Emil Jannings

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Emil Jannings

Born

Theodor Friedrich Emil Janenz
July 23, 1884
Rorschach, Switzerland

Died

January 3, 1950 (aged 65)
Strobl, Austria

Awards won
Academy Awards
Best Actor 1928 The Last Command and The Way of All Flesh

Emil Jannings (July 23, 1884 – January 3, 1950) was a German actor and the first winner of the Academy Award for Best Actor. He won the 1928 Oscar for two films, The Way of All Flesh and The Last Command. He also starred in F. W. Murnau's The Last Laugh, a film notable in silent cinema for its lack of title cards, and in the 1922 film version of Shakespeare's Othello.

Christened Theodor Friedrich Emil Janenz in Rorschach, Switzerland, of a German mother and an American father, Jannings was a theater actor who had a promising Hollywood career come to an end when talkies made his thick German accent difficult to understand. He returned to Europe, where he starred opposite Marlene Dietrich in the classic 1930 film The Blue Angel, filmed in English simultaneously with its German version Der blaue Engel. He soon spotted that the unknown Dietrich was a star in the making, while his own career was past its peak, and he was especially spiteful to her throughout the filming, according to her.

Besides The Last Laugh, Jannings worked with Murnau on two other films, playing the title character in Herr Tartüff and Mephistopheles in Faust.

During the Third Reich, he starred in several films which were intended to promote Nazism, particularly the Führerprinzip: Der Herrscher ("The Ruler" 1937), The Youth of Frederick the Great (1935), and The Dismissal of Bismarck (1942). Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels named him "Artist of the State" in 1941. His involvement with the Nazis ended any chance he may have had for a comeback in the United States.

When troops of the Allied Powers entered Germany in 1945, Jannings reportedly carried his 1928 Best Actor Oscar with him as proof of his former association with Hollywood. However, Jannings's active role in Nazi propaganda meant he was subject to denazification, and any comeback attempt was doomed. He then retired to his farm in Austria. Very proficient in money matters, Jannings was one of the highest paid actors of his time.

Jannings died in 1950 in Strobl, Austria, of cancer at the age of 65. His Best Actor Oscar is now on display at the Filmmuseum in Berlin, Germany.

[edit] Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Other notes
1914	Arme Eva
	Im Schützengraben
	Passionels Tagebuch
1916	Aus Mangel an Beweisen	Dr. Langer
	Die Bettlerin von St. Marien	Baron Gelsburg
	Frau Eva
	Im Angesicht des Toten'’	Paul Werner
	Das Leben ein Traum
	Nächte des Grauens
	Stein unter Steinen
1917	Das Fidele Gefängnis	Quabbe, the jailer	The Merry Jail (Europe: English title)
	Wenn vier dasselbe tun	Segetoff
	Hoheit Radieschen
	Die Ehe der Luise Rohrbach	Wilhelm Rohrbach
	Der Zehnte Pavillon der Zitadelle
	Das Geschäft	S. H. Haßler
	Lulu
	Der Ring der Giuditta Foscari
	Die Seeschlacht
	Unheilbar
1918	Teil Keimendes Leben 1	James Fraenkel, Börsenmarktler John Smith, amerikanischer Ingenieur
	Die Augen der Mumie Ma	Radu, an Arab	aka The Eyes of the Mummy
	Fuhrmann Henschel
	Nach zwanzig Jahren	Horst Lundin 'Korn'
1919	Rose Bernd	Arthur Streckmann
	Madame DuBarry	Louis XV	aka Passion
	Vendetta	Tomasso
	Die Tochter des Mehemed	Vaco Juan Riberda, Fabrikbesitzer
	Teil Keimendes Leben 2
	Der Mann der Tat	Jan Miller
1920	Colombine
	Anna Boleyn	Henry VIII	aka Deception
	Der Schädel der Pharaonentochter	Osorcon, Pharao of Egypt
	Algol - Tragödie der Macht	Robert Herne
	Das Große Licht	Lorenz Ferleitner
	Kohlhiesels Töchter	Peter Xaver	aka Kohlhiesel's Daughters
1921	Die Ratten	Bruno
	Der Schwur des Peter Hergatz
	Danton	Danton	aka All for a Woman
	Der Stier von Olivera	General François Guillaume
	Die Brüder Karamasoff	Dimitri Karamasoff	aka The Brothers Karamazov
1922	Peter der Große	Peter der Große	aka Peter the Great (USA)
	Othello	Othello
	Das Weib des Pharao	Pharao Amenes	aka Loves of the Pharoah
	Die Gräfin von Paris		aka The Countess of Paris (USA}
1923	Alles für Geld	S. I. Rupp
1923	Tragödie der Liebe	Ombrade	aka The Tragedy of Love (USA)
1924	The Last Laugh	Hotelportier (hotel porter)	The Last Laugh (USA)
	Nju - Eine unverstandene Frau	Ehemann	aka Husbands or Lovers (USA)
	Das Wachsfigurenkabinett	Harun al Raschid	aka Waxworks
1925	Varieté	Boss Huller	aka Jealousy (USA)
	Quo Vadis?	Nerone
	Liebe macht blind	Emil Jannings	aka Love Makes Us Blind
1926	Herr Tartüff	Tartüff
1926	Faust - Eine deutsche Volkssage	Mephisto
1927	The Way of All Flesh	August Schilling	Academy Award for Best Actor
1928	Sins of the Fathers	Wilhelm Spengler
	The Patriot	Czar Paul I
	Street of Sin	Basher Bill
	The Last Command	Gen. Dolgorucki / Grand Duke Sergius Alexander	Academy Award for Best Actor
1929	Betrayal	Poldi Moser
1929	Fighting the White Slave Traffic
1930	Liebling der Götter	Albert Winkelmann	aka Darling of the Gods
1930	Der Blaue Engel	Prof. Immanuel Rath	aka The Blue Angel (USA)
1932	Stürme der Leidenschaft	Gustav Bumke	aka Storms of Passion aka Tempest
1933	Die Abenteuer des Königs Pausole	King Pausole	aka The Adventures of King Pausole
1933	The Merry Monarch	King Pausole
1934	Der Schwarze Walfisch	Peter Petersen	aka The Black Whale (International: English title)
1935	Der Alte und der junge König - Friedrichs des Grossen Jugend	Friedrich Wilhelm I. König von Preussen	aka The Making of a King (USA)
1936	Traumulus	Direktor Prof. Niemeyer	aka The Dreamer
1937	Der Zerbrochene Krug	Adam, Dorfrichter	aka The Broken Jug
1937	Der Herrscher	Matthias Clausen	aka The Ruler
1939	Robert Koch, der Bekämpfer des Todes	Dr. Robert Koch
1939	Der Trichter. (Nr. III)		scenes deleted
Ohm Krüger	Ohm Krüger	aka Uncle Kruger (International: English title)
1942	Die Entlassung	Bismarck	aka Bismarck's Dismissal (UK)
1943	Altes Herz wird wieder jung	Fabrikdirektor Hoffmann
1945	Wo ist Herr Belling?	Firmenchef Eberhard Belling	aka Where Is Mr. Belling?