About

Known credits:
62
Birthday:
1892-03-02
Place of birth:
Eydtkuhnen, East Prussia, Germany [now Chernyshevskoe, Russia]
Website:
N/A

Felix Bressart

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Felix Bressart (March 2, 1892 – March 17, 1949) was a German-American actor of stage and screen.

Felix Bressart (pronounced "BRESS-ert") was born in East Prussia, Germany (now part of Russia) and was already a very experienced stage actor when he had his film debut in 1928. He started off as a supporting actor, e.g. as the Bailiff in the box-office hit Die Drei von der Tankstelle (1930), but had soon established himself in leading roles of minor movies. After the Nazis seized power in 1933, Jewish-born Bressart had to leave Germany and continued his career in German-speaking movies in Austria, where Jewish artists were still relatively safe. After no fewer than 30 films in eight years, he emigrated to the United States.

One of Bressart's former European colleagues was Joe Pasternak, now a successful Hollywood producer. Bressart's first American film was Three Smart Girls Grow Up (1939), a vehicle for Universal Pictures' top attraction, Deanna Durbin. Pasternak also selected the reliable Bressart to perform in a screen test opposite Pasternak's newest discovery, Gloria Jean. The influential German community in Hollywood helped to establish Bressart in America, as his earliest American movies were directed by Ernst Lubitsch, Henry Koster, and Wilhelm Thiele (director of Die Drei von der Tankstelle).

Bressart scored a great success in Lubitsch's Ninotchka, produced at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. MGM signed Bressart to a studio contract in 1939. Most of his MGM work consisted of featured roles in major films like Edison, the Man.

He combined his mildly inflected East European accent with a soft-spoken delivery to create kindly, friendly characters, as in Lubitsch's To Be or Not to Be, in which he sensitively recites Shylock's famous "Hath not a Jew eyes?" speech from The Merchant of Venice. Lubitsch also directed Bressart to similar effect in The Shop Around the Corner.

Bressart soon became a popular character actor in films like Blossoms in the Dust (1941), The Seventh Cross (1944), and Without Love (1945). Perhaps his largest role was in RKO Radio Pictures' "B" musical comedy Ding Dong Williams, filmed in 1945. Bressart, billed third, played the bemused supervisor of a movie studio's music department, and appeared in formal wear to conduct Chopin's "Fantasie Impromptu."

After almost 40 Hollywood pictures, Felix Bressart suddenly died of leukemia at the age of 57. His last film was My Friend Irma (1949), the movie version of a popular radio show. Bressart died during production, forcing the producers to finish the film with Hans Conried. In the final film, Conried speaks throughout, but Bressart is still seen in the long shots.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Felix Bressart, licensed under CC-BY-SA,full list of contributors on Wikipedia.    

Known for

Acting
1949 Take One False Step Actor Professor Morris Avrum 58
Average
1948 Portrait of Jennie Actor Pete 60
Fair
1948 A Song Is Born Actor Professor Gerkikoff 59
Average
1946 I've Always Loved You Actor Frederick Hassman 58
Average
1946 Her Sister's Secret Actor Pepe 59
Average
1946 The Thrill of Brazil Actor Ludwig Kriegspiel 59
Average
1946 Don't Be a Sucker! Actor Anti-Nazi Teacher 59
Average
1946 Ding Dong Williams Actor Hugo Meyerheld 59
Average
1945 Dangerous Partners Actor Professor Budlow 59
Average
1945 Without Love Actor Prof. Ginza 59
Average
1944 Blonde Fever Actor Johnny 58
Average
1944 Greenwich Village Actor Hofer 59
Average
1944 The Seventh Cross Actor Poldi Schlamm 59
Average
1944 Song of Russia Actor Petrov 59
Average
1943 Above Suspicion Actor Mr. A. Werner 59
Average
1943 Three Hearts for Julia Actor Anton Ottoway 59
Average
1942 Iceland Actor Papa Jonsdottir 59
Average
1942 Crossroads Actor Dr. Andre Tessier 58
Average
1942 To Be or Not to Be Actor Greenberg 70
Good
1942 Mr. and Mrs. North Actor Arthur Talbot 58
Average
1941 Kathleen Actor Mr. Schoner 58
Average
1941 Married Bachelor Actor Professor Milic 59
Average
1941 Blossoms in the Dust Actor Dr. Max Breslar 59
Average
1941 Ziegfeld Girl Actor Mischa 59
Average
1940 Comrade X Actor Igor Yahupitz / Vanya 58
Average
1940 Bitter Sweet Actor Max 59
Average
1940 Escape Actor Fritz Keller 59
Average
1940 Third Finger, Left Hand Actor August "Gussie" Winkel 59
Average
1940 Edison, the Man Actor Michael Simon 59
Average
1940 It All Came True Actor The Great Boldini 59
Average
1940 The Shop Around the Corner Actor Pirovitch 72
Good
1939 Swanee River Actor Henry Kleber 58
Average
1939 Ninotchka Actor Comrade Buljanoff 65
Fair
1939 Bridal Suite Actor Maxl 58
Average
1939 Three Smart Girls Grow Up Actor Music Teacher 59
Average
1936 Heut' ist der schönste Tag in meinem Leben Actor Max Kaspar 58
Average
1935 Four and a Half Musketeers Actor Professor Volksmann N/A
N/A
1935 Ball at the Savoy Actor Birowitsch 59
Average
1935 Everything for the Company Actor Philipp Sonndorfer N/A
N/A
1934 Peter Actor Grandfather N/A
N/A
1934 Salto in die Seligkeit Actor Kriegel, Geheimdetektiv N/A
N/A
1934 C'était un musicien Actor Baron Vandernyff N/A
N/A
1933 Wie d'Warret würkt Actor Mr. Schramek N/A
N/A
1933 ...und wer küßt mich? Actor Direktor Ritter 59
Average
1932 The Lucky Top Hat Actor Gottfried Jonathan Bankbeamter N/A
N/A
1932 Holzapfel Knows Everything Actor Johannes Georg Holzapfel N/A
N/A
1932 Visul lui Tanase Actor star N/A
N/A
1931 The Office Manager Actor Joachim Reißnagel N/A
N/A
1931 Excursion into Life Actor Hirsekorn - Schauspieler und Chauffeur 59
Average
1931 Fanfare about love Actor Major Fröschen N/A
N/A
1931 No More Love Actor Jean 59
Average
1931 Terror of the Garrison Actor Musketier Kulicke N/A
N/A
1931 True Jacob Actor Böcklein 58
Average
1931 Private Secretary Actor Bankdiener Hasel 58
Average
1930 Eine Freundin so goldig wie Du Actor Richard N/A
N/A
1930 Three Days in the Guardhouse Actor Franz Nowotni 58
Average
1930 Old Song Actor Jacques N/A
N/A
1930 The Three from the Filling Station Actor Gerichtsvollzieher 59
Average
1930 The Tender Relatives Actor Onkel Emil 58
Average
1930 The fight with the dragon or: The tragedy of the lodger Actor N/A
N/A
1930 There is a woman who will never forget you Actor N/A
N/A
1928 Liebe im Kuhstall Actor Der Gerichtsvollzieher N/A
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