Max Landa (; 24 April 1873 – 8 November 1933; born Max Landau) was a

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

-born

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

and

stage Stage, stages, or staging may refer to: Arts and media Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly Brit ...

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

Career

Landa attended the Handelsakademie (commercial academy) in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and took classes with acting teacher in the same city. After working as a bank clerk for a short period, he decided to focus on his acting career in 1893. After working at various theatres in Austria and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

for about twenty years he was discovered in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

leading man A leading actor, leading actress, or leading man or lady or simply lead (), plays a main role in a film, television show or play. The word ''lead'' may also refer to the largest role in the piece, and ''leading actor'' may refer to a person w ...

movie star A movie star (also known as a film star or cinema star) is an actor who is famous for their starring, or leading, roles in movies. The term is used for performers who are marketable stars as they become popular household names and whose names ...

Asta Nielsen Asta Sofie Amalie Nielsen (11 September 1881 – 24 May 1972) was a Danish silent film actress who was one of the most popular leading ladies of the 1910s and one of the first international movie stars. Seventy of Nielsen's 74 films were ...

with whom he played in several movies directed by

Urban Gad Peter Urban Bruun Gad (12 February 1879 – 26 December 1947) was a Denmark, Danish film director, stage actor, screenwriter, and author. He directed 40 films between 1910 and 1927. His wife Asta Nielsen starred in 30 of his films, also in his d� ...

. When

Joe May Joe May (born Joseph Otto Mandl; 7 November 1880 – 29 April 1954) was an Austrian film director and film producer and one of the pioneers of Cinema of Germany, German cinema. Biography After studying in Berlin and a variety of odd jobs, he b ...

founded his own film production company in 1915 he formed a contract with Max Landa who became the first of a number of actors to play the role of the fictional British detective

Joe Deebs Joe Deebs was a fictional detective who appeared in a series of German films and serials during the silent era. Along with Stuart Webbs and a number of other fictional cinema detective characters with Anglo-Saxon names, he was modeled on Arthur Con ...

, created as a rival to

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

during the

silent era A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...

.Prawer p.88 The

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

Landa and his wife

Margot Walter Margot Walter, also known as Margot Landa (4 October 1903 in Potsdam, Germany – April 1994 in Camden Town, London, England), was a German actress. Life and career Born in Potsdam near Berlin Walter became a regular member of the cast at the H ...

fled Germany following the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

seizure of power in 1933, and he committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

in exile in

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

Selected filmography

* '' The Man in the Cellar'' (1914) * '' Die geheimnisvolle Villa'' (1914) * ''

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

'' (1916) * '' The Onyx Head'' (1917) * ''

Midnight Midnight is the transition time from one day to the next – the moment when the date changes, on the local official clock time for any particular jurisdiction. By clock time, midnight is the opposite of noon, differing from it by 12 hours. ...

'' (1918) * '' Europe, General Delivery'' (1918) * ''

The Devil Satan, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or 'e ...

'' (1918) * ''

The Apache of Marseilles ''The Apache of Marseilles'' () is a 1919 German silent thriller film directed by Ewald André Dupont and starring Max Landa, Hanni Weisse, and Reinhold Schünzel Reinhold Schünzel (7 November 1888 – 11 November 1954) was a German actor ...

'' (1919) * ''

The Japanese Woman ''The Japanese Woman'' (German: ''Die Japanerin'') is a 1919 German silent film, silent mystery film directed by Ewald André Dupont and starring Max Landa, Manja Tzatschewa and Conrad Veidt.Soister p.62 The film's sets were designed by the Hung ...

'' (1919) * ''

The Secret of the American Docks ''The Secret of the American Docks'' (German: ''Das Geheimnis des Amerika-Docks'') is a 1919 German silent mystery film directed by Ewald André Dupont and starring Max Landa, Gustav Botz, and Reinhold Schünzel. The film's sets were designe ...

'' (1919) * '' The Mask'' (1919) * '' The Derby'' (1919) * '' The Spies'' (1919) * '' World by the Throat'' (1920) * '' The Bandits of Asnières'' (1920) * '' Moriturus'' (1920) * '' The Chameleon'' (1920) * '' The Grand Babylon Hotel'' (1920) * '' Roswolsky's Mistress'' (1921) * '' The Experiment of Professor Mithrany'' (1921) * '' The Passenger in Compartment Seven'' (1922) * ''

Flight Around the World ''Flight Around the World'' () is a 1925 German silent adventure film directed by Willi Wolff and starring Ellen Richter, Reinhold Schünzel, and Bruno Kastner.Grange p. 193 It was released in two parts. It was shot at the Halensee Studios ...

'' (1925) * '' The Woman without Money'' (1925) * ''

Trude Trude is a Germanic languages, Germanic Old Norse feminine given name meaning "strength". The name is now most commonly found in Germany and List of territorial entities where German is an official language, German-speaking countries and in Norwa ...

'' (1926) * '' Marriage Announcement'' (1926) * '' Why Get a Divorce?'' (1926) * ''

Light-Hearted Isabel ''Light-Hearted Isabel'' () is a 1927 German silent comedy film directed by Eddy Busch and Arthur Wellin and starring Lee Parry, Otto Wallburg, and Gustav Fröhlich.Grange p. 228 The film's sets were designed by the art directors Otto Erdman ...

'' (1927) * '' Anastasia, the False Czar's Daughter'' (1928) * '' The Hangman'' (1928) * '' Endangered Girls'' (1928)

References

Bibliography

* Isenberg, Noah William. ''Weimar Cinema: An Essential Guide to Classic Films of the Era''. Columbia University Press,2013. * Prawer, S.S. ''Between Two Worlds: The Jewish Presence in German and Austrian Film, 1910-1933''. Berghahn Books, 2005. * Weniger, Kay: Es wird im Leben dir mehr genommen als gegeben ...' Lexikon der aus Deutschland und Österreich emigrierten Filmschaffenden 1933 bis 1945: Eine Gesamtübersicht''. ACABUS Verlag, 2011, p. 75-77

External links

* * 1873 births 1933 suicides Austrian male film actors Austrian male silent film actors Male actors from Minsk 20th-century Austrian Jews 20th-century Russian Jews Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany Suicides in Yugoslavia 20th-century Austrian male actors 1933 deaths Austrian Jews who died in the Holocaust Suicides by Jews during the Holocaust Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Austria-Hungary {{Germany-film-actor-1870s-stub