Paul Kohner

{{Short description|Austrian-American talent agent and producer}} {{Original research|date=April 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = Paul Kohner | image =  | alt = | caption = | birth_name =  | birth_date = {{Birth date|1902|05|29}} | birth_place = Teplitz-Schönau, Austria-Hungary | death_date= {{Death date and age|1988|03|16|1902|05|20}} | death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | other_names = | citizenship = Austria, United States<ref name=FamilySearch-Naturalization-1of2-1926>{{cite web|title=Paul Kohner - California, Southern District Court (Central) Naturalization Index (1 of 2)|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KX3G-7Q6|website=FamilySearch|accessdate=2 September 2015}}</ref><ref name=FamilySearch-Naturalization-2of2-1926>{{cite web|title=Paul Kohner - California, Southern District Court (Central) Naturalization Index (2 of 2)|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KXQ7-JRJ|website=FamilySearch|accessdate=2 September 2015}}</ref> | occupation = Producer Talent agent | years_active = 1927–1988 | known_for = | notable_works = | spouse = {{marriage|Lupita Tovar|1932}} | partner = Mary Philbin (1923–1927) | children = 2, including Susan Kohner | relatives = Frederick Kohner (brother) Kathy Kohner-Zuckerman (niece) John Weitz (son-in-law) Paul Weitz (grandson) Chris Weitz (grandson) }} '''Paul Kohner''' (May 29, 1902 – March 16, 1988)<ref name=FamilySearch-USSSDI-1988>{{cite web|title=Paul Kohner - United States Social Security Death Index|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JTZ7-RZL|website=FamilySearch|accessdate=2 September 2015}}</ref> was an Austrian-American talent agent and producer who managed the careers of Ingrid Bergman, Maurice Chevalier, Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, John Huston, Liv Ullmann and Billy Wilder, as well as actors who came from Europe before World War II.<ref name=LATimes-Kohner-Obit-1988>{{cite news|last1=Muir|first1=Frederick M.|title=Paul Kohner, 85; Agent to Legendary Hollywood Stars|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-03-18-mn-1515-story.html|access-date=2 September 2015|work=Los Angeles Times|date=18 March 1988}}</ref>

== Early life == Kohner was born to a Jewish family<ref>{{cite web|first=Adrian|last=Florido|url=https://www.npr.org/2016/11/15/502111417/mexican-film-actress-lupita-tovar-dies-at-106|title=Mexican Film Actress Lupita Tovar Dies At 106|work=National Public Radio|date=November 15, 2016|accessdate=April 24, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5xSXBS57wBAC&q=kohner&pg=PA106|first=Steven|last=Bach|title=Leni: The Life and Work of Leni Riefenstahl |pages=107 |publisher=Vintage; Reprint edition |date=February 12, 2008|isbn=9780307387752}}</ref> in Teplitz-Schönau, Austria-Hungary (now Teplice, Czech Republic).<ref name=AMPAS-PaulKohnerRecords-Bio-1988>{{cite book|title=Paul Kohner Agency records, 1935-1988: Biography/History|date=1988|publisher=Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|location=Los Angeles, CA|url=http://collections.oscars.org/link/bio/356|accessdate=2 September 2015|oclc=801267898}}</ref> His father was Julius "Kino" Kohner,<ref name=SauerkrautSausages-2005>{{cite journal|last1=Horak|first1=Jan-Christopher|title=Sauerkraut & Sausages with a Little Goulash: Germans in Hollywood, 1927|journal=Film History: An International Journal|date=2005|volume=17|issue=2|pages=241–260|doi=10.1353/fih.2005.0022|s2cid=194080567|issn=0892-2160|oclc=4647515787}}</ref> who managed the local movie theater and published a film industry newspaper, and his mother was Helene Kohner (née Beamt).<ref name=FamilySearch-CADeathIndex-1988>{{cite web|title=Paul Kohner - California Death Index|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VPML-RS8|website=FamilySearch|accessdate=2 September 2015}}</ref> He had two brothers, Friedrich "Frederick" Kohner, a film and TV writer who created the character Gidget (based on his daughter, Kathy), and Walter Kohner,<ref name=HannaWalterKohner-LoveStory-1984>{{cite book|last1=Kohner|first1=Hanna|last2=Kohner|first2=Walter|last3=Kohner|first3=Frederick|title=Hanna and Walter: A Love Story.|date=1984|publisher=iUniverse|location=New York|isbn=978-0-595-46598-9|edition=2008|oclc=745168573}}</ref> a Hollywood agent whose wife, Hanna Kohner, in May 1953, was the first non-celebrity featured on the television show, ''This Is Your Life,'' where she was the first Holocaust survivor to talk about her experiences in concentration and death camps on television.<ref name=NJJN-JulieKohner-2009>{{cite news|last1=Rubin|first1=Debra|title=This was her life: When a survivor told her tale. Los Angeles author remembers the night her mom was on TV|url=http://njjewishnews.com/njjn.com/041609/sxThisWasHerLife.html|accessdate=2 September 2015|work=The New Jersey Jewish News|date=14 April 2009|archive-date=14 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161014170903/http://njjewishnews.com/njjn.com/041609/sxThisWasHerLife.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=JewishWeek-HannaBlochKohner-2013>{{cite news|last1=Lipman|first1=Steve|title=Giving The Holocaust A Human Face|url=http://www.thejewishweek.com/blogs/yad/giving-holocaust-human-face|accessdate=2 September 2015|work=The Jewish Week|date=18 March 2013}}</ref>

