Paul Henreid (born Paul Georg Julius Freiherr von Hernried Ritter von Wasel-Waldingau; 10 January 1908 - 29 March 1992) was an Austrian-born American actor and film director.

Early life

Born in the city of Triest, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Trieste, Italy), Henreid was the son of Maria-Luise (Lendecke) and Baron Carl Alphons, an aristocratic Viennese banker.

Early acting career

He trained for the theatre in Vienna and debuted there on the stage under the direction of Max Reinhardt. He began his film career acting in German films in the 1930s.

England

In 1935 he emigrated from Austria to Great Britain one year after the 1934 Austrian Civil War which ended with installation of Austrofascism. With the outbreak of the World War 2, Henreid risked deportation or internment as an enemy alien in the United Kingdom, but Conrad Veidt spoke on his behalf with the British Governmental authorities assuring them of Hernried's hostility to the Third Reich and he was allowed to remain at liberty and work in England's film industry. A supporting role in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939), and third billing and charismatic performance as a Nazi espionage agent in the thriller Night Train to Munich (1940), led to an offer of employment in Hollywood in 1942, and he departed for the U.S.A.

Hollywood

After a successful New York theater run, Henreid was put under contract with RKO in 1941. The studio changed his name from von Hernried to the simpler and less overtly Germanic Henreid. His first film for RKO was Joan of Paris which came out in 1942. Shortly after his arrival Henreid appeared in two key films in his career. In Now, Voyager he played the romantic lead opposite Bette Davis, and shared with her one of cinema's most imitated scenes, in which he lights two cigarettes at once and hands one to her. Henreid's next role was as Victor Laszlo, heroic anti-Nazi leader, in Casablanca with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. In 1946, Henreid became a citizen of the United States.

He made regular film appearances throughout the 1940s, and in the early 1950s began directing for both film and television. His film credits include Between Two Worlds (1944), The Spanish Main (1945), Of Human Bondage (1946), Song of Love (1947), Thief of Damascus (1952), Siren of Bagdad (1953), and Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1961). His television directorial credits include Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Maverick, Bonanza and The Big Valley. In 1964, Henreid directed Dead Ringer, which starred Bette Davis and featured, in a minor role, the director's daughter, Monika.

Personal life, death and legacy

Henreid married Elizabeth "Lisl" Gluck (1908-1993) in 1936; the couple had two daughters.

Henreid died of pneumonia in Santa Monica at the age of 84. His body was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.

He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one (for film) at 6366 Hollywood Boulevard and the other (for television) at 1722 Vine Street.

Filmography

As actor

As producer

• Hollow Triumph (1948)

As director

• For Men Only (1952)
• A Woman's Devotion (1956)
• Live Fast, Die Young (1958)
• Girls on the Loose (1958)
• Dead Ringer (1964)
• Ballad in Blue (1964)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]