Frank Reicher
Born: 1875-12-02 in Munich, German Empire [now Germany]
Died: 1965-01-19
Known For: Acting
Biography
Frank Reicher (December 2, 1875 – January 19, 1965) was a German-born American stage and film actor, director and producer. He is best known for playing Captain Englehorn in the 1933 film King Kong. Reicher made his Broadway debut the year he came to America playing Lord Tarquin in Harrison Fiske's production of Becky Sharp, a comedy by Langdon Mitchell based on William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair. His early career was spent in legitimate theater on and off Broadway. He was head of the Brooklyn Stock Company when Jacob P. Adler performed The Merchant of Venice in Yiddish while the rest of the cast remained in English. Reicher was for a number of years affiliated with the Little Theatre on West Forty-Fourth Street as an actor and manager and would remain active on Broadway as actor, director or producer well into the 1920s. On stage, Reicher starred in such plays as the first Broadway production of Georg Kaiser's From Morning to Midnight (as the cashier), and the original production of Percy MacKaye's The Scarecrow (in the title role). Frank Reicher is probably more familiar to modern audiences as a supporting character actor in films. He began his cinema career with an uncredited role in the 1915 film The Case for Becky and would go on to work in over two hundred motion pictures. He is probably best remembered for playing the character of Captain Englehorn in King Kong and The Son of Kong, and for his work in such films as The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947) and Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (1950). His last Hollywood role was in the very first theatrical Superman movie, Superman and the Mole Men, in 1951. Frank Reicher died at a hospital in Inglewood, California, aged 89. He was survived by his sister and a brother. His interment was at Inglewood Park Cemetery.
Filmography
2021
- Titans of Destruction: The Evolution of Giant Monster Movies as Self - (archive footage)
1951
- Superman and the Mole Men as Hospital Superintendent
- The Lady and the Bandit as Count Eckhardt
1950
- Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye as Darius 'Doc' Green
1949
- Samson and Delilah as Village Barber
- Barbary Pirate as Cathcart
1948
- I, Jane Doe as Doctor
- Carson City Raiders as Razor the Barber
- The Gallant Blade as Major
- Joe Palooka in Fighting Mad as Dr. MacKenzie
1947
- Monsieur Verdoux as Doctor (uncredited)
- The Secret Life of Walter Mitty as Maasdam
- Escape Me Never as The Minister
- Yankee Fakir as H.W. Randall
- Violence as Pop, apartment concierge
1946
- Sister Kenny as Dr. Chuter (uncredited)
- The Shadow Returns as Michael Hasdon
- A Guy Could Change as Doctor
- Home in Oklahoma as Jason Cragmyle
1945
- Phantoms, Inc. as Philip Kenneson, Sr.
- Voice of the Whistler as Dr. Rose (uncredited)
- The Jade Mask as Harper
- A Medal for Benny as Father Bly (uncredited)
- The Tiger Woman as Coroner
- Blonde Ransom as Judge
- The Strange Mr. Gregory as William Riker, the Butler
1944
- House of Frankenstein as Frederick Ullman
- The Conspirators as Casino Attendant (uncredited)
- Captain America as Lyman
- The Mummy's Ghost as Prof. Matthew Norman
- The Big Bonanza as Dr. Ballou
- Address Unknown as Professor Schmidt
- Gildersleeve's Ghost as Dr. Wells
1943
- Above Suspicion as Colonel Gerold (Uncredited)
- Watch on the Rhine as Admiral (uncredited)
- Mission to Moscow as General von Koestrich - German ambassador (uncredited)
- Background to Danger as Rudick (uncredited)
- Tornado as Linden, Sr.
