Murders in the Rue Morgue)
- 1932: What Price Hollywood?
- 1932: The beautiful Karl (Downstairs)
- 1932: The Animal Kingdom
- 1933: Rendez-vous in Vienna (Reunion in Vienna)
- 1934: Mandalay
- 1934: Liebesreigen (Music in the Air)
- 1935: Madame commands! (Enter Madame!)
- 1935: Roberta
- 1935: The Bride of Frankenstein (Bride of Frankenstein)
- 1935: The Mark of the Vampire
- 1935: The Black Room
- 1935: The Gay Deception
- 1935: Charlie Chan in Shanghai
- 1935: Escape from Paris (A Tale of Two Cities)
- 1935: If You Could Only Cook
- 1936: When the father with the son .. (Piccadilly Jim)
- 1937: Thin Ice
- 1937: The Prisoner of Zenda (The Prisoner of Zenda)
- 1937: Finale in St. Petersburg (The Emperor's Candlesticks)
- 1937: Dance with me (Shall We Dance)
- 1938: The Great Waltz (The Great Waltz)
- 1938: Topper goes on a trip (Topper Takes a Trip)
- 1939: Nurse Edith Cavell
- 1940: Paul Ehrlich - A Life for Research (Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet)
- 1940: The Great Dictator (The Great Dictator)
- 1940: Christmas in July (Christmas in July)
- 1941: The Cardsharp (The Lady Eve)
- 1941: Sunny
- 1941: Sullivan's Travels (Sullivan's Travels)
- 1942: Casablanca
- 1942: Breathless to Florida (The Palm Beach Story)
- 1943: Hunted by Agents (Journey Into Fear)
- 1943: Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man)
- 1943: Rebellion in Trollness (Edge of Darkness)
- 1943: Jack London
- 1944: Sensation in Morgan's Creek (The Miracle of Morgan's Creek)
- 1944: Pinky and Curly (Once Upon a Time)
- 1944: Hail the conquering hero (Hail the Conquering Hero)
- 1945: Hotel Berlin
- 1945: Yolanda and the Thief (Yolanda and the Thief)
- 1946: The hero of the day (The Kid from Brooklyn)
- 1947: Crazy Wednesday (The Sin of Harold Diddlebrock)
- 1947: Clara Schumann's great love (Song of Love)
- 1947: Girls for Hollywood (Variety Girl)
- 1948: Letter from an Unknown (Letter from an Unknown Woman)
- 1948: The Imperfect Lady (Julia Misbehaves)
- 1948: The Unfaithfully Yours
- 1950: The Christmas Wish (The Great Rupert)
- 1951: My husband wants to get married (Grounds for Marriage)
- 1951: A Mother's Heart (The Blue Veil)
- 1952: The Merry Widow
- 1953: Madame makes history (s) (Call Me Madame)
- 1953: Houdini, the king of vaudeville (Houdini)
- 1954: The skirt-hunter of Venice (Casanova's Big Night)
- 1954: The likable impostor (Living It Up)
- 1955: We're No Angels (We're No Angels)
- 1956: The Conqueror (The Conqueror)
- 1956: Broadway Magic (Anything Goes)
- 1956: All about Anita (Hollywood or Bust)
- 1956: I Love Lucy (TV series, an episode)
- 1957: A Life Intoxicated (The Helen Morgan Story)
- 1958: The Fly (The Fly)
- 1958: The Matchmaker
- 1959: This Earth Is Mine
- 1960: Café Europa (GI Blues)
- 1961: The Judgment at Nuremberg
- 1963: A New Kind of Love (A New Kind of Love)
- 1966: The Charming Jeannie (TV series, an episode)
Web links
- Torben Meyer in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Torben Meyer on dfi.dk in the Det Danske Filminstitut (Danish)
- Torben Meyer on danskefilm.dk in the Dansk Film Database (Danish)
- Torben Meyer in the All Movie Guide (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Torben Meyer | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos | AllMovie. Retrieved September 10, 2018 .
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Meyer, Torben |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Meyer, Torben Emil (full name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Danish actor |
DATE OF BIRTH | December 1, 1884 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Aarhus , Denmark |
DATE OF DEATH | May 22, 1975 |
Place of death | Hollywood , California |