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)
- Home in Oklahoma as Jason Cragmyle
- A Guy Could Change as Doctor
- The Shadow Returns as Michael Hasdon
1945
- Phantoms, Inc. as Philip Kenneson, Sr.
- Voice of the Whistler as Dr. Rose (uncredited)
- The Jade Mask as Harper
- The Tiger Woman as Coroner
- A Medal for Benny as Father Bly (uncredited)
- The Strange Mr. Gregory as William Riker, the Butler
- Blonde Ransom as Judge
1944
- The Mummy's Ghost as Prof. Matthew Norman
- House of Frankenstein as Frederick Ullman
- Captain America as Lyman
- The Conspirators as Casino Attendant (uncredited)
- The Big Bonanza as Dr. Ballou
- Address Unknown as Professor Schmidt
- Gildersleeve's Ghost as Dr. Wells
1943
- Above Suspicion as Colonel Gerold (Uncredited)
- Mission to Moscow as General von Koestrich - German ambassador (uncredited)
- Background to Danger as Rudick - the Assasin
- Bomber's Moon as Dr. Hartman
- Yanks Ahoy as German Soldier (uncredited)
- Tornado as Linden, Sr.
- 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
- The Gay Sisters as Dr. Thomas Bigelow
- Beyond the Blue Horizon as Sneath
- Night Monster as Dr. Timmons
- Nazi Agent as Fritz
- Secret Enemies as Henry Bremmer
- Scattergood Survives a Murder as Thaddeus Quentin
- The Mystery of Marie Roget as Magistrate
1941
- Dangerously They Live as Jarvis, Goodwin's Butler
- They Dare Not Love as Captain
- One Foot in Heaven as Board Member (uncredited)
- The Face Behind the Mask as Dr. Ronald Cheever (uncredited)
- Four Mothers as Festival Committee Member (uncredited)
- Shining Victory as Dr. Esterhazy
- Underground as Professor Baumer
- Flight from Destiny as Edvaard Kreindling
- The Nurse's Secret as Wiley Henderson
1940
- Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet as Old Man
- All This, and Heaven Too as Police Official (uncredited)
- Dr. Cyclops as Prof. Kendall
- The Man I Married as Friehof
- The Lady in Question as President
- Sky Murder as Dr. Crattan
- South to Karanga as Dr. Greenleaf
- Typhoon as Doctor
1939
- Ninotchka as Soviet Lawyer (uncredited)
- Juarez as Duc de Morny (uncredited)
- Devil's Island as President of Assize Court
- Woman Doctor as Dr. Mathews
- Nurse Edith Cavell as Baron von Bissing
- Mystery of the White Room as Dr. Amos Thornton
- The Escape as Dr. Shumaker
- Never Say Die as Man in Charge of Duel
- Sons of Liberty as Lyons the Storekeeper (uncredited)
- The Magnificent Fraud as Mendietta Garcia
- Society Smugglers as Jones
- Sabotage as (uncredited)
- Everything Happens at Night as Pharmacist
- South of the Border as Don Diego Mendoza
- Our Neighbors - The Carters as Dr. Proser
1938
- Prison Nurse as Doctor Hartman
- City Streets as Dr. Ferenc Waller
- Torchy Gets Her Man as The Professor - Henchman
- The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse as Professor O.J. Ludwig (uncredited)
- The Girl Downstairs as Police Official (uncredited)
- Letter of Introduction as Second Doctor (uncredited)
- Suez as General Changarnier
- I'll Give a Million as Prefect of Police
- Rascals as Dr. C.M. Garvey
1937
- Stage Door as Stage Director
- The Emperor's Candlesticks as Pavloff
- Fit for a King as Kurtz
- West Bound Limited as Pop Martin
- Beg, Borrow or Steal as Monsieur Debillon (uncredited)
- On Such a Night as Horace Darwin
- Prescription for Romance as Jozsef
- Night Key as Carl - gang engineer
- The Mighty Treve as Eben McClelland
- The Great O'Malley as Dr. Larson
- Man Of The People as Robinson
- Stolen Holiday as Rainer
- The Road Back as Ernst's Father
- Midnight Madonna as Vincent Long II
- Espionage as Von Cram
- Under Cover of Night as Rudolph Brehmer
1936
- Camille as Creditor Agent (uncredited)
- The Gorgeous Hussy as Commander of U.S.S. Constitution (uncredited)
- Girls' Dormitory as Dr. Hoffenreich
- The Devil-Doll as Doctor (uncredited)
- Anthony Adverse as Coachman to Paris
- The Invisible Ray as Professor Meiklejohn
