Heinrich George | |
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Heinrich George in front of his house, 1930.
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Born |
Georg August Friedrich Hermann Schulz 9 October 1893 Stettin, Pomerania |
Died | 25 September 1946 Oranienburg, Brandenburg, NKVD special camp Nr. 7 |
(aged 52)
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1921–1945 |
Georg August Friedrich Hermann Schulz (9 October 1893 – 25 September 1946), better known as Heinrich George (German pronunciation: [geˈɔɐ̯ gə]), was a German stage and film actor.
George is noted for having spooked the young Bertolt Brecht in his first directing job, a production of Arnolt Bronnen's Parricide (1922), when he refused to continue working with the director.
He played in Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927) and Dreyfus (1930). In 1931, he starred in Berlin Alexanderplatz (1931).
George was an active member of the Communist party during the Weimar Republic. He worked with theatre director Erwin Piscator and playwright Bertolt Brecht, both of whom identified with the political left. George starred in the lead role of the film Berlin-Alexanderplatz (1931).
On 12 October 1932, he changed his legal name to his stage name George.
After the Nazi takeover, George was classified as a "non-desirable" actor at first because of his earlier political affiliations and was thus barred from working in cinematic productions. However, he was eventually able to reach an accommodation with the Nazi regime. In 1937, George was designated as a Staatsschauspieler (i.e. an actor of national importance) and in 1938 was appointed director of the Schiller Theater in Berlin. George actively collaborated with the Nazis and agreed to star in Nazi propaganda films such as Hitler Youth Quex (1933), Jud Süß (1940), and Kolberg (1945) as well as appearing in numerous newsreels.