Acting · Berlin, Germany · Born January 22, 1893
Hans Walter Conrad Veidt (22 January 1893 – 3 April 1943) was a German actor best remembered for his roles in films such as Different from the Others (1919), The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), and The Man Who Laughs (1928). After a successful career in German silent film, where he was one of the best-paid stars of Ufa, he was forced to leave Germany in 1933 with his new Jewish wife after the Nazis came to power. They settled in Britain, where he participated in a number of films, including The Thief of Bagdad (1940), before emigrating to the United States around 1941, which lead to him having a supporting role in Casablanca (1942). From 1916 until his death, Veidt appeared in more than 100 films. One of his earliest performances was as the murderous somnambulist Cesare in director Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), a classic of German Expressionist cinema, with Werner Krauss and Lil Dagover. His starring role in The Man Who Laughs (1928), as a disfigured circus performer whose face is cut into a permanent grin, provided the (visual) inspiration for the Batman villain the Joker, created in 1940 by Bill Finger. Veidt also starred in other silent horror films such as The Hands of Orlac (1924), another film directed by Robert Wiene, The Student of Prague (1926) and Waxworks (1924) where he played Ivan the Terrible. Veidt also appeared in Magnus Hirschfeld's film Anders als die Andern (Different from the Others, 1919), one of the first films to sympathetically portray homosexuality, although the characters in it do not end up happily. He had a leading role in Germany's first talking picture, Das Land ohne Frauen (Land Without Women, 1929). He moved to Hollywood in the late 1920s and made a few films, but the advent of talking pictures and his difficulty with speaking English led him to return to Germany. During this period he lent his expertise to tutoring aspiring performers, one of whom was the later American character actress Lisa Golm.
MovieVito
2011
as Self (archive)
Visual Effects: The Thief of Bagdad
2008
as Jaffar (archival footage)
MovieThe Many Faces of Dracula
2000
as Self (archive footage)
MovieUniversal Horror
1998
as (archive footage)
The Horror Hall of Fame: A Monster Salute
1974
as Self (archive footage)
MovieAbove Suspicion
1943
as Hassert Seidel
MovieCasablanca
1943
as Major Heinrich Strasser
MovieNazi Agent
1942
as Otto Becker / Baron Hugo von Detner
MovieAll Through the Night
1942
as Franz Ebbing
MovieThe Men in Her Life
1941
as Stanislas Rosing
MovieWhistling in the Dark
1941
as Joseph Jones
MovieA Woman's Face
1941
as Torsten Barring
MovieEscape
1940
as General Kurt von Kolb
MovieA New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
1940
as Self
MovieContraband
1940
as Capt. Andersen
MovieThe Thief of Bagdad
1940
as Jaffar
MovieThe Spy in Black
1939
as Captain Ernst Hardt
MovieThe Chess Player
1938
as Le baron de Kempelen
MovieTempête sur l'Asie
1938
as Erich Keith
MovieDark Journey
1937
as Baron Karl Von Marwitz
MovieUnder the Red Robe
1937
as Gil de Berault
MovieKing of the Damned
1935
as Convict 83
MovieThe Passing of the Third Floor Back
1935
as The Stranger
MovieBella Donna
1934
as Mahmoud Baroudi
MovieJew Süss
1934
as Josef 'Jew Süss' Oppenheimer
Wilhelm Tell
1934
as Gessler
MovieThe Wandering Jew
1933
as Matathias / The Unknown Knight / Dr Matteos Battadios
MovieI Was a Spy
1933
as Commandant Oberaertz
MovieF.P.1
1933
as Maj. Ellissen
MovieThe Only Girl
1933
as Marquis de Pontignac
MovieRome Express
1932
as Zurta
MovieThe Black Hussar
1932
as Captain Hansgeorg von Hochberg
MovieRasputin, Demon of the Women
1932
as Grigori Rasputin
MovieThe Other Side
1931
as Hauptmann Stanhope
MovieCongress Dances
1931
as Fürst Metternich
MovieThe Night of the Decision
1931
as General Gregori Platoff
MovieThe Man Who Committed the Murder
1931
as Oberst Marquis de Sévigné
MovieThe Love Storm
1930
as Kingsley
MovieThe Great Passion
1930
as Himself
MovieThe Last Company
1930
as Hauptmann Burk
MovieThe Last Performance
1929
as Erik the Great
MovieDas Land ohne Frauen
1929
as Dick Ashton
The Movie City of Hollywood
1928
as Self
MovieThe Man Who Laughs
1928
as Gwynplaine / Lord Clancharlie
MovieLaws of Love: Innocently Outlawed!
