{{short description|German actor}} {{Infobox person | name = Erich Ponto | image = Fotothek df pk 0000156 028 Aufnahmen von M. Friedrichs, M. Fischer, Hermann Matern, Arno Schellenberg und F.jpg | caption = Ponto in July 1945 | alt = | birth_name = Erich Johannes Bruno Ponto | birth_date = {{Birth date|1884|12|14|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Free City of Lübeck]], German Empire | death_date = {{Death date and age|1957|2|14|1884|12|14|df=y}} | death_place = [[Stuttgart]], Baden-Württemberg, West Germany | death_cause = | resting_place = Tolkewitz cemetery, [[Dresden]] | other_names = | occupation = Actor | years_active = 1908–1957 | spouse = Tony Kresse | partner = | children = 2 | awards = Baden-Württemberg [[State actor]] (1952) <br />[[Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany|Federal Cross of Merit]] (1954) <br />[[Deutscher Filmpreis]] (1956) }}
'''Erich Johannes Bruno Ponto''' (14 December 1884 – 14 February 1957) was a German film and stage actor.
==Career== Erich Ponto was born in [[Lübeck]] as the son of a textile merchant. After his family had moved to [[Hamburg]]-[[Eimsbüttel (quarter)|Eimsbüttel]], he attended the [[Gymnasium (Germany)|gymnasium]] secondary school in [[Altona, Hamburg|Altona]] and upon his [[Abitur]] exam began a study of [[pharmacy]] at the [[University of Munich]], where he went to lectures delivered by physicist [[Wilhelm Röntgen]], whose discovery of [[X-ray|X-rays]] or Röntgen rays, had earned him the inaugural [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] in 1901. Ponto worked for a few years as a pharmacist, but was already passionate about acting during his university time – he started to take acting lessons and eventually became a full-time actor.<ref>[https://meinsammelsuriumblog.wordpress.com/2017/03/12/erich-ponto-humor-des-herzens-erich-ponto-liest-wilhelm-busch-1957/ Erich Ponto – Humor des Herzens – Erich Ponto liest Wilhelm Busch] (German)</ref>
Ponto gave his debut on stage at the [[Stadttheater Passau]] in 1908, followed by engagements in [[Nordhausen, Thuringia|Nordhausen]], [[Liberec|Reichenberg]] (Liberec), and [[Düsseldorf]]. From 1914 to 1947 he was a member of the [[Staatsschauspiel Dresden|Hoftheater Dresden]] ensemble (Staatstheater Dresden from 1918), in the season 1946/47 also as [[intendant]].<ref>[https://www.staatsschauspiel-dresden.de/ensemble/erich_ponto/ Erich Ponto at the Staatschauspiel Dresden]</ref> On stage his most famous role was that of J.J. Peachum in the original production of [[Bertolt Brecht]]'s ''[[The Threepenny Opera]]'' in 1928. During the Third Reich he won the title of a [[Staatsschauspieler]] in 1938, the highest title that could be awarded to a stage actor in Nazi-Germany. Later stage roles included ''[[Nathan the Wise]]'' in 1945 and Willy Loman in ''[[Death of a Salesman]]'' in 1950.<ref>[https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/gnd116266422.html#ndbcontent Erich Ponto at Deutsche Biografie] (German)</ref><ref>[https://www.neues-deutschland.de/artikel/751075.der-tod-des-handlungsreisenden.html Der Tod des Handlungsreisenden] at Neues Deutschland (German)</ref>
Ponto only started to appear in films regularly after the start of the sound film, when he was already middle-aged. He became a well-known character actor in German cinema of the 1930s and 1940s, often in eccentric or villainous roles. Among his roles were [[Mayer Amschel Rothschild]] in the anti-semitic Nazi film ''[[The Rothschilds (film)|The Rothschilds]]'' (1940) and a stuffy school teacher in ''[[Die Feuerzangenbowle (1944 film)|Die Feuerzangenbowle]]'' (1944) with [[Heinz Rühmann]], widely regarded as a film classic in Germany. After World War II he appeared in [[Carol Reed]]'s British thriller ''[[The Third Man]]'' (1949), playing a sinister physician in a supporting role. In 1955 Ponto won the [[German Film Award]] as the "Best male actor in a Supporting role" for ''[[Sky Without Stars|Himmel ohne Sterne]]'' (1955).<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048169/awards IMDb Awards for "Himmel ohne Sterne"]</ref> He worked as an actor until shortly before his death.