- Bomber's Moon as Dr. Hartman
- Yanks Ahoy as German Soldier (uncredited)
- Plan for Destruction as Karl Ernst Haushofer
1942
- To Be or Not to Be as Polish Official (uncredited)
- The Mummy's Tomb as Professor Matthew Norman
- Secret Enemies as Henry Bremmer
- Nazi Agent as Fritz
- Scattergood Survives a Murder as Thaddeus Quentin
- The Mystery of Marie Roget as Magistrate
- Beyond the Blue Horizon as Sneath
- Night Monster as Dr. Timmons
- The Gay Sisters as Dr. Thomas Bigelow
1941
- Four Mothers as Festival Committee Member (uncredited)
- One Foot in Heaven as Board Member (uncredited)
- Dangerously They Live as Jarvis, Goodwin's Butler
- They Dare Not Love as Captain
- The Face Behind the Mask as Dr. Ronald Cheever (uncredited)
- The Nurse's Secret as Wiley Henderson
- Shining Victory as Dr. Esterhazy
- Underground as Professor Baumer
- Flight from Destiny as Edvaard Kreindling
1940
- All This, and Heaven Too as Police Official (uncredited)
- Dr. Cyclops as Prof. Kendall
- Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet as Old Man
- The Lady in Question as President
- Sky Murder as Dr. Crattan
- The Man I Married as Friehof
- Typhoon as Doctor
- South to Karanga as Dr. Greenleaf
1939
- Ninotchka as Soviet Lawyer (uncredited)
- Juarez as Duc de Morny (uncredited)
- Devil's Island as President of Assize Court
- Nurse Edith Cavell as Baron von Bissing
- Never Say Die as Man in Charge of Duel
- Woman Doctor as Dr. Mathews
- Sons of Liberty as Lyons the Storekeeper (uncredited)
- Mystery of the White Room as Dr. Amos Thornton
- The Magnificent Fraud as Mendietta Garcia
- Everything Happens at Night as Pharmacist
- South of the Border as Don Diego Mendoza
- Sabotage as (uncredited)
- Society Smugglers as Jones
- The Escape as Dr. Shumaker
- Our Neighbors - The Carters as Dr. Proser
1938
- The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse as Professor O.J. Ludwig (uncredited)
- City Streets as Dr. Ferenc Waller
- Letter of Introduction as Second Doctor (uncredited)
- Suez as General Changarnier
- The Girl Downstairs as Police Official (uncredited)
- I'll Give a Million as Prefect of Police
- Torchy Gets Her Man as The Professor - Henchman
- Prison Nurse as Doctor Hartman
- Rascals as Dr. C.M. Garvey
1937
- Stage Door as Stage Director
- The Great O'Malley as Dr. Larson
- Under Cover of Night as Rudolph Brehmer
- Night Key as Carl - gang engineer
- The Emperor's Candlesticks as Pavloff
- Beg, Borrow or Steal as Monsieur Debillon (uncredited)
- Fit for a King as Kurtz
- Man Of The People as Robinson
- Stolen Holiday as Rainer
- The Mighty Treve as Eben McClelland
- On Such a Night as Horace Darwin
- The Road Back as Ernst's Father
- Espionage as Von Cram
- Prescription for Romance as Jozsef
- Midnight Madonna as Vincent Long II
- West Bound Limited as Pop Martin
1936
- Camille as Creditor Agent (uncredited)
- The Gorgeous Hussy as Commander of U.S.S. Constitution (uncredited)
- Under Two Flags as French General
- Anthony Adverse as Coachman to Paris
- Murder on a Bridle Path as Dr. Peters
- The Story of Louis Pasteur as Dr. Pfeiffer
- Girls' Dormitory as Dr. Hoffenreich
- The Invisible Ray as Professor Meiklejohn
- The Devil-Doll as Doctor (uncredited)
- The Ex-Mrs. Bradford as Henry Strand (uncredited)
- Star for a Night as Doctor Heimkin
- Sinner Take All as Theo Drukker (uncredited)
- Sutter's Gold as Governor Felipe Vega
- Laughing at Trouble as Dr. Larson
- The Country Doctor as Dr. Paul Luke
- Second Wife as Headmaster
- The Murder of Dr. Harrigan as Dr. Coate