1927
MovieA Man's Past
1927
as Paul La Roche
MovieThe Beloved Rogue
1927
as King Louis XI
MovieNapoleon
1927
as Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade
MovieThe Flight in the Night
1926
as Count di Nolli, Heinrich IV
MovieThe Student of Prague
1926
as Balduin, Student
MovieLove Is Blind
1926
MovieShould We Be Silent?
1926
as Paul Hartwig, Maler
Two Brothers
1926
as Wenzel Schellenberg / Michael Schellenberg
MovieImpetuous Youth
1926
as Renées Vater
MovieThe Wife's Crusade
1926
as Der Staatsanwalt
MovieThe Ingmar Inheritance
1925
as Hellgum
MovieLe Comte Kostia
1925
as Comte Kostia
Schicksal
1925
MovieHusbands or Lovers
1924
as Der Liebhaber, ein Dichter
MovieWaxworks
1924
as Ivan the Terrible
MovieThe Hands of Orlac
1924
as Paul Orlac
MovieThe Film in the Film
1924
as Self
MovieDon Carlos und Elisabeth
1924
as Don Carlos
MovieWilhelm Tell
1923
as Hermann Gessler
MoviePaganini
1923
as Niccolo Paganini
Glanz gegen Glück
1923
MovieLucrezia Borgia
1922
as Cesare Borgia
MovieThe Indian Tomb, Part II: The Tiger of Eschnapur
1921
as Ayan, Majarajah of Eschnapur
MovieThe Indian Tomb, Part I: The Mission of the Yoghi
1921
as Ayan, Majarajah of Eschnapur
MovieLady Hamilton
1921
as Lord Nelson
MovieDanton
1921
as Minor Role (rumored)
MovieLandstraße und Großstadt
1921
as Raphael, der Geiger
MovieChristian Wahnschaffe II: Escape from the Golden Dungeon
1921
as Christian Wahnschaffe
Der Leidensweg der Inge Krafft
1921
MovieDie Liebschaften des Hektor Dalmore
1921
as Hektor Dalmore
Liebestaumel
1921
as Jalenko
MovieJourney into the Night
1921
as Der Maler
MoviePeople in Ecstasy
1921
as Professor Munk
MovieDas Geheimnis von Bombay
1921
as Tossi
MovieDesire: The Tragedy of a Dancer
1921
as Ivan
MovieThe Count of Cagliostro
1920
as Minister
MovieChristian Wahnschaffe I: Weltbrand
1920
as Christian Wahnschaffe
Manolescu's Memoirs
1920
as Manolescu
MovieEvening – Night – Morning
1920
as Brilburn - Maud's brother
MovieMoriturus
1920
as Wilmos, sanatorium director
MovieThe Head of Janus
1920
as Dr. Warren
Künstlerlaunen
1920
Kurfürstendamm
1920
as The devil
Die Augen der Welt
1920
as Johannes Kay
Patience
1920
as Sir Percy Parker
Die Nacht auf Goldenhall
1920
MovieThe Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
1920
as Cesare
MovieThe Merry-Go-Round
1920
as Petre Karvan
MovieFigures of the Night
1920
as The clown
MovieEerie Tales
1919
as Der Tod / Various Other Roles
Wahnsinn
1919
as Bankier Lorenzen
MoviePrinz Kuckuck
1919
as Carl Kraker
MovieProstitution II
1919
as Alfred Werner
Die Okarina
1919
MovieDifferent from the Others
1919
as Paul Körner
Peer Gynt - 2. Teil: Peer Gynts Wanderjahre und Tod
1919
MovieAround the World in 80 Days
1919
as Phineas Fogg
MovieProstitution
1919
as Alfred Werner
MovieThe Japanese Woman
1919
MovieOpium
1919
as Dr. Richard Armstrong Jr.
Nocturno der Liebe
1919
as Frederic Chopin
The Mexican
1919
as Dr. von Dossen
Opfer der Gesellschaft
1919
MovieJettchen Geberts Geschichte. 2. Henriette Jacoby
1918
as Doktor Köstling
MovieThe Story of Dida Ibsen
1918
as Erik Norrensen
MovieEs werde Licht! 4. Teil: Sündige Mütter
1918
as Kramer
MovieColomba
1918
as Henryk von Rhyn
MovieJettchen Geberts Geschichte. 1. Jettchen Gebert
1918
as Doktor Köstling
MovieDiary of a Lost Woman
1918
as Dr. Julius
MovieNot of the Woman Born
1918
as Satan
MovieDas Dreimäderlhaus
1918
as Schober
MovieThe Mystery of Bangalore
1918
as Dinja
MovieFear
1917
as Indian Priest
Der Spion
1917
as Steinau
MovieWenn Tote sprechen
1917
as Richard von Worth
MovieDer Weg des Todes
1917
