Ferdinand Schumann-Heink ( Schumann; born 9 August 1893 – 15 September 1958) was a German-born American

character actor A character actor is an actor known for playing unusual, eccentric, or interesting character (arts), characters in supporting roles, rather than leading ones.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrie ...

with over 65 films to his credit. Though most of his films were uncredited roles, he wrote the screenplay for the 1930 film ''

Mamba Mambas are fast-moving, highly venomous snakes of the genus ''Dendroaspis'' (which literally means "tree asp") in the family Elapidae. Four extant species are recognised currently; three of those four species are essentially arboreal and gre ...

''. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Ferdinand enlisted in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

Field Artillery, serving at

Camp Funston Camp Funston is a U.S. Army training camp located on the grounds of Fort Riley, southwest of Manhattan, Kansas. The camp was named for Brigadier General Frederick Funston (1865–1917). It is one of sixteen such camps that were established at ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, until he was medically discharged with weakened lungs from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

. Ferdinand's brother George Washington Schumann-Heink died of illness whilst in the US Army. His brother August had returned to Germany, where he was killed in action with the

Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the ''Kaiserliche Marine'' (Imperial Navy) was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for ...

when his

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

hit a mine in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

Personal life

Ferdinand Schumann-Heink ( Schumann) was the son of opera singer

Ernestine Schumann-Heink Ernestine Schumann-Heink (15 June 186117 November 1936) was a Bohemian-born Austrian-American operatic dramatic contralto of German Bohemian descent. She was noted for the flexibility and wide range of her voice. Heink and Schumann were her two ...

. He was married to June Osborne.

Death

Ferdinand Schumann-Heink died in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

on 15 September 1958, aged 65. He was buried in

Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery is a federal United States National Cemetery System, military cemetery in San Diego, California. It is located on the grounds of the former Army coastal artillery station Naval Base Point Loma, Fort Rosecrans a ...

San Diego County, California San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county (United States), county in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of California, north to its Mexico-United States border, border with Mexico. As of the 2020 United States Cen ...

Selected filmography

* '' The Gallant Fool'' (1926) * '' Hell's Angels'' (1930) * '' Blaze o'Glory'' (1930) * ''

Fugitive Road ''Fugitive Road'' is a 1934 American comedy drama film directed by Frank R. Strayer and starring Erich von Stroheim, Wera Engels and Leslie Fenton. It is set a border post in Austro-Hungarian Empire, Austria following World War I. A variety of dif ...

'' (1934) * ''

The Widow from Monte Carlo ''The Widow from Monte Carlo'' is a 1936 American comedy film directed by Arthur Greville Collins and starring Warren William, Dolores del Río, Louise Fazenda and Colin Clive. It was based on the play '' A Present from Margate'' by Ian Hay ...

'' (1935) * ''

Times Square Playboy ''Times Square Playboy'' is a 1936 American romance film directed by William C. McGann and starring Warren William, June Travis and Barton MacLane. It is based on the 1926 play ''Hometowners'' by George M. Cohan, and was produced and distribute ...

'' (1936) * '' Fugitive in the Sky'' (1936) (uncredited) * '' Two Against the World'' (1936) as Sound Mixer

Notes

External links

* 1893 births 1958 deaths American male film actors American male silent film actors Male actors from Hamburg Emigrants from the German Empire to the United States 20th-century American male actors Burials at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery {{US-film-actor-1890s-stub