Felix Bressart

Biography

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

Greenberg

To Be or Not to Be

Gerichtsvollzieher

Die Drei von der Tankstelle

Der Kampf mit dem Drachen oder: Die Tragödie des Untermieters

Comrade Buljanoff

Ninotchka

Pirovitch

The Shop Around the Corner

Professor Morris Avrum

Take One False Step

Igor Yahupitz / Vanya

Comrade X

Mr. A. Werner

Above Suspicion

Dr. Andre Tessier

Crossroads

Michael Simon

Edison, the Man

The Great Boldini

It All Came True

August "Gussie" Winkel

Third Finger, Left Hand

Dr. Max Breslar

Blossoms in the Dust

Poldi Schlamm

The Seventh Cross

Fritz Keller

Escape

Professor Budlow

Dangerous Partners

Johnny

Blonde Fever

Henry Kleber

Swanee River

Frederick Hassman

I've Always Loved You

Grandfather

Peter, das Mädchen von der Tankstelle

Mr. Schramek

Wie d'Warret würkt

Max

Bitter Sweet

Professor Milic

Married Bachelor

Maxl

Bridal Suite

Jean

Nie wieder Liebe

Musketier Kulicke

Der Schrecken der Garnison

Gottfried Jonathan Bankbeamter

Goldblondes Mädchen, ich schenk Dir mein Herz - Ich bin ja so verliebt...

Joachim Reißnagel

Der Herr Bürovorsteher

Hugo Meyerheld

Ding Dong Williams

Richard

Eine Freundin so goldig wie Du

Onkel Emil

Die zärtlichen Verwandten

Anton Ottoway

Three Hearts for Julia

Hirsekorn - Schauspieler und Chauffeur

Ausflug ins Leben

Mischa

Ziegfeld Girl

Pepe

Her Sister's Secret

Es gibt eine Frau, die dich niemals vergißt

Major Fröschen

Trara um Liebe

Philipp Sonndorfer

Alles für die Firma

Mr. Schoner

Kathleen

Music Teacher

Three Smart Girls Grow Up

Franz Nowotni

Drei Tage Mittelarrest

Max Kaspar

Heut' ist der schönste Tag in meinem Leben

Der Gerichtsvollzieher

Liebe im Kuhstall

Bankdiener Hasel

Die Privatsekretärin

Böcklein

Der wahre Jakob

Petrov

Song of Russia

Hofer

Greenwich Village

Anti-Nazi Teacher

Don't Be a Sucker!

Ludwig Kriegspiel

The Thrill of Brazil

Direktor Ritter

...und wer küßt mich?

Prof. Ginza

Without Love

Papa Jonsdottir

Iceland

Kriegel, Geheimdetektiv

Salto in die Seligkeit

Professor Gerkikoff

A Song Is Born

Jacques

Das alte Lied

Pete

Portrait of Jennie

Baron Vandernyff

C'était un musicien

Johannes Georg Holzapfel

Holzapfel weiß alles

star

Visul lui Tanase

Birowitsch

Ball im Savoy

Professor Volksmann

Viereinhalb Musketiere

Arthur Talbot

Mr. and Mrs. North

Kameradschaft