{{Short description|Austrian actor (1896–1967)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Anton Walbrook | image = Anton Walbrook cleaned.jpg | caption = | birth_name = Adolf Anton Wilhelm Wohlbrück | birth_date = {{Birth date|1896|11|19|df=yes}} | birth_place = [[Vienna, Austria|Vienna]], Austria-Hungary | death_date = {{Death date and age|1967|08|9|1896|11|19|df=yes}} | death_place = [[Starnberger See]], [[Bavaria]], West Germany | occupation = Actor | spouse = | years_active = 1915–1966 }}
'''Adolf Anton Wilhelm Wohlbrück''' (19 November 1896{{spaced ndash}}9 August 1967) was an [[Austrian people|Austrian]] actor who settled in the [[United Kingdom]] under the name '''Anton Walbrook'''. A popular performer in Austria and [[Weimar Republic|pre-war Germany]], he left Germany in 1936 out of concerns for his own safety and established a career in British cinema. Walbrook is perhaps best known for his roles in the original British film of ''[[Gaslight (1940 film)|Gaslight]]'', ''[[The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp]]'', ''[[The Red Shoes (1948 film)|The Red Shoes]]'' and ''[[Victoria the Great]]'' (as [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]]).
==Early life== Walbrook was born in [[Vienna]], Austria, as Adolf Wohlbrück.<ref name="ODNB">{{Cite ODNB|id=60815|title=Walbrook [formerly Wohlbrück], (Adolf Wilhelm) Anton (1896–1967)}}</ref> He was the son of Gisela Rosa (Cohn) and Adolf Ferdinand Bernhard Hermann Wohlbrück.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tombwithaview.org.uk/abg-people/anton-walbrook/|title=Anton Walbrook – Tomb With a View|access-date=3 October 2012|archive-date=8 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408142058/http://tombwithaview.org.uk/abg-people/anton-walbrook/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vv3ZAAAAMAAJ&q=anton+walbrook+Gisela+Rosa+Cohn|title=Mann für Mann|isbn=9783518397664|last1=Hergemöller|first1=Bernd-Ulrich|year=2001|publisher=Suhrkamp }}</ref> He was descended from ten generations of actors, though his father broke with tradition and was a circus [[clown]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Cross |first=Brenda |date=1948-02-14 |title=Interview with Anton Walbrook |url=https://powell-pressburger.org/Reviews/Anton/Anton01.html |access-date=2024-10-17 |website=powell-pressburger.org}}</ref> He attended a monastery school and considered becoming a monk, but eventually decided to become an actor.<ref name=":1" />
Wohlbrück moved to Berlin to study at the [[Deutsches Theater (Berlin)|Deutsches Theater]] under Austro-German director [[Max Reinhardt]]. His career was temporarily interrupted by the First World War, during which he was captured in France and spent time in a POW camp.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Anton Walbrook: Uncovering a Life of Masks and Mirrors by James Downs |url=https://www.bdcmuseum.org.uk/news/anton-walbrook-uncovering-a-life-of-masks-and-mirrors-by-james-downs/ |access-date=2024-10-17 |website=www.bdcmuseum.org.uk}}</ref>
==Career== After the war, Wohlbrück built up a career in German theatre and cinema, with the support of his friend [[Hermine Körner]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Berki |first=Bibi |date=2021-07-09 |title=Duality of an Exile: Anton Walbrook, A Life of Masks and Mirrors |url=https://filmint.nu/anton-walbrook-james-downs-review-bibi-berki/ |access-date=2024-10-17 |website=FilmInt.nu |language=en-US}}</ref> In the 1930s he was one of Germany's most popular actors.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Downs |first=James |date=2021-06-25 |title=Masks, Mirrors and Paper trails: Anton Walbrook and the archive |url=https://iamhist.net/2021/06/masks-mirrors-paper-trails-anton-walbrook-archive/ |access-date=2024-10-17 |language=en-US}}</ref> However, as the Nazis came to power, Wohlbrück realized that he could not stay in Germany for long, as he risked being persecuted by the Nazis due to his Jewish mother<ref>Offermanns, Ernst (2005) (in German). ''Die deutschen Juden und der Spielfilm der NS-Zeit''. Frankfurt: Peter Lang. p. 69.</ref> and his [[Persecution of homosexuals in Nazi Germany and the Holocaust|homosexuality]].<ref>{{cite web |author=David Ehrenstein |date=20 July 2010 |title=The Red Shoes: Dancing for Your Life |url=http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/1518-the-red-shoes-dancing-for-your-life |access-date=27 August 2012 |work=Current |publisher=The Criterion Collection}}</ref> When Nazi Germany absorbed Austria in the 1938 [[Anschluss]], the Austrian option was taken off the table as well.