== Career ==

=== Producer === As a young man, Kohner worked as a news reporter at his father's magazine ''Internationale Filmschau'', which focused on the film industry. He met Carl Laemmle during an interview in Karlovy Vary in 1920.<ref>{{cite book|title=Lupita Tovar "the Sweetheart of México"| last=Kohner | first=Pancho| date=2011 | publisher=Xlibris Corporation|page=40 | isbn=9781456877354 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gTDCapO7oz8C&pg=PA40}}</ref> Laemmle was impressed by 18-year old Kohner and offered him a job.<ref name=EllisIsland-Record-1920>{{cite web|title=Record: Kohner, Paul; Passenger ID 100287010043; La Savoie; Le Havre to New York|url=http://www.libertyellisfoundation.org/passenger-details/czoxMjoiMTAwMjg3MDEwMDQzIjs=/czo4OiJtYW5pZmVzdCI7|website=Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation|accessdate=2 September 2015|page=Line 13|date=25 October 1920}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name=EllisIsland-ShipManifest-Page1-1920>{{cite web|title=Ship Manifest - Page 1 of 2: Kohner, Paul; Passenger ID 100287010043; La Savoie; Le Havre to New York|url=http://www.libertyellisfoundation.org/show-manifest-big-image/czoxNzoiVDcxNS0yODYxMDAwOC5USUYiOw==/1|website=Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation|accessdate=2 September 2015|page=Line 13|date=25 October 1920|archive-date=28 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928153540/http://www.libertyellisfoundation.org/show-manifest-big-image/czoxNzoiVDcxNS0yODYxMDAwOC5USUYiOw==/1|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=EllisIsland-ShipManifest-Page2-1920>{{cite web|title=Ship Manifest - Page 2 of 2: Kohner, Paul; Passenger ID 100287010043; La Savoie; Le Havre to New York|url=http://www.libertyellisfoundation.org/show-manifest-big-image/czoxNzoiVDcxNS0yODYxMDAwOS5USUYiOw==/1|website=Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation|accessdate=2 September 2015|page=Line 13|date=25 October 1920|archive-date=28 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928154608/http://www.libertyellisfoundation.org/show-manifest-big-image/czoxNzoiVDcxNS0yODYxMDAwOS5USUYiOw==/1|url-status=dead}}</ref> Kohner decided to move to the United States.<ref name=FamilySearch-Arrival-1920>{{cite web|title=Paul Kohner - New York, Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island)|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J6DL-F4Q|website=FamilySearch|accessdate=2 September 2015}}</ref> Kohner started out as an office errand boy at Laemmle's company, Universal Pictures, in New York. There, he became friends with another young émigré working for Universal, William Wyler. He moved to Hollywood and worked his way up the studio system, working in positions at Universal like unit production supervisor as well as casting director. Because of his knowledge of film production and background in Germany, Kohner went on to head Universal Pictures' European production offices located in Berlin, Germany in the late 1920s.<ref name="NYTimes-KohnerObit-1988">{{cite news |last1=Yarrow |first1=Andrew |date=19 March 1988 |title=Paul Kohner, Hollywood Agent And Film Producer, Is Dead at 85 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/19/obituaries/paul-kohner-hollywood-agent-and-film-producer-is-dead-at-85.html |accessdate=2 September 2015 |work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref name=AMPAS-PaulKohnerRecords-Bio-1988 /> Kohner moved back to the United States in the early 1930s.<ref name=FamilySearch-USCensus-1930>{{cite web|title=Paul Kohner - United States Census, 1930|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XCJB-BHV|website=FamilySearch|accessdate=2 September 2015}}</ref> He worked as a producer, responsible for shepherding many Universal Pictures films like the Lon Chaney version of ''The Hunchback of Notre Dame,'' William Wyler's ''A House Divided'' that starred Walter Huston, among others.<ref name=NYTimes-KohnerObit-1988 />

