{{short description|German actor}} {{about|the German film actor and director|the American historian|Paul Otto (historian)|the German architect|Frei Otto}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}} {{Infobox person | image = Paul Otto by Alexander Binder.jpg | name = Paul Otto | birth_name = Paul Otto Schlesinger | birth_date = {{birth date|1878|2|8|df=yes}} | birth_place = [[Berlin]], [[German Empire]] | death_date = {{death date and age|1943|11|25|1878|2|8|df=yes}} | death_place = Berlin, [[Nazi Germany]] | occupation = Actor | years_active = 1910–1940 }}
'''Paul Otto Schlesinger''' (8 February 1878 – 25 or 30 November 1943) was a German film actor and director. Born in [[Berlin]], he began a qualification as a retail merchant and made his actor's debut at the age of 17. Otto worked at theaters in [[Halle, Saxony-Anhalt|Halle]], [[Wiesbaden]] and [[Hanover]] before he returned to Berlin about 1906.
He first appeared in the [[silent film]] ''Ringkampf Konkurrenz'' in 1910 and in ''[[Arsène Lupin contra Sherlock Holmes]]'' (1910-11, five episode film serial) next to [[Viggo Larsen]]. In 1912 Otto directed his first own film ''Selbstgerichtet''. In the beginning of the 1930s, he also appeared in successful sound movies like ''[[Der Hauptmann von Köpenick (1931 film)|Der Hauptmann von Köpenick]]''. After 1933, Otto returned to theater stages and worked at the [[Deutsches Theater Berlin]] and the ''Kammerspiele'' Berlin. In 1937, he was awarded the title of ''Staatsschauspieler'' (state actor), and in 1942 [[Joseph Goebbels]] promoted him to the head of the stage council at the [[Reichskulturkammer]].
In September 1943, his Jewish descent was discovered. To avoid his deportation, Otto committed suicide on 30 November 1943, together with his wife Charlotte Klinder-Otto at his home in Berlin.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmportal.de/df/30/Uebersicht,,,,,,,,7DF7955EA3994DE2A0257D5D11CBE3E4,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,.html|title=Paul Otto - filmportal.de|work=filmportal.de|access-date=25 November 2015}}</ref>
==Selected filmography== Otto appeared in 144 films between 1910 and 1940. {{Div col|colwidth=25em}} * ''[[Arsène Lupin contra Sherlock Holmes]]'' (1910–11) * ''[[Frontstairs and Backstairs]]'' (1915) * ''[[The Confessions of the Green Mask]]'' (1916) * ''[[The Woman at the Crossroads (1919 film)|The Woman at the Crossroads]]'' (1919) * ''[[Revenge Is Mine (1919 film)|Revenge Is Mine]]'' (1919) * ''[[Bettler GmbH]]'' (1919) * ''[[Judith Trachtenberg (film)|Judith Trachtenberg]]'' (1920) * ''[[Temperamental Artist]]'' (1920) * ''[[Shattered (1921 film)|Scherben]]'' (1921) * ''[[Parisian Women]]'' (1921) *''[[Ash Wednesday (1921 film)|Ash Wednesday]]'' (1921) * ''[[Peter Voss, Thief of Millions (1921 film)|Peter Voss, Thief of Millions]]'' (1921) * ''[[The Sins of the Mother]]'' (1921) * ''[[The Inheritance of Tordis]]'' (1921) * ''[[Power of Temptation]]'' (1922) * ''[[The Flight into Marriage]]'' (1922) * ''[[Tabitha, Stand Up]]'' (1922) * ''[[Miss Rockefeller Is Filming]]'' (1922) * ''[[His Excellency from Madagascar]]'' (1922) * ''[[Inge Larsen]]'' (1923) * ''[[Comedians of Life]]'' (1924) * ''[[Girls You Don't Marry]]'' (1924) * ''[[Women Who Fall by the Wayside]]'' (1925) * ''[[The Wife of Forty Years]]'' (1925) * ''[[Hussar Fever]]'' (1925) * ''[[The Old Ballroom]]'' (1925) * ''[[Women You Rarely Greet]]'' (1925) * ''[[The Gentleman Without a Residence (1925 film)|The Gentleman Without a Residence]]'' (1925) * ''[[Women of Passion]]'' (1926) * ''[[The