Sig Ruman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Sig Ruman | |
|---|---|
 Sig Ruman as Herbert Gottlieb in A Night at the Opera. |
|
| Born | Siegfried Albon Rumann October 11, 1884 Hamburg, Germany |
| Died | February 14, 1967 (aged 82) (heart attack) Julian, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | actor |
Sig Ruman (born Siegfried Albon Rumann) (October 11, 1884 – February 14, 1967) was a German-American actor known for his comic portrayals of pompous villains.
Born in Hamburg, he studied electrical engineering before serving with the Imperial German army during the First World War. After moving to the United States in 1924, his acting career blossomed. Befriending playwright George S. Kaufman and theater critic Alexander Woollcott, he enjoyed success in many Broadway productions.
With the advent of talkies, Ruman became a favorite of the Marx Brothers, appearing in A Night at the Opera, A Day at the Races, and A Night in Casablanca. His German accent and large stature kept him busy during World War II, playing sinister Nazi characters in a series of wartime thrillers. During this period, he also appeared in several films by Ernst Lubitsch, a fellow German immigrant. In 1941, he played the role of Professor Herman Von Reiter in Shining Victory, an adaptation of an A. J. Cronin play.
According to Leonard Maltin in the DVD commentary for A Night at the Opera, Ruman had modified his screen name to make it a little less German-sounding, to lessen potential anti-German prejudice against him.
Despite poor health during the 1950s and 1960s, Ruman continued to find work, making many guest appearances on television. In 1953, he played what is perhaps his most famous role — that of "Schultz", the two-faced POW camp guard in Stalag 17. He died of a heart attack on February 14, 1967 in Julian, California.
[edit] Partial filmography
[edit] External links
- Sig Ruman at the Internet Movie Database
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ruman, Sig |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Rumann, Siegfried; Rumann, Sieg |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | German-American actor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1884 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Hamburg, Germany |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1967 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Julian, California |
