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Felix Bressart

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.    


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Born:
Mar 2, 1892 In Eydtkuhnen, East Prussia, Germany
Movie/TV Credits:
53
First Appeared:
In the movie Liebe im Kuhstall 1928-10-19
Latest Project:
Movie Take One False Step 1949-08-14
Known For
Poster of Above Suspicion
Poster of The Lucky Top Hat
Poster of Excursion into Life
Poster of Eine Freundin so goldig wie Du
Filmography
Movie Take One False Step Professor Morris Avrum 1949-08-14
Movie A Song Is Born Professor Gerkikoff 1948-10-19
Movie Portrait of Jennie Pete 1948-12-25
Movie The Thrill of Brazil Ludwig Kriegspiel 1946-09-06
Movie Ding Dong Williams Hugo Meyerheld 1946-04-15
Movie Her Sister's Secret Pepe 1946-09-23
Movie I've Always Loved You Frederick Hassman 1946-12-02
Movie Without Love Prof. Ginza 1945-03-22
Movie Dangerous Partners Professor Budlow 1945-06-07
Movie Song of Russia Petrov 1944-02-10
Movie The Seventh Cross Poldi Schlamm 1944-07-24
Movie Blonde Fever Johnny 1944-12-05
Movie Greenwich Village Hofer 1944-09-27
Movie Three Hearts for Julia Anton Ottoway 1943-05-21
Movie Don't Be a Sucker! Anti-Nazi Teacher 1943-06-04
Movie Above Suspicion Mr. A. Werner 1943-05-31
Movie Mr. and Mrs. North Arthur Talbot 1942-01-23
Movie To Be or Not to Be Greenberg 1942-03-05
Movie Iceland Papa Jonsdottir 1942-09-21
Movie Crossroads Dr. Andre Tessier 1942-07-23
Movie Ziegfeld Girl Mischa 1941-04-25
Movie Blossoms in the Dust Dr. Max Breslar 1941-08-15
Movie Kathleen Mr. Schoner 1941-12-18
Movie Married Bachelor Professor Milic 1941-10-16
Movie Edison, the Man Michael Simon 1940-05-10
Movie The Shop Around the Corner Pirovitch 1940-01-12
Movie It All Came True The Great Boldini 1940-04-06
Movie Escape Fritz Keller 1940-11-01
Movie Third Finger, Left Hand August "Gussie" Winkel 1940-10-11
Movie Comrade X Igor Yahupitz / Vanya 1940-12-13
Movie Bitter Sweet Max 1940-11-08
Movie Three Smart Girls Grow Up Music Teacher 1939-03-24
Movie Swanee River Henry Kleber 1939-12-29
Movie Bridal Suite Maxl 1939-05-26
Movie Heut' ist der schönste Tag in meinem Leben Max Kaspar 1936-05-21
Movie Everything for the Company Philipp Sonndorfer 1935-04-04
Movie Peter Grandfather 1934-12-19
Movie ...und wer küßt mich? Direktor Ritter 1933-03-07
Movie The Lucky Top Hat Gottfried Jonathan Bankbeamter 1932-08-18
Movie True Jacob Böcklein 1931-03-16
Movie Terror of the Garrison Musketier Kulicke 1931-04-23
Movie Private Secretary Bankdiener Hasel 1931-01-16
Movie Excursion into Life Hirsekorn - Schauspieler und Chauffeur 1931-09-30
Movie No More Love Jean 1931-07-26
Movie The Office Manager Joachim Reißnagel 1931-11-19
Movie Fanfare about love Major Fröschen 1931-09-03
Movie The Son of the White Mountain Jailer 1930-08-12
Movie There is a woman who will never forget you 1930-03-27
Movie Die zärtlichen Verwandten Onkel Emil 1930-08-28
Movie Three days of middle arrest Franz Nowotni 1930-11-10
Movie Old Song Jacques 1930-10-15
Movie Eine Freundin so goldig wie Du Richard 1930-12-15
Movie Liebe im Kuhstall Der Gerichtsvollzieher 1928-10-19
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