- The Story of Louis Pasteur as Dr. Pfeiffer
- The Country Doctor as Dr. Paul Luke
- The Murder of Dr. Harrigan as Dr. Coate
- Sinner Take All as Theo Drukker (uncredited)
- The Ex-Mrs. Bradford as Henry Strand (uncredited)
- Murder on a Bridle Path as Dr. Peters
- Under Two Flags as French General
- Laughing at Trouble as Dr. Larson
- Sutter's Gold as Governor Felipe Vega
- Star for a Night as Doctor Heimkin
- Till We Meet Again as Colonel Von Diegel
- Along Came Love as Planetarium Lecturer
- Second Wife as Headmaster
1935
- The Great Impersonation as Dr. Trenk
- The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo as 2nd Assistant Director
- The Florentine Dagger as Von Stein
- 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
- Charlie Chan in Egypt as Dr. Jaipur
- Star of Midnight as Abe Ohlman (uncredited)
- Rendezvous as Dr. R.A. Jackson
- Magnificent Obsession as Dr. Rochard
- Straight from the Heart as Coroner
1934
- British Agent as Mr. X
- Hi, Nellie! as Danny
- I Am a Thief as Max Bolen
- No Greater Glory as Doctor
- The Line-Up as Abraham Schultz (uncredited)
- Mills of the Gods as Barrett
- Let's Talk It Over as Richards
- Men in White as Doctor (uncredited)
- The Countess of Monte Cristo as Police Commissioner
- The Case of the Howling Dog as Dr. Carl Cooper
- The Fountain as Doctor
- Journal of a Crime as Herr Winterstein
- Return of the Terror as Franz Reinhardt
- Secret of the Chateau as Auctioneer
1933
- King Kong as Captain Englehorn
- Before Dawn as Joe Valerie
- The Son of Kong as Captain Englehorn
- Employees' Entrance as Garfinkle
- Jennie Gerhardt as Old Weaver (uncredited)
- A Bedtime Story as Aristide
- Captured! as Herr Hauptman
- Topaze as Dr. Stegg
1932
- A Woman Commands as The General
- Flesh as Warden in Germany (uncredited)
- Scarlet Dawn as Plotsky (Uncredited)
- The Crooked Circle as Rankin
1931
- Mata Hari as The Cook - Spy
- Suicide Fleet as Holtzmann
- Beyond Victory as German Hospital Chief
- Gentleman's Fate as Francesco Tomasulo
- The Sin of Madelon Claudet as Arresting Detective (uncredited)
- We’re Switching to Hollywood ... (Director)
1930
- Anna Christie ... (Screenplay)
- Billy the Kid as General Lew Wallace (uncredited)
- Girl of the Port
- The Grand Parade
- Every Woman's Longing
- Strictly Unconventional as Duke of Brocklehurst
1929
- Strange Cargo as Dr. Stecker
- His Captive Woman
- Her Private Affair as State's Attorney
- Mister Antonio as Milton Jorny
- Black Waters as Randall
- Paris Bound
1928
- Someone to Love as Simmons
- Napoleon's Barber as Napoleon's Barber
- Four Sons as The Schoolmaster
- The Blue Danube as Baron
- The Masks of the Devil as Count Zellner
- Beau Sabreur as Gen. de Beaujolais
- Sins of the Fathers as The Eye Specialist
1926
- Her Man o' War as Professor Krantz
1921
- Idle Hands ... (Director)
- Behind Masks ... (Director)
1919
- The Battler ... (Director)
- The Trap ... (Director)
- The American Way ... (Director)
- Suspense ... (Director)
- The Black Circle ... (Director)
1918
- The Prodigal Wife ... (Director)
- The Sea Waif ... (Director)
- The Only Road ... (Director)
1917
- The Sacrifice ... (Director)
- The Inner Shrine ... (Director)
- Betty to the Rescue ... (Director)
- The Trouble Buster ... (Director)
- Lost and Won ... (Director)
- The Eternal Mother ... (Director)
- Castles for Two ... (Director)
- The Black Wolf ... (Director)
- An American Widow ... (Director)
- Unconquered ... (Director)
1916
- Public Opinion ... (Director)
- The Sowers ... (Director)
- Alien Souls ... (Director)
- Witchcraft ... (Director)
- Pudd'nhead Wilson ... (Director)
- For the Defense ... (Director)
- The Love Mask ... (Director)
- The Storm ... (Director)
1915
- The Chorus Lady ... (Director)
- The Secret Orchard ... (Director)
- The Secret Sin ... (Director)
- The Case of Becky ... (Director)
- Mr. Grex of Monte Carlo ... (Director)
- The Clue ... (Director)