In 1936, Wohlbrück went to [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]] to reshoot dialogue for the 1937 multinational ''[[The Soldier and the Lady]]'', in which he portrayed the [[Jules Verne]] hero ''[[Michael Strogoff]]'', and changed his name from Adolf Wohlbrück to Anton Walbrook.<ref name=":3" /> Ironically, due in part to his popularity in Germany (which persisted through the early parts of the Nazi regime), some German emigres in Hollywood suspected that he was a Nazi spy, and some Jewish-American groups threatened to boycott his films.<ref name=":3" /> Although RKO convinced the Jewish organizations to lift the boycott by pointing out Walbrook's actual ethnic heritage, the damage was done.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Downs |first=James |date=2021-04-27 |title=The Jewish Actor Accused of Being a Nazi Spy |url=https://www.jewthink.org/2021/04/27/the-jewish-actor-accused-of-being-a-nazi-spy/ |access-date=2024-10-17 |website=JewThink |language=en-US}}</ref> He moved to London in 1937, settling down in an area with many German-speaking emigres. One of his neighbours was director [[Emeric Pressburger]], who later cast him in some of his most famous roles.<ref name=":4" /> He acquired British citizenship in 1947.<ref name=":3" />
In Britain, Walbrook continued working as an actor, specialising in playing continental Europeans. He "steer[ed] away from the dangerously sexy screen persona of his German career to the image of a passionate spokesman for pan-European liberalism."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Harper |first=Sue |date=October 2023 |title=James Downs, Anton Walbrook: A Life of Masks and Mirrors |url=https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/10.3366/jbctv.2023.0690 |journal=Journal of British Cinema and Television |language=en |volume=20 |issue=4 |pages=520–522 |doi=10.3366/jbctv.2023.0690 |issn=1743-4521|url-access=subscription }}</ref> He played Otto in the first London production of ''[[Design for Living]]'' at the [[Haymarket Theatre]] in January 1939 (later transferring to the [[Savoy Theatre]]), and running for 233 performances, opposite [[Diana Wynyard]] as Gilda and [[Rex Harrison]] as Leo.<ref>''[[The Observer]]'', 29 January 1939, p. 11</ref> In 1952 he appeared at the Coliseum as Cosmo Constantine in ''[[Call Me Madam]]'', also participating alongside Billie Worth, Jeff Warren and [[Shani Wallis]] on the [[EMI]] cast recording.<ref>[https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/947820887 WorldCat entry for Call Me Madam, with details of cast] accessed 7 August 2018.</ref> Producer-director [[Herbert Wilcox]] cast him as [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]] in ''[[Victoria the Great]]'' (1937) and its sequel ''[[Sixty Glorious Years]]'' (1938). In ''[[Dangerous Moonlight]]'' (1941), a romantic melodrama, he was a [[Polish people|Polish]] pianist torn over whether to return home.
[[Thorold Dickinson]] cast Walbrook in ''[[Gaslight (1940 film)|Gaslight]]'' (1940), in the role played by [[Charles Boyer]] in the later Hollywood [[Gaslight (1944 film)|remake]]. One of Walbrook's most unusual films was Dickinson's ''[[The Queen of Spades (1949 film)|The Queen of Spades]]'' (1949), a [[Gothic fiction|Gothic]] thriller based on the [[Alexander Pushkin]] short story, in which he co-starred with [[Edith Evans]].
In 1941 Walbrook began collaborating with [[Michael Powell]] and [[Emeric Pressburger]], for which he is now best remembered. In ''[[49th Parallel (film)|49th Parallel]]'' (1941) he played a leader of a [[Hutterite]] community in Canada. In ''[[The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp]]'' (1943) he played the role of the dashing, intense military officer Theo Kretschmar-Schuldorff, a sympathetic German refugee from the Nazi regime. He also portrayed the tyrannical ballet [[impresario]] Lermontov in ''[[The Red Shoes (1948 film)|The Red Shoes]]'' (1948). His ''Red Shoes'' co-star [[Moira Shearer]] recalled Walbrook was a loner on set, often wearing dark glasses, as in his character costume in the film, and eating alone.<ref>Commentary track on Criterion DVD of ''The Red Shoes''</ref>
After the war, he worked in some continental productions, working with [[Max Ophüls]] as the [[ringmaster (circus)|ringmaster]] in ''[[La Ronde (1950 film)|La Ronde]]'' (1950) and [[Ludwig I, King of Bavaria]] in ''[[Lola Montès]]''.<ref name=":2" />
Walbrook retired from feature films in 1958 and moved to West Germany, where he worked as a stage and television actor during the 1960s.
