Conrad Veidt

One of the premier actors of the German stage and silent screen, Conrad Veidt went on to become a prominent film star in Great Britain prior to his exodus to Hollywood during World War II, where, ironically, he was most often cast as a Nazi. Amidst the turmoil of World War I, Veidt trained with the renowned Max Reinhardt at the Deutches Theater in Berlin, where he grew from bit player to prominent leading man. With his mesmerizing portrayal of the sleepwalking killer in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), Veidt achieved true lasting stardom as he continued to work with the greatest directors of the day, including Robert Wiene and F.W. Murnau.

John Barrymore lured him out to Hollywood for The Beloved Rogue (1927), and director Paul Leni gave him one of his most iconic roles in The Man Who Laughs (1928). However, the advent of sound prompted the German-speaking actor to return home. Soon, the rise of Nazism led Veidt and his Jewish wife to immigrate to England, where he mastered the language and continued his success in such works as I Was a Spy (1932) and Dark Journey (1937). Having relocated to Hollywood after the Blitz of London, Veidt continued to work throughout the war, most memorably as the icy Nazi, Major Strasser, in Casablanca (1942). Remembered for roles at each end of his professional timeline, Veidt maintained a prolific career in both theater and film on three continents for more than 25 years.

Born Walter Hans Conrad Veidt on Jan. 22, 1893, in Berlin, Germany, he was the son of working-class parents Amalie and Phillip, the latter a civil servant. As an adolescent, Conrad attended Hollenzollern secondary school and began harboring dreams of an actor’s life while attending performances at the famed Deutches Theater in Berlin. It was there that he began studying acting under the legendary German stage director Max Reinhardt until he was drafted into service with the outbreak of World War I in 1914. After several months of active duty, Veidt fell ill with jaundice and pneumonia and was pulled from combat duty.

Stationed in the city of Libau near the Baltic Sea, Veidt found acting work entertaining frontline troops in theaters organized by Lucie Mannheim, an actress with whom he had begun an intensely romantic relationship back in Berlin. Eventually deemed unfit for service, Veidt was discharged from the Army and returned to Berlin and the Deutches Theater in 1916, where he resumed his acting career.

Having achieved star status on stage at the Deutches Theater under Reinhardt, it was no surprise when Veidt was courted by directors and producers in the nascent motion picture industry. Early silent films such as Der Weg des Todes (1916), Furcht (1917), and Der Spion ("The Spy") (1917) followed, along with a brief marriage to cabaret performer Augusta Hall. Veidt quickly established himself as a talented, dependable screen actor, portraying Frederic Chopin in Nocturno der Leibe (1919), Jules Verne's Phineas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days (1919), and one of the first explicitly gay characters ever written for the screen in Different from the Others (1919).

All of these films, directed by the likes of the great F.W. Murnau, were merely a prelude to his career-making turn as Cesare, the murderous somnambulist, in Robert Wiene's expressionistic silent horror masterpiece, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920). As successful as his professional life was, his marriage to Hall ended amicably, and Veidt married Felicitas Radke. He then reunited with Wiene for The Hands of Orlac (1924) and portrayed Ivan the Terrible in Waxworks (1924).

Veidt was enjoying great success in Germany when John Barrymore invited him to Hollywood. Veidt made his U.S. film debut as King Louis XI in The Beloved Rogue (1927) and soon starred in The Man Who Laughs (1928), which later inspired the design of the comic book villain, The Joker. However, with his thick German accent, the transition to sound films proved challenging, prompting his return to Germany.

Unfortunately, his second marriage began to crumble during this time. Veidt accepted an offer to travel to England, where he learned English and made several films, including The Congress Dances (1932) and Rome Express (1932).

After ending his marriage to Felicitas, Veidt remained in England, where he continued to work in films such as I Was a Spy (1933) and Jew Süss (1934). He married Ilona "Lily" Präeger, his third wife, a Jewish woman, and the two immigrated to the U.K. Veidt, although not Jewish himself, famously wrote "Jude" on his race identification card in solidarity with his wife.

Veidt became a British citizen in 1938 and continued acting in films like Dark Journey (1937) and The Spy in Black (1939), before relocating to Hollywood in 1940 as World War II escalated.

In Hollywood, Veidt quickly found work in wartime dramas, often cast as a Nazi officer, despite his personal loathing of fascism. One exception was his role as the evil Jaffar in The Thief of Baghdad (1940), a performance that inspired the character in Disney's later adaptation. Veidt's most iconic Hollywood role came in Casablanca (1942), where he played the sinister Major Strasser, cementing his place in cinematic history as a classic villain.

Sadly, his career and life were cut short when he died of a heart attack while playing golf in Los Angeles on April 3, 1943, at the age of 50.