Emil Jannings

1884 Rorschach (Switzerland) – 1950 Strobl (Austria)
Actor
Country: Germany

Lust and vice – there is no room for boring theory in the roles performed by Emil Jannings. As the eccentric professor Unrat, he plays the German academic who falls under the spell of eroticism in the film "The Blue Angel" as a caricature of himself. This film also sees Jannings take the step from silent movie to talking film. The topic he presents in 1939 at the invitation of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society at Harnack House could hardly be more contrasting: He talks about his film (Robert Koch – The Fighter against Death), which fully reflects the self-glorifying agenda of the Third Reich.

Jannings nevertheless firmly establishes his place in film history, and is even honoured with a star on the Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard. Jannings had been so successful in the movies of the German silent film era that he was also sought by Hollywood in 1926. When the Oscar is presented for the first time in May 1929 in Los Angeles, it goes to the character actor from Berlin. However, the dream factory does not satisfy the down-to-earth German and he returns to Berlin in 1929. Alongside Henny Porten, he plays the lascivious Henry VIII in the film "Anne Boleyn" and stars with Friedrich Kayssler in "Der zerbrochene Krug" (The broken Jug).