==Private life== Anton Walbrook was for a short time in a relationship with the painter and graphic artist [[Ferdinand Finne]], whom he had met in 1938 on a train ride in France. The relationship ended in 1946 after Walbrook began an affair with the Englishman Eugene Edwards. Nevertheless, Walbrook set up a flower shop for the man, who was a good thirty years his junior, and continued to remain in contact with him, right up until his death.
==Death== [[File:Walbrook grave.JPG|thumb|333x333px|Walbrook's grave in St John-at-Hampstead parish church yard, London]]In 1967, Walbrook suffered a heart attack on stage while acting in a theatrical production. He survived but later died at the home of actress [[Hansi Burg]] in the Garatshausen district of [[Feldafing]], [[Bavaria]], West Germany.<ref name="ODNB" /><ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=James |date=2014-08-09 |title=Anton Walbrook died 47 years ago today |url=https://darklanecreative.com/anton-walbrook-died-47-years-ago-today-2/ |access-date=2024-10-17 |website=Dark Lane Creative |language=en-GB}}</ref> His ashes were interred in the churchyard of [[St John-at-Hampstead Church|St. John's Church, Hampstead]], London, as he had wished in his will.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |date=2020-08-31 |title=Anton Walbrook – the enigmatic actor who is still remembered – Hampstead Parish Church |url=https://hampsteadparishchurch.org.uk/anton-walbrook-the-enigmatic-actor-who-is-still-remembered/}}</ref> He is buried with his partner Eugene Edwards, a London florist, although Edwards' name is not on the tombstone.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Moor |first=Andrew |date=2022-07-31 |title=Book Review: James Downs, Anton Walbrook: A Life of Masks and Mirrors (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2020) |url=https://www.openscreensjournal.com/article/id/9026/ |journal=Open Screens |volume=5 |issue=1 |doi=10.16995/OS.9026 |doi-access=free |issn=2516-2888}}</ref>
A biography of Walbrook, penned by James Downs, was published in 2020.<ref name=":3" />
==Legacy== American director [[Wes Anderson]] is a great fan of ''[[The Red Shoes (1948 film)|The Red Shoes]]'', and once boasted that he knew all of Walbrook's dialogue in that film by heart.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Brody |first=Richard |date=2009-10-25 |title=The Anderson Tapes |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/the-anderson-tapes |access-date=2024-10-17 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US |issn=0028-792X}}</ref> [[Ralph Fiennes]], who played the dandyish hotel concierge Gustave H. in Anderson's film ''[[The Grand Budapest Hotel]]'', said that Anderson asked him to study Walbrook's work in ''The Red Shoes'' to prepare for his performance.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Crow |first=David |date=2014-03-05 |title=Grand Budapest Hotel Interview with Ralph Fiennes and Tony Revolori |url=https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/grand-budapest-hotel-interview-with-ralph-fiennes-and-tony-revolori/ |access-date=2024-10-17 |website=Den of Geek |language=en-US}}</ref> In addition, Gustave's mustache is based on Walbrook's.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-02-14 |title=At 'The Grand Budapest,' A Banquet Of Beards And Melange Of Mustaches |url=https://www.npr.org/2015/02/14/384130972/at-the-grand-budapest-a-banquet-of-beards-and-melange-of-mustaches |access-date=2024-10-17 |website=NPR}}</ref>
