Emil Jannings (born Theodor Friedrich Emil Janenz; 23 July 1884 – 2 January 1950) was a Swiss-born German actor who was popular in
Hollywood films in the 1920s. He was the first recipient of the
Academy Award for Best Actor
The Academy Award for Best Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It has been awarded since the 1st Academy Awards to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading ...
for starring in ''
The Last Command'' and ''
The Way of All Flesh''. Jannings remains the only German ever to win in that category.
He is best known for his films with
F. W. Murnau and
Josef von Sternberg, including 1930's ''
The Blue Angel'' (''Der blaue Engel'', with
Marlene Dietrich. ''The Blue Angel'' was meant as a vehicle for Jannings to secure a place for himself in the new medium of
sound film
A sound film is a Film, motion picture with synchronization, synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, bu ...
, but Dietrich stole the show. Jannings went on to leading roles in State Films (Staatsauftragsfilme) in
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
.
Childhood and youth
Jannings was born in
Rorschach, Switzerland, the son of Emil Janenz, an American businessman from
St. Louis, and his wife Margarethe (''née'' Schwabe), originally from Germany. Jannings held German citizenship; while he was still young the family moved to
Leipzig
Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
in the
German Empire
The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...
and further to
Görlitz after the early death of his father.
Jannings ran away from school and went to sea. When he returned to Görlitz, his mother finally allowed him to begin a traineeship at the local theatre, starting his stage career. From 1901 onwards he worked with several theatre companies in
Bremen,
Nuremberg
Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...
,
Leipzig
Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
,
Königsberg
Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...
, and
Glogau before joining the
Deutsches Theater ensemble under director
Max Reinhardt in Berlin.
Permanently employed from 1915, Jannings met with playwright
Karl Vollmöller, fellow actor
Ernst Lubitsch, and photographer
Frieda Riess. After World War I all were at the heart of
Weimar Culture in
1920s Berlin. Jannings' breakthrough was in 1918 with his role as Judge Adam in Kleist's ''
Broken Jug'' at the
Schauspielhaus.
Career

Jannings was a theatre actor who went into films but remained dissatisfied with the limited expressive possibilities in the silent era. Having signed with
UFA, he starred in ''
Die Augen der Mumie Ma'' (''The Eyes of the Mummy'', 1918) and ''
Madame DuBarry'' (1919), both with
Pola Negri opposite him. He also performed in the 1922 film version of ''
Othello'' and in
F. W. Murnau's 1924 film ''
The Last Laugh'' (''Der Letzte Mann''), as a proud but aged hotel doorman who is demoted to a washroom attendant. Jannings worked with Murnau on two other films, taking on the title role in ''
Tartuffe'' (''Herr Tartüff'', 1925), and as
Mephistopheles in ''
Faust'' (1926).
United States
His increasing popularity enabled Jannings to sign with
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...
and eventually follow Negri and Lubitsch to
Hollywood. His first American film, ''
The Way of All Flesh'', directed by
Victor Fleming, now
lost, was released in 1927, and in the following year he performed in
Josef von Sternberg's ''
The Last Command''. In 1929, Jannings won the first
Best Actor Oscar for his work in both films. He and Sternberg also made ''
Street of Sin'' (1928), though they differed on Jannings' acting style.
Jannings was dubbed in Lubitsch's part-talkie ''
The Patriot'' (1928), although his own voice was restored after Jannings objected. In Europe, he starred opposite
Marlene Dietrich in 1930's ''
The Blue Angel'', which was filmed simultaneously in
English and in German ''
Der blaue Engel''. Jannings' thick German accent was difficult to understand, putting paid to any hopes of a major American career.
According to
Susan Orlean, author of ''Rin Tin Tin: The Life and The Legend'', Jannings was not actually the winner of the first best actor award, but the runner-up. While researching her book, Orlean thought she discovered that it was in fact
Rin Tin Tin, the
German Shepherd dog, one of the biggest movie stars of the day, who won the vote. The Academy, however, worried about not being taken seriously if the first Oscar went to a dog, awarded the trophy to the runner-up. However, this claim is otherwise unverified and labelled as absolutely untrue by most sources.