Trial of Donald Westhof]]'' (1927) * ''[[The Bordellos of Algiers]]'' (1927) * ''[[The Hunt for the Bride]]'' (1927) * ''[[The Lorelei]]'' (1927) * ''[[Benno Stehkragen]]'' (1927) * ''[[Potsdam (film)|Potsdam]]'' (1927) * ''[[Forbidden Love (1927 film)|Forbidden Love]]'' (1927) * ''[[Grand Hotel (1927 film)|Grand Hotel]]'' (1927) * ''[[The Eighteen Year Old]]'' (1927) * ''[[The Green Alley]]'' (1928) * ''[[Sajenko the Soviet]]'' (1928) * ''[[The Abduction of the Sabine Women (1928 film)|The Abduction of the Sabine Women]]'' (1928) * ''[[Only a Viennese Woman Kisses Like That]]'' (1928) * ''[[The Gallant Hussar]]'' (1928) * ''[[The Love of the Brothers Rott]]'' (1929) * ''[[The Tsarevich (1929 film)|The Tsarevich]]'' (1929) * ''[[Three Days Confined to Barracks (1930 film)|Three Days Confined to Barracks]]'' (1930) * ''[[Cadets (1931 film)|Cadets]]'' (1931) * ''[[The Captain from Köpenick (1931 film)|The Captain from Köpenick]]'' (1931) * ''[[Elisabeth of Austria (film)|Elisabeth of Austria]]'' (1931) * ''[[Storm in a Water Glass (1931 film)|Storm in a Water Glass]]'' (1931) * ''[[The Other Side (1931 film)|The Other Side]]'' (1931) * ''[[Rasputin, Demon with Women]]'' (1932) * ''[[Overnight Sensation (film)|Overnight Sensation]]'' (1932) * ''[[The Secret of Johann Orth]]'' (1932) * ''[[Cavaliers of the Kurfürstendamm]]'' (1932) * ''[[This One or None]]'' (1932) * ''[[The Dancer of Sanssouci]]'' (1932) * ''[[Things Are Getting Better Already]]'' (1932) * ''[[The Invisible Front]]'' (1932) * ''[[Kiki (1932 film)|Kiki]]'' (1932) * ''[[A Love Story (1933 film)|A Love Story]]'' (1933) * ''[[Spies at Work]]'' (1933) * ''[[The Hymn of Leuthen]]'' (1933) * ''[[Tell Me Who You Are (1933 film)|Tell Me Who You Are]]'' (1933) * ''[[The Tsarevich (1933 film)|The Tsarevich]]'' (1933) * ''[[You Are Adorable, Rosmarie]]'' (1934) * ''[[Between Two Hearts]]'' (1934) * ''[[Police Report (1934 film)|Police Report]]'' (1934) * ''[[Escapade (1936 film)|Escapade]]'' (1936) * ''[[The Castle in Flanders]]'' (1936) * ''[[Togger (film)|Togger]]'' (1937) * ''[[Unternehmen Michael]]'' (1937) * ''[[The Mystery of Betty Bonn]]'' (1938) * ''[[Little County Court]]'' (1938) * ''[[Pour le Mérite (film)|Pour le Mérite]]'' (1938) * ''[[What Now, Sibylle?]]'' (1938) * ''[[Uproar in Damascus]]'' (1939) * ''[[The Governor (1939 film)|The Governor]]'' (1939) * ''[[Robert Koch (film)|Robert Koch]]'' (1939) * ''[[D III 88]]'' (1939) * ''[[Woman Without a Past (1939 film)|Woman Without a Past]]'' (1939) * ''[[The Fox of Glenarvon]]'' (1940) * ''[[Passion (1940 film)|Passion]]'' (1940) * ''[[Falstaff in Vienna]]'' (1940) {{Div col end}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|0653288|Paul Otto}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20071209061856/http://film-zeit.de/home.php?action=result&sub=person&info=long&person_id=33196 Biography (German)] * [http://film.virtual-history.com/person.php?personid=882 Photographs of Paul Otto]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Otto, Paul}} [[Category:1878 births]] [[Category:1943 suicides]] [[Category:1943 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century German male actors]] [[Category:German male film actors]] [[Category:German male silent film actors]] [[Category:Male actors from Berlin]] [[Category:German people of Jewish descent]] [[Category:German Jews who died in the Holocaust]] [[Category:German people who died in the Holocaust]] [[Category:Suicides in Germany]] [[Category:Suicides by Jews during the Holocaust]] [[Category:Jewish German film people]]