==Filmography== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Language ! Director ! class = "unsortable"|Notes |- | 1915 | ''Marionetten'' | Zirkusdirektor | | Richard Löwenbein | |- | 1923 | ''[[Martin Luther (1923 film)|Martin Luther]]'' | | Silent | Karl Wüstenhagen | |- | 1924 | ''Mater dolorosa'' | | Silent | [[Joseph Delmont]] | |- | 1925 | ''[[The Secret of Castle Elmshoh]]'' | Axel | Silent | [[Max Obal]] | |- | 1931 | ''[[Salto Mortale (1931 German film)|Salto Mortale]]'' | Robby | German | [[E. A. Dupont]] | |- |rowspan=5|1932 | ''[[The Pride of Company Three]]''<!--4 January 1932--> | Prinz Willibald | German | [[Fred Sauer]] | |- | ''[[Three from the Unemployment Office]]''<!--24 February 1932--> | Max Binder | German | [[Eugen Thiele]] | |- | ''[[The Five Accursed Gentlemen]]''<!--23 March 1932--> | Petersen | German | [[Julien Duvivier]] | German-language version of [[Moon Over Morocco (1931 film)|a French film]] |- | ''[[Melody of Love (1932 film)|Melody of Love]]''<!--25 April 1932--> | Kapellmeister | German | [[Georg Jacoby]] | |- | ''Baby''<!--23 December 1932--> | Lord Cecil | German | [[Karel Lamač]] | |- |rowspan=3|1933 | ''[[Waltz War]]''<!--4 October 1933--> | [[Johann Strauss I|Johann Strauss]] | German | [[Ludwig Berger (director)|Ludwig Berger]] | |- | ''{{Ill|Keine Angst vor Liebe|de}}''<!--12 December 1933--> | Helmut Höfert | German | [[Hans Steinhoff]] | |- | ''[[Victor and Victoria]]''<!--23 December 1933--> | rowspan=2|Robert | German | [[Reinhold Schünzel]] | |- |rowspan=5|1934 | ''[[George and Georgette]]''<!--2 February 1934--> | French | [[Reinhold Schünzel]], <br> [[Roger Le Bon]] | French-language version of ''Victor and Victoria'' |- | ''[[The Switched Bride]]'' <!--17 April 1934--> | Charles | German | [[Karel Lamač]] | |- | ''[[Maskerade (film)|Maskerade]]''<!--21 August 1934--> | Ferdinand von Heideneck | German | [[Willi Forst]] | |- | ''[[A Woman Who Knows What She Wants (German Version)|A Woman Who Knows What She Wants]]''<!--31 August 1934--> | Axel Basse | German | [[Victor Janson]] | |- |''[[The English Marriage]]''<!--31 October 1934--> | Warwick Brent | German | [[Reinhold Schünzel]] | |- |rowspan=5|1935 | ''[[Regine (1935 film)|Regine]]''<!--7 January 1935--> | Frank Reynold | German | [[Erich Waschneck]] | |- | ''[[The Gypsy Baron (1935 film)|The Gypsy Baron]]''<!--17 April 1935--> | Sandor Barinkay | German | [[Karl Hartl]] | |- | ''Le Baron tzigane''<!--5 June 1935--> | Sandor Barinkay | French | [[Karl Hartl]], <br> [[Henri Chomette]] | French-language version of ''The Gypsy Baron'' |- | ''[[I Was Jack Mortimer]]''<!--17 October 1935--> | Fred Sponer | German | [[Carl Froelich]] | |- | ''[[The Student of Prague (1935 film)|The Student of Prague]]''<!--10 December 1935--> | Balduin | German | [[Arthur Robison]] | |- |rowspan=5|1936 | ''[[The Czar's Courier]]'' <!--7 February 1936--> | rowspan=2|[[Michael Strogoff]] | German | [[Richard Eichberg]] | |- | ''[[Michel Strogoff (1936 film)|Michel Strogoff]]''<!--10 March 1936--> | French | [[Richard Eichberg]], <br> [[Jacques de Baroncelli]] | French-language version of ''The Czar's Courier'' |- | ''[[Tomfoolery (film)|Tomfoolery]]''<!--12 June 1936--> | Philip | German | [[Willi Forst]] | |- | ''[[Port Arthur (film)|Port Arthur]]'' | rowspan=2|Boris Ranewsky | French | [[Nicolas Farkas]] | |- | ''[[Port Arthur (film)|Port Arthur]]'' | German | [[Nicolas Farkas]] | German-language version of ''Port Arthur'' |- |rowspan=3|1937 | ''[[The Soldier and the Lady]]''<!--9 April 1937--> | [[Michael Strogoff]] | English | [[George Nicholls Jr.]] | Remake of ''The Czar's Courier'' |- | ''[[Victoria the Great]]''<!--16 September 1937--> | [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]] | English | [[Herbert Wilcox]] | |- | ''[[The Rat (1937 film)|The Rat]]''<!--10 November 1937--> | Jean Boucheron | English | [[Jack Raymond]] | |- | 1938 | ''[[Sixty Glorious Years]]''<!--16 September 1937--> | [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]] | English | [[Herbert Wilcox]] | |- | 1940 | ''[[Gaslight (1940 film)|Gaslight]]'' | Paul Mallen/Louis Bauer | English | [[Thorold Dickinson]] | |- |rowspan=2|1941 | ''[[Dangerous Moonlight]]''<!