Kohner produced many alternate language versions of films that were often shot simultaneously with their English-language counterparts, sometimes shooting at night on the same sets, but with Spanish casts of actors and different costumes. Kohner's wife, Lupita Tovar, starred in some of these Spanish language film versions, including ''Drácula'' (1931).

=== Talent agent === In 1938, Kohner founded the Paul Kohner Talent Agency and managed the careers of Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, Dolores del Río, Maurice Chevalier, Billy Wilder, Henry Fonda, David Niven, Erich von Stroheim, Ingmar Bergman, Lana Turner, Liv Ullmann, and others. Many of his clients had left war-torn Europe, fleeing Nazi Germany.<ref name=NYTimes-KohnerObit-1988 /> John Huston was Kohner's client for over forty years.<ref name=NYTimes-KohnerObit-1988 /><ref name=NYTimes-Huston5FilmDeal-1958>{{cite news|title=Huston is Signed for 5-Film Deal|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1958/07/28/82706952.pdf|accessdate=2 September 2015|work=The New York Times|date=28 July 1958}}</ref> The company was in business from 1935 to 1988.<ref name="AMPAS-PaulKohnerRecords-Bio-1988" />

Paul Kohner's office was on the Sunset Strip in a building owned by a partner of his, Stanley Bergerman, who was Carl Laemmle's son-in-law. The facade of the building, located across the street from the now-defunct restaurant, the Cock and Bull, can be glimpsed in the film ''The Strip'' (1951) starring Mickey Rooney.

In 1976, Kohner partnered with agent Michael Levy to form the Paul Kohner-Michael Levy Agency.<ref name=NYTimes-Levy-CBS-1981>{{cite news|title=Company News; CBS Widening the Role of its Feature-Film Unit|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/10/business/company-news-cbs-widening-the-role-of-its-feature-film-unit.html|accessdate=2 September 2015|work=The New York Times|date=10 March 1981}}</ref>

=== European Film Fund === {{main|European Film Fund}} In 1938, Kohner co-founded the European Film Fund with Ernst Lubitsch, and Universal Pictures studio head, Carl Laemmle.<ref name=Tablet-EFF-2013>{{cite news|last1=Hoffman|first1=Allison|title=Hollywood's Unknown Rescuer|url=http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-arts-and-culture/124664/hollywood-unknown-rescuer|accessdate=2 September 2015|work=Tablet|date=20 February 2013}}</ref> From 1938 to 1948, during World War II, the Fund worked in an effort to provide assistance to émigrés trying to relocate to America.<ref name=NYTimes-KohnerObit-1988 />

== Personal life == From 1923 to 1927, Kohner was in a relationship with Mary Philbin. They became engaged in 1926, but never married due to the disapproval of Philbin's parents. It was rumored they were going to marry in June 1929, but it did not happen.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kC8XAQAAMAAJ&q=mary+philbin+paul+kohner|title = Motion Picture|year = 1929}}</ref> When Kohner died, he still had love letters Philbin had written to him in his possession. She had also kept his.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wRELAQAAMAAJ&q=mary+philbin+paul+kohner|title = Films in Review|year = 1970}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_sFkAAAAMAAJ&q=mary+philbin+paul+kohner|title = Whatever Became Of-- ? All New Eleventh Series: 100 Profiles of the Most-asked-about Movie, TV, and Media Personalities, Hundreds of Never-before-published Facts, Dates, Etc. On Celebrities, 227 Then-and-now Photographs|isbn = 9780517571507|last1 = Lamparski|first1 = Richard|year = 1989| publisher=Crown Publishers }}</ref> Kohner and actress Lupita Tovar were married in Czechoslovakia on October 30, 1932, at Kohner's parents' home by a rabbi.<ref name=SoundSilence-Ankerich-2011>{{cite book|last1=Ankerich|first1=Michael G.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=foShCAAAQBAJ&q=lupita%20tovar%20parents&pg=PA220|title=The Sound of Silence: Conversations with 16 Film and Stage Personalities Who Bridged the Gap between Silents and Talkies|date=2011|publisher=McFarland & Co.|location=Jefferson, N.C.|isbn=978-0-786-46383-1|edition=Reprinted.|accessdate=29 August 2015|oclc=743217471}}</ref>{{rp|226–227}}

