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Francis Lederer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Francis Lederer (November 6, 1899 – May 25, 2000) was a Czech-born film and stage actor with a successful career, first in Europe, then in the United States. His original name was František Lederer. Lederer's first American movies were Man of Two Worlds (1934), Romance in Manhattan (1934), with Ginger Rogers, The Gay Deception (1935), with Frances Dee, and One Rainy Afternoon (1936). He was cast as the lead with Katharine Hepburn in the 1935 film Break of Hearts, but the producers replaced him with Charles Boyer. It was Irving Thalberg's plan to make Lederer "the biggest star in Hollywood" but the death of Thalberg ended this possibility. Although he continued to play leads occasionally – notably when he was a playboy in Mitchell Leisen's Midnight with Claudette Colbert and John Barrymore in 1939 – in the late 1930s Lederer began to expand his character parts, even playing villains. Edward G. Robinson praised Lederer's performance as a German American Bundist in Confessions of a Nazi Spy in 1939, and he earned plaudits for his portrayal of a fascist in The Man I Married (1940) with Joan Bennett. He also played Count Dracula for The Return of Dracula in 1958. Throughout his career, Lederer, who studied with Elia Kazan at the Actors Studio in New York City, continued to take stage acting seriously, and he performed often both in New York and elsewhere. He appeared in stage productions of Golden Boy (1937), Seventh Heaven (1939), No Time for Comedy (1939), in which he replaced Laurence Olivier, The Play's the Thing (1942), A Doll's House (1944), Arms and the Man (1950), The Sleeping Prince (1956) and The Diary of Anne Frank (1958). Although he took a break from making films in 1941, in order to concentrate on his stage work, he returned to the silver screen in 1944, appearing in Voice in the Wind and The Bridge of San Luis Rey, and in films such as Jean Renoir's The Diary of a Chambermaid (1946) and Million Dollar Weekend (1948). He took another break from Hollywood in 1950, after making Surrender (1950), and returned in 1956 with Lisbon and the light comedy The Ambassador's Daughter. His final film appearance was in Terror Is a Man in 1959. During the 1950s, he served as honorary mayor of Canoga Park. He would continue to make television appearances for the next 10 years in such shows as Sally, The Untouchables, Ben Casey, Blue Light, Mission: Impossible and That Girl. His final television appearance occurred in a 1971 episode of Rod Serling's Night Gallery called "The Devil Is Not Mocked". In it, he reprised his role as Dracula from The Return of Dracula.


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Born:
Nov 6, 1899 In Prague, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary [now Czech Republic]
Movie/TV Credits:
62
First Appeared:
In the movie Refuge 1928-08-03
Latest Project:
Movie 1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year 2009-07-02
Known For
Poster of Adventures in Vienna
Poster of Her Majesty Love
Poster of The emperor's detective
Poster of Die seltsame Nacht der Helga Wangen
Filmography
Movie 1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year Self (archive footage) 2009-07-02
Movie A Century of Science Fiction Self 1996-01-01
Movie Dracula: A Cinematic Scrapbook Count Dracula (archive footage) 1991-01-01
Movie The Other Eye Self 1991-09-25
Movie Vincent Price's Dracula Count Dracula - (archive footage) 1986-01-01
Movie Memories of Berlin: The Twilight of Weimar Culture Self - Interviewee 1976-10-07
Series Film Emigration from Nazi Germany Self 1975-11-11
Series Night Gallery Unknown 1970-12-16
Series Blue Light Unknown 1966-01-12
Series That Girl Unknown 1966-09-08
Series Mission: Impossible Unknown 1966-09-17
Series Kraft Suspense Theatre Unknown 1963-10-10
Series Ben Casey Unknown 1961-10-02
Movie Terror is a Man Dr. Charles Girard 1959-11-01
Movie Maracaibo Miguel Orlando 1958-05-21
Series Behind Closed Doors Unknown 1958-10-02
Movie The Return of Dracula Count Dracula 1958-05-21
Movie The Ambassador's Daughter Prince Nicholas Obelski 1956-07-26
Movie Lisbon Seraphim 1956-08-17
Series Matinee Theater Unknown 1955-10-31
Movie Stolen Identity Claude Manelli 1953-04-03
Movie Adventures in Vienna Claude Manelli 1952-08-20
Series Schlitz Playhouse of Stars Unknown 1951-10-05
Series Robert Montgomery Presents Unknown 1950-01-30
Movie Captain Carey, U.S.A. Baron Rocco de Greffi 1950-02-21
Movie A Woman of Distinction Paul Simone 1950-03-16
Series Lux Video Theatre Unknown 1950-10-02
Movie Surrender Henry Vaan 1950-09-15
Movie Million Dollar Weekend Alan Marker 1948-10-29
Series The Philco Television Playhouse Unknown 1948-10-03
Series Studio One Unknown 1948-11-07
Movie The Diary of a Chambermaid Joseph 1946-02-15
Movie The Madonna's Secret James Harlan Corbin 1946-02-16
Movie The Bridge of San Luis Rey Esteban / Manuel 1944-02-11
Movie Voice in the Wind Jan Volny / El Hombre 1944-03-03
Movie Puddin' Head Prince Karl 1941-06-25
Movie The Man I Married Eric Hoffman 1940-08-09
Movie Midnight Jacques Picot 1939-03-24
Movie Confessions of a Nazi Spy Kurt Schneider 1939-05-06
Movie The Lone Wolf in Paris Michael Lanyard 1938-05-25
Movie Screen Snapshots: Series 16, No. 12 Self (uncredited) 1937-08-13
Movie It's All Yours Jimmy Barnes 1937-09-01
Movie One Rainy Afternoon Philippe Martin 1936-05-13
Movie My American Wife Count Ferdinand von und zu Reidenach 1936-08-06
Movie Romance in Manhattan Karel Novak 1935-01-11
Movie The Gay Deception Sandro 1935-09-13
Movie Starlit Days at the Lido Self 1935-09-28
Movie Man of Two Worlds Aigo 1934-01-13
Movie The Pursuit of Happiness Max Christmann 1934-09-27
Movie Her Majesty Love Fred von Wellingen 1933-02-06
Movie The Fate of Renate Langen Gerd 1931-02-11
Movie The emperor's detective Dr. Wolfgang Crusius 1930-04-19
Movie The Road to Dishonour Boris Borrisoff 1930-02-26
Movie Fundvogel Jan Bergwall 1930-05-19
Movie The Great Longing Himself 1930-08-24
Movie Susie Cleans Up Robert 1930-11-22
Movie The Wonderful Lies of Nina Petrovna Lt. Michael Rostof 1929-04-15
Movie Pandora's Box Alwa Schön 1929-01-30
Movie Mother Hummingbird Georges de Chambry 1929-10-23
Movie Atlantic Peter 1929-10-28
Movie Refuge Martin Falkhagen 1928-08-03
Movie Die seltsame Nacht der Helga Wangen Werner Hilsoe 1928-10-15