Georg John

For those of a similar name, see George John (disambiguation).
Georg John
Born
Georg Jacobsohn

(1879-07-23)23 July 1879
Schmiegel, Province of Posen, Imperial Germany
Died18 November 1941(1941-11-18) (aged 62)
Łódź Ghetto, Poland
Other namesGeorge John
OccupationActor
Years active1917–1933

Georg John (born Georg Jacobsohn; 23 July 1879 – 18 November 1941) was a German stage and film actor.

Early life

Georg Jacobsohn was born into a Jewish household in Schmiegel, Province of Posen, Imperial Germany.

Career

John began his career around 1900 in smaller stages and traveling theatres. In 1904, he was engaged at the Theater of Wilhelmshaven, followed by appearances at Stolp in 1905, Altona, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Bochum and Göttingen. In 1914, John worked as an actor and producer for Vaterländische Schauspiele in Vienna.

In 1917, John first appeared in silent movies, playing a Tibetan monk in Die Fremde (The Stranger), and Death in Hilde Warren und der Tod (Hilde Warren and Death). These roles were typical of the kinds of parts he would become known for, even if, at first, he was more often seen as a father, husband or dignitary. Beginning in the 1920s, John appeared in the films of notable German filmmakers, where he often played bizarre, gnome-like figures, such as the beggar in Fritz Lang's Der müde Tod (Tired Death, 1921, released in English as Destiny), and the blind balloon-seller who recognizes the murderer due to a whistled song in 1931's M. For F. W. Murnau he played a night-watchman in Der Letzte Mann (The Last Man, 1924, released in English as The Last Laugh).[1]

Being a Jew, John was deported in autumn 1941 to the Łódź Ghetto where he died on 18 November 1941 at the age of 62.[2]

Selected filmography

References

  1. ^ "George John" from German Wikipedia, using machine translators (Google, Babelfish, Intertrans)
  2. ^ Kay Weniger: Zwischen Bühne und Baracke, p. 194. Berlin 2008