In 1936, the couple had a daughter, Susan Kohner, a film and television actress, and, in 1939, a son, Paul Julius "Pancho" Kohner Jr., later a director and producer.<ref name=FamilySearch-CABirthIndex-Susan-1936>{{cite web|title=Susanna Kohner - California Birth Index|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VGDJ-2NM|website=FamilySearch|accessdate=2 September 2015}}</ref><ref name=FamilySearch-CABirthIndex-Pancho-1939>{{cite web|title=Paul Julius Kohner - California Birth Index|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VG4B-LHW|website=FamilySearch|accessdate=2 September 2015}}</ref> The family lived for many years in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, near filmmaker Alexander Korda.<ref name=FamilySearch-USCensus-1940>{{cite web|title=Paul Kohner - United States Census, 1940|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K9CP-3DX|website=FamilySearch|accessdate=2 September 2015}}</ref><ref name=FamilySearch-USCensus-Image-1940>{{cite web|title=Paul Kohner - United States Census, 1940 - Image|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89MT-KBS|website=FamilySearch|accessdate=2 September 2015|date=4 April 1940}}</ref> Their grandsons, Chris and Paul Weitz, are successful film directors. Kohner spoke six languages.<ref name=LATimes-Kohner-Obit-1988 />

In 1988, Kohner died of a heart attack in Los Angeles, California.<ref name=FamilySearch-USSSDI-1988 /><ref name=NYTimes-KohnerObit-1988 />

His wife, the Mexican-born film actress Lupita Tovar, died at age 106 on November 12, 2016.

==Honors== * April 1997: "Hollywood's Gentleman Agent: Paul Kohner." Exhibit curated by Goethe-Institut Los Angeles and Stifting Deutsche Kinemathek.<ref name=Variety-GentlemanAgentExhibit-1997>{{cite news|last1=Klady|first1=Leonard|title='Gentleman Agent' exhibit hails Kohner|url=https://variety.com/1997/scene/vpage/gentleman-agent-exhibit-hails-kohner-1117435400/|accessdate=2 September 2015|work=Variety|date=9 April 1997}}</ref>