In 1960, Jannings was posthumously honored with a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1630 Vine Street for his contributions to motion pictures.
Nazi Germany
After the Nazi
seizure of power in 1933, Jannings stayed on, prolonging his career by making State Films. He starred in several films promoting
Nazism
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...
, in particular the ''
Führerprinzip'' by presenting unyielding historical characters, in ''
Der alte und der junge König'' (''The Old and the Young King'', 1934), ''
Der Herrscher'' (''The Ruler'', 1937) directed by
Veit Harlan, ''
Robert Koch'' (1939), ''
Ohm Krüger'' (''Uncle Kruger'', 1941), and ''
Die Entlassung'' (''The Dismissal'', 1942).
He also took part in ''
The Broken Jug'' directed by
Gustav Ucicky
Gustav Ucicky (6 July 1899 – 27 April 1961) was an Austrians, Austrian film director, screenwriter, and cinematographer. He was one of the more successful directors in Austria and Germany from the 1930s through to the early 1960s. His work cov ...
. For his work in Nazi Cinema, Minister of Propaganda
Joseph Goebbels named Jannings an "Artist of the State" (''
Staatsschauspieler'')
The filming of ''Wo ist Herr Belling?'' was aborted when troops of the
Allied Powers entered Germany in 1945. Jannings reportedly carried his Oscar statuette as proof of his ties to America. His substantial association with
Nazi propaganda left him subject to
denazification. Other actors resumed their careers, but Jannings' reputation was in tatters. He never worked as an actor again.
As Dietrich became a US citizen and influential anti-Nazi activist, spending much of the War entertaining troops on the front lines and broadcasting on behalf of the
OSS, she particularly loathed Jannings for his Nazi ties, terming her former co-star a "
ham".
Death

Jannings retired to
Strobl near
Salzburg
Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...
, Austria, and became an Austrian citizen in 1947.
He died in 1950, aged 65, from
liver cancer. He is buried in the
St. Wolfgang cemetery. His Best Actor Oscar is displayed at the
Berlin Filmmuseum.
Marriages
Jannings was married four times. His first three marriages ended in divorce, his last with his death. His last three marriages were to German stage and film actresses,
Hanna Ralph,
Lucie Höflich, and
Gussy Holl.
He had a daughter, Ruth-Maria (born 1920), from his first marriage to Lucy Höfling.
Cultural depictions
* Hilmar Eichhorn portrayed a fictionalized version of Jannings in ''
Inglourious Basterds'' (2009), directed by
Quentin Tarantino. This fictional Jannings dies at the end of the film.
* In 1972's ''
Cabaret'', singer
Sally Bowles (
Liza Minnelli) finds herself at a high-society dinner party; she tries to impress by suggesting that she is friendly with Emil Jannings.
* In Series 1 of the BBC's epic Second World War drama
''World on Fire'' (2019) American journalist Nancy Campbell, played by
Helen Hunt, accepts an invitation from neighbours in Berlin to see the latest Emil Jannings film, saying: “Well, I love Emil Jannings, and I loved him in ''The Blue Angel''.”
Filmography
See also
*
List of German-speaking Academy Award winners and nominees
*
List of actors with Academy Award nominations
References
Further reading
* Frank Noack: ''Jannings.'' Belleville, München 2009
* Carl Zuckmayer: ''Geheimreport''. Hrsg. von Gunther Nickel und Johanna Schrön. Wallstein Verlag, Göttingen 2002, ; pp. 136–45
* Emil Jannings: ''Theater, Film – Das Leben und ich. Autobiographie''. Berchtesgaden: Verlag Zimmer & Herzog, 1951. (posthumous)
* Herbert Ihering: ''Emil Jannings: Baumeister seines Lebens und seiner Filme.'' Heidelberg 1941
External links
*
Photographs of Emil Jannings*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jannings, Emil
1884 births
1950 deaths
People from Rorschach, Switzerland
German Nazi propagandists
German people of American descent
German people of Russian descent
German male film actors
German male silent film actors
Naturalised citizens of Austria
Volpi Cup for Best Actor winners
20th-century German male actors
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Deaths from liver cancer in Austria
Male actors from Leipzig
People from Görlitz