As a synchronisation actor, Ponto dubbed English-language actors like [[Lionel Barrymore]], [[Charles Laughton]] and [[Charley Grapewin]] in a number of films between the mid 1930s and early 1950s.<ref>[https://synchrondatenbank.de/sprecher.php?id=8811 Erich Ponto at the Synchrondatenbank] (German)</ref>
== Personal life == In 1916 he married Tony Kresse, they had two children. Ponto also worked as an acting teacher, among his students was [[Gert Fröbe]] of [[Goldfinger (film)|Goldfinger]] fame.<ref>[https://www.mdr.de/zeitreise/sendungen/dokus/gert-froebe176.html Gert Fröbe: Hollywood-Star aus Zwickau] (German)</ref> Ponto's final film was ''[[Der Stern von Afrika]]'', released in the year of his death. He died at the age of 72 after a long cancer illness. Erich Ponto was the uncle of [[Dresdner Bank]] general director [[Jürgen Ponto]], who was murdered by members of the communist [[Red Army Faction|RAF]] in 1977.<ref>[https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/ponto-mord-vor-30-jahren-fuenf-schuesse-im-eigenen-haus-1.804941 Fünf Schüsse im eigenen Haus], Süddeutsche Zeitung (German)</ref>
== Selected filmography == {{div col|colwidth=30em}} * ''Der Geiger von Meissen'' (1921) * ''[[Woman in the Jungle]]'' (1931) - Joyce * ''[[The Man Who Murdered]]'' (1931) - Boucher * ''[[Love, Death and the Devil]]'' (1934) - The Old Man * ''Santa Joana D'Arc'' (1935) - [[John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury|Lord Talbot]] * ''[[The King's Prisoner]]'' (1935) - Friseur * ''[[The Last Four on Santa Cruz]]'' (1936) - Alexander Ghazaroff * ''[[Schlußakkord]]'' (1936) - Jury President * ''[[The Hound of the Baskervilles (1937 film)|The Hound of the Baskervilles]]'' (1937) - Stapleton * ''[[Tango Notturno]]'' (1937) - Poor Man * ''[[The Mystery of Betty Bonn]]'' (1938) - Capitain Spurling * ''[[By a Silken Thread]]'' (1938) - Theodor Kalbach * ''[[The Four Companions (film)|The Four Companions]]'' (1938) - Alfred Hintze * ''Dreizehn Mann und eine Kanone'' (1938) * ''[[Hello Janine!|Hallo Janine]]'' (1939) - Mr. Pamion * ''[[Wibbel the Tailor (1939 film)|Wibbel the Tailor]]'' (1939) - Schneider Anton Wibbel * ''In letzter Minute'' (1939) - Alexander Piepenbrink * ''[[The Fire Devil]]'' (1940) - [[Napoleon|Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte]] * ''[[The Rothschilds (film)|Die Rothschilds]]'' (1940) - [[Mayer Amschel Rothschild]] * ''Aus erster Ehe'' (1940) - Professor Skutor * ''Wie konntest Du, Veronika!'' (1940) - Banker * ''Achtung! Feind hört mit!'' (1940) - Mr. Bock * ''[[Clothes Make the Man (1940 film)|Kleider machen Leute]]'' (1940) * ''[[The Girl from Barnhelm]]'' (1940) - Wirt * ''[[Das Herz der Königin]]'' (1940) - Singer * ''Blutsbrüderschaft'' (1941) - Director Gösch * ''[[Ich klage an]]'' (1941) - Professor Werther * ''Leichte Muse'' (1941) - Chorleiter Palitsch * ''[[Her Other Self]]'' (1941) - Geheimrat Wuellner * ''[[The Night in Venice]]'' (1942) - Director Arnold Richard Schmitz * ''[[The Rainer Case]]'' (1942) - Hotel Director * ''[[Attack on Baku]]'' (1942) - Jenssen * ''Der große Schatten'' (1942) - Oswald Siebel * ''[[Diesel (1942 film)|Diesel]]'' (1942) - Theodor Diesel * ''Ein glücklicher Mensch'' (1943) - Pauly * ''Die beiden