- Born
- Died
- Birth nameTheodor Friedrich Emil Janenz
- Height6′ (1.83 m)
- His real name was Theodor Friedrich Emil Janenz, and in the early
1900s, he was already working in the theater under Max Reinhardt's company.
Important movies where he defined himself as a convincing actor were
Passion (1919) and Quo Vadis? (1924), followed by The Last Laugh (1924) (aka The Last Laugh) in 1924
and Variety (1925) (aka Variety) in 1925. In 1928, he became the first male
leading actor to receive the academy award for The Last Command (1928) directed by
Josef von Sternberg. In 1929, Stenberg directed him in his world famous movie
The Blue Angel (1930) (aka The Blue Angel) co-starring the young Marlene Dietrich (her first
role). Later on, he concentrated on theater and dedicated his acting
skills to the Nazi regime and also took part in the realization of
Ohm Krüger (1941) in 1941, an expensive anti-British film production. When the
Second World War ended, the US government cleaned his image, and he
converted to Catholicism. He played in a few more German movies, but
his career never recaptured its brilliance.- IMDb Mini Biography By: P.J.
- SpousesGussy Holl(1923 - January 2, 1950) (his death, 1 child)Hanna Ralph(July 23, 1919 - July 19, 1921) (divorced, 1 child)Lucie Höflich (divorced)
- His home town of Rorschach, Switzerland, honored him with a special
star (similar to the ones on the Walk of Fame in L.A.), which was
revealed on November 12, 2004. Only hours prior to the ceremony, the
town's council learned of Jannings' efforts on behalf of the Nazis
during World War II. A few days later, the star was removed. - He is the first winner of an Academy Award, as after being announced as
a winner, he was presented his Academy statuette a month before the
actual ceremony. This also makes him the first no-show winner at an
Academy Award presentation. - Of the five U.S. films Jannings made (all silent, all for Paramount),
only the Oscar-winning The Last Command (1928) has survived
intact. Of two films [The Way of All Flesh (1927) and
The Patriot (1928)], only brief clips remain. The other two;
Street of Sin (1928) and Betrayal (1929) [the latter also
starring a young Gary Cooper] are thought to be completely
lost. - Because of his thick German accent, the advent of sound ended his
American career. Returning to Germany, he became an
enthusiastic supporter of the Nazis; thus, he spent the next
decade-plus making films that supported Nazi ideology. - He was the very first actor to win the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Back then, actors received one Oscar for multiple films and Jannings
won for The Way of All Flesh (1927) and The Last Command (1928). The Award is exhibited in the Berlin Film
Museum.
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