- Till We Meet Again as Colonel Von Diegel
- Along Came Love as Planetarium Lecturer
1935
- Charlie Chan in Egypt as Dr. Jaipur
- The Florentine Dagger as Von Stein
- The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo as 2nd Assistant Director
- Rendezvous as Dr. R.A. Jackson
- Magnificent Obsession as Dr. Rochard
- The Great Impersonation as Dr. Trenk
- Star of Midnight as Abe Ohlman (uncredited)
- Kind Lady as Gustave Roubet (as Frank Reigher)
- Life Returns as Dr. James
- The Casino Murder Case as Assistant Coroner (uncredited)
- A Dog of Flanders as Herr Vanderkloot
- Straight from the Heart as Coroner
1934
- British Agent as Mr. X
- Hi, Nellie! as Danny
- Men in White as Doctor (uncredited)
- Return of the Terror as Franz Reinhardt
- The Case of the Howling Dog as Dr. Carl Cooper
- No Greater Glory as Doctor
- The Line-Up as Abraham Schultz (uncredited)
- Journal of a Crime as Herr Winterstein
- Mills of the Gods as Barrett
- The Fountain as Doctor
- I Am a Thief as Max Bolen
- Secret of the Chateau as Auctioneer
- The Countess of Monte Cristo as Police Commissioner
- Let's Talk It Over as Richards
1933
- King Kong as Captain Englehorn
- The Son of Kong as Captain Englehorn
- Before Dawn as Joe Valerie
- Captured! as Herr Hauptman
- Employees' Entrance as Garfinkle
- A Bedtime Story as Aristide
- Jennie Gerhardt as Old Weaver (uncredited)
- Topaze as Dr. Stegg
1932
- The Crooked Circle as Rankin
- Scarlet Dawn as Plotsky (Uncredited)
- A Woman Commands as The General
- Flesh as Warden in Germany (uncredited)
1931
- Mata Hari as The Cook - Spy
- The Sin of Madelon Claudet as Arresting Detective (uncredited)
- Suicide Fleet as Holtzmann
- Gentleman's Fate as Francesco Tomasulo
- Beyond Victory as German Hospital Chief
- We’re Switching to Hollywood ... (Director)
1930
- Anna Christie ... (Screenplay)
- Billy the Kid as General Lew Wallace (uncredited)
- Strictly Unconventional as Duke of Brocklehurst
- The Grand Parade
- Girl of the Port
- Every Woman's Longing
1929
- Black Waters as Randall
- Paris Bound
- Strange Cargo as Dr. Stecker
- Mister Antonio as Milton Jorny
- His Captive Woman
- Her Private Affair as State's Attorney
1928
- Four Sons as The Schoolmaster
- Someone to Love as Simmons
- Napoleon's Barber as Napoleon's Barber
- Beau Sabreur as Gen. de Beaujolais
- The Blue Danube as Baron
- Sins of the Fathers as The Eye Specialist
- The Masks of the Devil as Count Zellner
1926
- Her Man o' War as Professor Krantz
1921
- Idle Hands ... (Director)
- Behind Masks ... (Director)
1919
- The Battler ... (Director)
- The Trap ... (Director)
- Suspense ... (Director)
- The American Way ... (Director)
- The Black Circle ... (Director)
1918
- The Prodigal Wife ... (Director)
- The Sea Waif ... (Director)
- The Only Road ... (Director)
1917
- Betty to the Rescue ... (Director)
- The Sacrifice ... (Director)
- The Trouble Buster ... (Director)
- Castles for Two ... (Director)
- Unconquered ... (Director)
- An American Widow ... (Director)
- Lost and Won ... (Director)
- The Inner Shrine ... (Director)
- The Eternal Mother ... (Director)
- The Black Wolf ... (Director)
1916
- Public Opinion ... (Director)
- The Sowers ... (Director)
- Alien Souls ... (Director)
- For the Defense ... (Director)
- Witchcraft ... (Director)
- The Storm ... (Director)
- Pudd'nhead Wilson ... (Director)
- The Love Mask ... (Director)
1915
- The Secret Orchard ... (Director)
- The Clue ... (Director)
- The Case of Becky ... (Director)
- The Secret Sin ... (Director)
- The Chorus Lady ... (Director)
- Mr. Grex of Monte Carlo ... (Director)