{{Short description|Austrian-Canadian actor, producer (1926–1993)}} '''Anthony Kramreither''' (August 7, 1926 – February 8, 1993) was an Austrian-Canadian film and television actor and producer.<ref name=obit>"OBITUARY: Anthony Kramreither Toronto film producer". ''The Globe and Mail'', February 12, 1993.</ref> Primarily known as a producer of low-budget horror and exploitation films such as ''Thrillkill'', ''The Giant Spider Invasion'' and ''Humongous'',<ref name=darkhorse>"Low-budget film-maker a dark horse". ''Toronto Star'', August 31, 1986.</ref> he was most noted as producer of the 1986 film ''Dancing in the Dark'', which was a Genie Award nominee for Best Picture at the 8th Genie Awards in 1987.<ref>"Arcand's Decline tops Genie nominations with 13". ''The Globe and Mail'', February 5, 1987.</ref>
Originally from Vienna, Kramreither was a stage actor in Austria and Germany before moving to Canada in 1954.<ref name=obit /> In Canada, he had television acting roles in series such as ''Wojeck'', ''Quentin Durgens, M.P.'', ''R.C.M.P.'', ''Adventures in Rainbow Country'' and ''Seaway'', and films such as ''Change of Mind'', ''Silent Friends'' and ''Babysitters'', before launching his own production company, Brightstar Films, in 1972.<ref name=obit/>
With Brightstar, he aspired to make serious, artistically accomplished films;<ref name=obit/> his first project was a television documentary series about Nobel Prize winners, and his second was the family film ''Lions for Breakfast''.<ref name=parkinsons>"The movie-maker's secret Toronto producer: Tony Kramreither is focusing on life's bright side despite battle with Parkinson's". ''Toronto Star'', January 19, 1990.</ref> To make money for the firm, however, he also agreed to make several low-budget commercial horror films, which quickly came to define his studio's reputation and eclipse his original ambitions.<ref name=darkhorse/> In 1983, he produced, directed and cowrote the comedy film ''All in Good Taste'', a deliberate parody of the gap between his own goals as a producer and the low-budget mass market compromises that he was forced to make;<ref name=darkhorse/> the film would also later become noted as one of the first-ever film roles for comedic actor Jim Carrey.
When Don Haig approached him for assistance in raising funds for ''Dancing in the Dark'', he accepted the opportunity to move back into more serious filmmaking;<ref name=darkhorse /> with its screening at the Cannes Film Festival in 1986, it became the first Kramreither-produced film to premiere at a major film festival.<ref name=darkhorse /> Other more ambitious films he produced around the same time included ''Flying'', ''Confidential'', ''Dreams Beyond Memory'' and ''Concrete Angels''.<ref name=darkhorse/>
In the late 1980s, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.<ref name=parkinsons /> His final film as a producer was the 1991 film ''White Light'', directed by Al Waxman;<ref name=parkinsons /> in the same year, he won a lifetime achievement award from the Canadian Film and Television Production Association.<ref name=obit/>
He died on February 8, 1993, at his home in Richmond Hill.<ref name=obit/>
== Filmography == ''He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.''
===Film=== {| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Credit ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- | 1975 || ''Lions for Breakfast'' || || |- | 1976 || ''A Sweeter Song'' || Executive producer || |- | 1977 || ''Deadly Harvest'' || || |- | 1982 || ''Humongous'' || || |- |rowspan=2| 1983 || ''American Nightmare'' || Executive producer || |- | ''All in Good Taste'' || || |- | 1984 || ''Thrillkill'' || || |- | 1985 || ''Mark of Cain'' || || |- |rowspan=5| 1986 || ''A Judgment in Stone'' || Associate producer || |- | ''Flying'' || || |- | ''Dancing in the Dark'' || || |- | ''Twin Dragon Encounter'' || Executive producer || |- | ''Confidential'' || || |- |rowspan=2| 1987 || ''Concrete Angels'' || || |- | ''Dreams Beyond Memory'' || || |- | 1988 || ''The Brain'' || || |- |rowspan=2| 1989 || ''Freakshow'' || || |- | ''Mob Story'' || Executive producer || |- | 1991 || ''White Light'' || || Final film as a producer |}
;As an actor
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role |- |rowspan=3| 1969 || ''Change of Mind'' || Dr. Bornear |- | ''Silent Friends'' || {{N/A}} |- | ''Babysitters'' || Carlo |- | 1971 || ''The Reincarnate'' || Van Broeck |- | 1981 || ''The Amateur'' || TV Director |}
;As director
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film |- | 1983 || ''All in Good Taste'' |- | 1984 || ''Thrillkill'' |}
;As writer
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film |- | 1983 || ''All in Good Taste'' |}
;Miscellaneous crew
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role |- | 1983 || ''All in Good Taste'' || Assistant gopher |}
===Television===
;As an actor
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Title ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- |rowspan=2| 1958 || ''Cannonball'' || Koslenko || |- | ''Folio'' || Brion || |- | 1958−59 || ''The Unforeseen'' || Hornung || |- | 1959 || ''Hudson's Bay'' || Hans Huber || |- | 1959−60 || ''R.C.M.P.'' || Victor Raskob<hr>Mike Holowchuk || |- | 1960 || ''Festival'' || {{N/A}} || |- | 1960−61 || ''Encounter'' || SS Man || |- | 1963 || ''Scarlett Hill'' || Dr. Spangle || |- | 1963−65 || ''The Forest Rangers'' || Merv<hr>Wild Man<hr>Karl Hauptmann || |- | 1965−66 || ''Seaway'' || Captain Kristatos<hr>Meiningen<hr>Barsky || |- | 1969 || ''Adventures in Rainbow Country'' || Miroslav || |- |rowspan=2| 1971 || ''Heißer Sand'' || George Howard || Television film |- | ''Augenzeugen müssen blind sein'' || Boy Harloff || Television film |- | 1980 || ''Matt and Jenny'' || Franz Von Poppel || |}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kramreither, Anthony}} Category:1926 births Category:1993 deaths Category:Canadian male screenwriters Category:Canadian male television actors Category:Canadian male film actors Category:Austrian emigrants to Canada Category:Film directors from Vienna Category:Male actors from Vienna Category:Writers from Vienna Category:20th-century Canadian screenwriters Category:20th-century Canadian male actors