== Filmography == * 1927: ''Surrender'' (Universal) – Supervisor * 1927: ''The Cat and the Canary'' (Universal) – Supervising producer (uncredited) * 1927: ''Love Me and the World Is Mine'' (Universal) (based on the book ''The Affairs of Hannerl'') – Supervising producer; Writer, scenario<ref name=NYTimes-LoveMeWorldMine-1928>{{cite news|title=Vienna Lives Again|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/02/05/95550798.pdf|accessdate=2 September 2015|work=The New York Times|date=5 February 1928|page=111}}</ref> * 1927: ''A Man's Past'' (Universal) – Supervising producer (uncredited); Writer, adaptation * 1928: ''The Man Who Laughs'' (Universal) – Production supervisor * 1929: ''The Brandenburg Arch'' (Deutsche Universal-Film) – Producer * 1929: ''Rustle of Spring'' German: ''Frühlingsrauschen'' (Deutsche Universal-Film) – Producer * 1929: ''White Hell of Pitz Palu'' (Universal) (1930 sound film version in English, released by Universal internationally) – Associate producer * 1929: ''Die seltsame Vergangenheit der Thea Carter'' (English title: ''The Unusual Past of Thea Carter'') (Deutsche Universal-Film) – producer * 1930: ''Ludwig der Zweite, König von Bayern'' (Deutsche Universal-Film) (English title: ''Ludwig II, King of Bavaria'') – Producer * 1930: ''La Voluntad del muerto'' (Universal) (Spanish language version of ''The Cat Creeps'') – Producer * 1930: ''Oriente es Occidente'' (Universal) (Spanish language version of ''East Is West'') – Producer * 1931: ''Don Juan Diplomático'' (Universal) (Spanish language version of the English and French films, ''The Boudoir Diplomat'' and ''Boudoir Diplomatique'') – Production supervisor * 1931: ''Liebe auf Befehl'' (Universal) (German language version of the English and French films, ''The Boudoir Diplomat'' and ''Boudoir Diplomatique'') – Production manager * 1931: ''Resurrección'' (Mexican) (Spanish language version of ''A Woman's Resurrection'') – Production supervisor * 1931: ''El Tenorio del Harem'' (Universal) (Spanish language version of ''Arabian Knights'') – Production supervisor * 1931: ''Drácula'' (Universal) (Spanish language version of ''Dracula'') – Associate producer * 1931: ''East of Borneo'' (Universal) – Associate producer * 1931: ''A House Divided'' (Universal) – Associate producer * 1932: ''Doomed Battalion'' (Universal) – Associate producer * 1932: ''Der Rebell'' (Deutsche Universal-Film) (German language version of ''The Rebel'') – Producer * 1933: ''The Rebel'' (Deutsche Universal-Film) – Producer * 1933: ''S.O.S. Eisberg'' (Deutsche Universal-Film) (German language version of ''S.O.S. Iceberg'') – Associate producer * 1933: ''S.O.S. Iceberg'' (Universal Pictures) – Associate producer * 1934: ''Der Verlorene Sohn'' (Deutsche Universal-Film) (English title: ''The Prodigal Son'') – Producer * 1935: ''Alas sobre El Chaco'' (Universal) (Spanish language version of ''Storm Over the Andes'') – Producer * 1935: ''East of Java'' (Universal) – Producer * 1936: ''Next Time We Love'' (Universal) – Producer * 1978: ''Erich von Stroheim – Der Mann mit dem bösen Blick'' (TV movie) – Participation * 1986: ''Fast ein Jahrhundert – Luis Trenker'' – Participation * 1989: ''Wer war Arnold Fanck?'' – Participation

== References == {{Reflist|30em}}

== Further reading == * Kohner, Frederick. ''Der Zauberer vom Sunset Boulevard: ein Leben zwischen Film und Wirklichkeit.'' München, Zürich: Droemer-Knaur, 1974. {{ISBN|978-3-426-05592-2}} {{OCLC|707505221}}—Original publication in German * Kohner, Paul. "[http://cinema.library.ucla.edu/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=51785 Paul Kohner Interview: Interview with agent and studio executive Paul Kohner.]" ''Hollywood'' (Television Program). Unedited Footage. Record date: October 7, 1976. {{OCLC|423000459}} * Kohner, Frederick. ''The Magician of Sunset Boulevard: The Improbable Life of Paul Kohner, Hollywood Agent.'' Palos Verdes, CA: Morgan Press, 1977. {{ISBN|978-0-894-30004-2}} {{OCLC|3508212}} * Asper, Helmut G. ''Filmexilanten im Universal Studio: 1933–1960.'' Berlin: Bertz + Fischer, 2005. {{ISBN|978-3-865-05163-9}} {{OCLC|871361979}} * Kohner, Paul, and Heike Klapdor. ''Ich bin ein unheilbarer Europäer: Briefe aus dem Exil.'' Berlin: Aufbau, 2007. Heike Klapdor im Auftrag der Deutschen Kinemathek – Museum für Film und Fernsehen. {{ISBN|978-3-351-02655-4}} {{OCLC|873634691}}

== External links == * {{IMDb name|463434|Paul Kohner}} * [http://www.filmportal.de/person/paul-kohner_30c888ac7f4b4b9ea7f2fb464dee7559 Paul Kohner] at filmportal.de * [http://catalog.oscars.org/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=65990 Paul Kohner Agency records] at the Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences * [http://kuenste-im-exil.de/KIE/Content/DE/Themen/paul-kohner-agency.html Paul Kohner Agency] at [http://kuenste-im-exil.de/KIE/Web/DE/Home/home.html Künste im Exil] * {{Find a Grave|11789709}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kohner, Paul}} Category:1902 births Category:1988 deaths Category:Film producers from Los Angeles Category:American people of Austrian-Jewish descent Category:Austrian emigrants to the United States Category:Austrian Jews Category:Burials at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery Category:Jewish American male actors Category:People from Teplice Category:20th-century American businesspeople Paul Category:20th-century American Jews Category:Jewish American film people Category:American talent agents Category:20th-century American male actors