Willi Wolff

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Willi Wolff (born April 16, 1883 in Schönebeck (Elbe) , † April 6, 1947 in Nice , France ) was a German songwriter , screenwriter , film director and film producer .

Life

After completing a commercial apprenticeship, Willi Wolff studied medicine and philosophy in Berlin, Leipzig and Rostock and did a doctorate in both subjects. Then he became a dentist in Berlin . He also wrote chansons for Rudolf Nelson , which were performed in revues in the Admiralspalast and in the Theater am Nollendorfplatz . When war broke out in 1914, he also wrote patriotic lyrics.

From 1917 he worked as a title writer for Paul Davidson's production company PAGU . Soon afterwards he worked as a screenwriter, but also continued to write lyrics, including for Herman Haller's revues .

With the actress Ellen Richter , whom he married in 1915, he formed a permanent team in the 1920s. As a screenwriter, director and producer, he made her the star of his adventure and sensational films, preferring exotic locations.

In 1933 his Jewish wife was banned from acting. Wolff continued in the film business for some time, most recently as a producer for the Riton film. In 1935 the couple emigrated to Vienna for three years , where Wolff worked as a dentist again. After the annexation of Austria , both managed to flee to France in 1938 . Here, too, Wolff was active in his studied profession. After the invasion of the Wehrmacht, Wolff and Ellen Richter fled to the USA via Lisbon at the end of 1940 and settled in New York . Wolff began to study again there in order to also acquire the US doctoral degree.

Wolff died of a heart attack in early April 1947 in a hotel in Nice at the beginning of a trip to Europe that he and his wife had started.

Filmography

as a screenwriter unless otherwise stated

literature

  • Kay Less : "In life, more is taken from you than given ...". Lexicon of filmmakers who emigrated from Germany and Austria between 1933 and 1945. A general overview. Acabus-Verlag, Hamburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-86282-049-8 , p. 548.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dates of death according to In life, more is taken from you than given. P. 548.
  2. ↑ See the entry of Willi Wolff's matriculation in the Rostock matriculation portal
personal data
SURNAME Wolff, Willi
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German songwriter, screenwriter and film director
DATE OF BIRTH April 16, 1883
PLACE OF BIRTH Schönebeck (Elbe)
DATE OF DEATH April 6, 1947
Place of death Nice , France