--26 June 1941--> | Stefan Radetzky | English | [[Brian Desmond Hurst]] | |- | ''[[49th Parallel (film)|49th Parallel]]''<!--8 October 1941--> | Peter | English | [[Powell and Pressburger]] | |- | 1943 | ''[[The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp]]'' | Theo Kretschmar-Schuldorff | English | [[Powell and Pressburger]] | |- | 1945 | ''[[The Man from Morocco]]'' | Karel Langer | English | [[Mutz Greenbaum]] | |- | 1948 | ''[[The Red Shoes (1948 film)|The Red Shoes]]'' | Boris Lermontov | English | [[Powell and Pressburger]] | |- | 1949 | ''[[The Queen of Spades (1949 film)|The Queen of Spades]]'' | Capt. Herman Suvorin | English | [[Thorold Dickinson]] | |- |rowspan=2|1950 | ''[[La Ronde (1950 film)|La Ronde]]'' | Master of Ceremonies | French | [[Max Ophüls]] | |- | ''[[King for One Night]]'' | Graf von Lerchenbach | German | [[Paul May]] | |- | 1951 | ''[[Vienna Waltzes (film)|Vienna Waltzes]]'' | [[Johann Strauss I|Johann Strauss]] | German | [[Emil-Edwin Reinert]] | |- | 1952 | ''[[Le Plaisir]]'' | Narrator, German version | | Max Ophüls | Uncredited |- | 1954 | ''[[On Trial (1954 film)|On Trial]] (L'affaire Maurizius)'' | Grégoire Waremme | French | [[Julien Duvivier]] | |- |rowspan=2|1955 | ''[[Oh... Rosalinda!!]]''<!--18 November 1955--> | Dr. Falke | English | [[Powell and Pressburger]] | |- | ''[[Lola Montès]]''<!--22 December 1955--> | King [[Ludwig I of Bavaria]] | French | [[Max Ophüls]] | |- | 1957 | ''[[Saint Joan (1957 film)|Saint Joan]]'' | [[Pierre Cauchon|Cauchon]], Bishop of Beauvais | English | [[Otto Preminger]] | |- | 1958 | ''[[I Accuse!]]'' | Major [[Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy|Esterhazy]] | English | [[José Ferrer]] | |}
===Television (West Germany)=== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! TV Show ! Role ! Notes |- | 1960 | ''{{ill|Venus Observed (1960 film)|de|3=Venus im Licht (Film)|lt=Venus Observed}}'' | The Duke of Altair | based on ''[[Venus Observed]]'' |- | 1962 | ''{{ill|Laura (1962 film)|de|3=Laura (1962)|lt=Laura}}'' | Waldo Lydecker | based on ''[[Laura (novel)|Laura]]'' |- | 1963 | ''{{ill|The Doctor's Dilemma (1963 film)|de|3=Der Arzt am Scheidewege|lt=The Doctor's Dilemma}}'' | Sir Colenso Ridgeon | based on ''[[The Doctor's Dilemma (play)|The Doctor's Dilemma]]'' |- | 1966 | ''Robert and Elisabeth'' | Edward Moulton-Barrett | based on ''[[Robert and Elizabeth]]'' (final film role) |}
==See also== * {{Portal inline|Biography}}
==References== ===Citations=== {{reflist}}
===General sources=== * Moor, Andrew, ''Dangerous Limelight: Anton Walbrook and the Seduction of the English'' (2001) * ''Anton Walbrook. A Life of Masks and Mirrors'' by James Downs (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2020) {{ISBN|978-1-78997-710-3}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|906932}} * {{Screenonline name|id=464396|name=Anton Walbrook}}. Biography & filmography * [http://film.virtual-history.com/person.php?personid=277 Photographs of Anton Walbrook]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walbrook, Anton}} [[Category:1896 births]] [[Category:1967 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century Austrian male actors]] [[Category:20th-century British male actors]] [[Category:Austrian emigrants to the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Austrian expatriates in Germany]] [[Category:Austrian male film actors]] [[Category:Austrian male silent film actors]] [[Category:Austrian people of Jewish descent]] [[Category:British male film actors]] [[Category:British male silent film actors]] [[Category:Burials at St John-at-Hampstead]] [[Category:British gay actors]] [[Category:Jews who immigrated to the United Kingdom to escape Nazism]] [[Category:Austrian gay actors]] [[Category:Male actors from Vienna]] [[Category:20th-century Austrian LGBTQ people]] [[Category:20th-century British LGBTQ people]]