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Emil Jannings
Emil Jannings (born Theodor Friedrich Emil Janenz; 23 July 1884 – 2 January 1950) was a Swiss-born German actor who was popular in Hollywood films in the 1920s. He was the first recipient of the Academy Award for Best Actor for starring in The Last Command and The Way of All Flesh. Jannings remains the only German ever to win in that category.
He is best known for his films with F. W. Murnau and Josef von Sternberg, including 1930's The Blue Angel (Der blaue Engel), with Marlene Dietrich. The Blue Angel was meant as a vehicle for Jannings to secure a place for himself in the new medium of sound film, but he was ultimately overshadowed by Dietrich. Jannings went on to leading roles in State Films (Staatsauftragsfilme) in Nazi Germany.
Jannings was born in Rorschach, Switzerland, the son of Emil Janenz, an American businessman from St. Louis, and his wife Margarethe (née Schwabe), originally from Germany. Jannings held German citizenship; while he was still young the family moved to Leipzig in the German Empire and further to Görlitz after the early death of his father.
Jannings ran away from school and went to sea. When he returned to Görlitz, his mother finally allowed him to begin a traineeship at the local theatre, starting his stage career. From 1901 onwards he worked with several theatre companies in Bremen, Nuremberg, Leipzig, Königsberg, and Glogau before joining the Deutsches Theater ensemble under director Max Reinhardt in Berlin. Permanently employed from 1915, Jannings met with playwright Karl Vollmöller, fellow actor Ernst Lubitsch, and photographer Frieda Riess, who after World War I, were contributors of Weimar Culture in 1920s Berlin. Jannings' breakthrough was in 1918 with his role as Judge Adam in Kleist's Broken Jug at the Schauspielhaus.
Jannings was a theatre actor who went into films but remained dissatisfied with the limited expressive possibilities in the silent era. Having signed with UFA, he starred in Die Augen der Mumie Ma (The Eyes of the Mummy, 1918) and Madame Dubarry (1919), both with Pola Negri opposite him. He also performed in the 1922 film version of Othello and in F. W. Murnau's 1924 film The Last Laugh (Der Letzte Mann), as a proud but aged hotel doorman who is demoted to a washroom attendant. Jannings worked with Murnau on two other films, taking on the title role in Tartuffe (Herr Tartüff, 1925), and as Mephistopheles in Faust (1926).
His increasing popularity enabled Jannings to sign with Paramount Pictures and eventually follow Negri and Lubitsch to Hollywood. His first American film, The Way of All Flesh, directed by Victor Fleming, now lost, was released in 1927, and in the following year he performed in Josef von Sternberg's The Last Command. In 1929, Jannings won the first Best Actor Oscar for his work in both films. He and Sternberg also made Street of Sin (1928), though they differed on Jannings' acting style.
Jannings was dubbed in Lubitsch's part-talkie The Patriot (1928), although his own voice was restored after Jannings objected. In Europe, he starred opposite Marlene Dietrich in 1930's The Blue Angel, which was filmed simultaneously in English and in German Der blaue Engel. Jannings' thick German accent was difficult to understand, ending his American career.
According to Susan Orlean, author of Rin Tin Tin: The Life and The Legend, Jannings was not actually the winner of the first best actor award, but the runner-up. While researching her book, Orlean thought she discovered that it was in fact Rin Tin Tin, the German Shepherd dog, one of the biggest movie stars of the day, who won the vote. The Academy, however, worried about not being taken seriously if the first Oscar went to a dog, awarded the trophy to the runner-up. However, this claim is otherwise unverified and labelled as untrue by most sources.
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Emil Jannings
Emil Jannings (born Theodor Friedrich Emil Janenz; 23 July 1884 – 2 January 1950) was a Swiss-born German actor who was popular in Hollywood films in the 1920s. He was the first recipient of the Academy Award for Best Actor for starring in The Last Command and The Way of All Flesh. Jannings remains the only German ever to win in that category.
He is best known for his films with F. W. Murnau and Josef von Sternberg, including 1930's The Blue Angel (Der blaue Engel), with Marlene Dietrich. The Blue Angel was meant as a vehicle for Jannings to secure a place for himself in the new medium of sound film, but he was ultimately overshadowed by Dietrich. Jannings went on to leading roles in State Films (Staatsauftragsfilme) in Nazi Germany.
Jannings was born in Rorschach, Switzerland, the son of Emil Janenz, an American businessman from St. Louis, and his wife Margarethe (née Schwabe), originally from Germany. Jannings held German citizenship; while he was still young the family moved to Leipzig in the German Empire and further to Görlitz after the early death of his father.
Jannings ran away from school and went to sea. When he returned to Görlitz, his mother finally allowed him to begin a traineeship at the local theatre, starting his stage career. From 1901 onwards he worked with several theatre companies in Bremen, Nuremberg, Leipzig, Königsberg, and Glogau before joining the Deutsches Theater ensemble under director Max Reinhardt in Berlin. Permanently employed from 1915, Jannings met with playwright Karl Vollmöller, fellow actor Ernst Lubitsch, and photographer Frieda Riess, who after World War I, were contributors of Weimar Culture in 1920s Berlin. Jannings' breakthrough was in 1918 with his role as Judge Adam in Kleist's Broken Jug at the Schauspielhaus.
Jannings was a theatre actor who went into films but remained dissatisfied with the limited expressive possibilities in the silent era. Having signed with UFA, he starred in Die Augen der Mumie Ma (The Eyes of the Mummy, 1918) and Madame Dubarry (1919), both with Pola Negri opposite him. He also performed in the 1922 film version of Othello and in F. W. Murnau's 1924 film The Last Laugh (Der Letzte Mann), as a proud but aged hotel doorman who is demoted to a washroom attendant. Jannings worked with Murnau on two other films, taking on the title role in Tartuffe (Herr Tartüff, 1925), and as Mephistopheles in Faust (1926).
His increasing popularity enabled Jannings to sign with Paramount Pictures and eventually follow Negri and Lubitsch to Hollywood. His first American film, The Way of All Flesh, directed by Victor Fleming, now lost, was released in 1927, and in the following year he performed in Josef von Sternberg's The Last Command. In 1929, Jannings won the first Best Actor Oscar for his work in both films. He and Sternberg also made Street of Sin (1928), though they differed on Jannings' acting style.
Jannings was dubbed in Lubitsch's part-talkie The Patriot (1928), although his own voice was restored after Jannings objected. In Europe, he starred opposite Marlene Dietrich in 1930's The Blue Angel, which was filmed simultaneously in English and in German Der blaue Engel. Jannings' thick German accent was difficult to understand, ending his American career.
According to Susan Orlean, author of Rin Tin Tin: The Life and The Legend, Jannings was not actually the winner of the first best actor award, but the runner-up. While researching her book, Orlean thought she discovered that it was in fact Rin Tin Tin, the German Shepherd dog, one of the biggest movie stars of the day, who won the vote. The Academy, however, worried about not being taken seriously if the first Oscar went to a dog, awarded the trophy to the runner-up. However, this claim is otherwise unverified and labelled as untrue by most sources.