Schwestern'' (1943) - [[Adolph Menzel]] * ''[[Die Feuerzangenbowle (1944 film)|Die Feuerzangenbowle]]'' (1944) - Professor Crey - called Schnauz * ''[[The Master Detective]]'' (1944) - Gutsbesitzer Theobald Langendorff * ''[[Philharmonic (film)|Philharmonic]]'' (1944) - Straehle * ''Der Engel mit dem Saitenspiel'' (1944) - Barnabas * ''Am Abend nach der Oper'' (1945) - Stephan Schneider * ''Der Scheiterhaufen'' (1945) * ''[[Der Fall Molander]]'' (unfinished film, 1945) - Dannemann * ''[[Between Yesterday and Tomorrow (film)|Between Yesterday and Tomorrow]]'' (1947) - Professor von Walther * ''[[Film Without a Title]]'' (1948) - Mr. Schichtholz * ''[[The Lost Face]]'' (1948) - Scientific * ''Die kupferne Hochzeit'' (1948) - Alter Lehrer * ''[[The Court Concert (1948 film)|The Court Concert]]'' (1948) - Serenissimus * ''[[Love '47]]'' (1949) - Old Man * ''[[The Third Man]]'' (1949) - Dr. Winkel * ''Verspieltes Leben'' (1949) - Mathematic Professor * ''[[Second Hand Destiny]]'' (1949) - Professor Sapis * ''Hans im Glück'' (1949) * ''{{ill|Tobias Knopp – Abenteuer eines Junggesellen|de}}'' (1950) - Plünne (voice) * ''[[Beloved Liar]]'' (1950) - Plage * ''[[Doctor Praetorius (film)|Doctor Praetorius]]'' (1950) - Professor Speiter * ''Das fremde Leben'' (1951) - Prosecutor Knopp * ''[[Veronika the Maid]]'' (1951) * ''Primanerinnen'' (1951) - Krautkopf * ''[[No Greater Love (1952 film)|No Greater Love]]'' (1952) - Minister * ''[[Weekend in Paradise (1952 film)|Weekend in Paradise]]'' (1952) - Giersdorfs Onkel * ''[[House of Life]]'' (1952) - Geheimrat Merk * ''[[Monks, Girls and Hungarian Soldiers]]'' (1952) - Fellerer * ''[[The Blue and White Lion]]'' (1952) - Government President * ''[[The Great Temptation]]'' (1952) - Professor Dr. Gandolphi * ''[[Not Afraid of Big Animals]]'' (1953) - Police Commissioner * ''[[Hocuspocus (1953 film)|Hocuspocus]]'' (1953) - Mr. Arthur Graham * ''[[Sauerbruch – Das war mein Leben]]'' (1954) - Chefarzt Psychiatrie * ''[[Love is Forever (1954 film)|Love is Forever]]'' (1954) * ''[[The Flying Classroom (1954 film)|The Flying Classroom]]'' (1954) - Medical Councilman * ''[[Keine Angst vor Schwiegermüttern]]'' (1954) * ''[[The Missing Miniature]]'' (1954) * ''[[The Golden Plague (1954 film)|The Golden Plague]]'' (1954) - Dr. Sierich * ''[[Sky Without Stars]]'' (1955) - Father Otto Kaminski * ''[[Ballerina (1956 film)|Ballerina]]'' (1956) - Schimanski * ''[[If We All Were Angels (1956 film)|If We All Were Angels]]'' (1956) - Magistrate * ''[[Made in Germany (film)|Made in Germany]]'' (1957) - Professor Virchow * ''[[The Girl and the Legend]]'' (1957) - [[Daniel Defoe]] * ''[[The Zurich Engagement]]'' (1957) - (uncredited) * ''[[Der Stern von Afrika]]'' (1957) - Old Frenchman (final film role) {{div col end}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category|Erich Ponto}} * {{IMDb name|0690691}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ponto, Erich}} [[Category:1884 births]] [[Category:1957 deaths]] [[Category:Actors from Lübeck]] [[Category:German male film actors]] [[Category:German male stage actors]] [[Category:20th-century German male actors]] [[Category:Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]] [[Category:Male actors from Schleswig-Holstein]]