Egon Brecher
Born: 1880-02-15 in Olmütz, Moravia, Austria-Hungary [now Olomouc, Czech Republic]
Died: 1946-08-12
Known For: Acting
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Egon Brecher (18 February 1880 – 12 August 1946) was an Austria-Hungary-born actor and director, who also served as the chief director of Vienna's Stadts Theatre, before entering the motion picture industry. The son of a professor, Brecher began studying philosophy in 1900 at the University of Heidelberg in Germany. He did not finish his studies, deciding to become an actor. He appeared on several provincial stages in Germany and Austria until 1910, and then played in Vienna on various occasions, directed by Josef Jarno until 1921. In 1907, he founded an initiative (which lasted for something like one or two years) to play modern Yiddish theatre in German language with Siegfried Schmitz and members of the student club ‘Theodor Herzl’ like Hugo Zuckermann and Oskar Rosenfeld. In 1919 he was co-founder of the Freie Jüdische Volksbühne in Vienna, a Yiddish theatre, which existed for three years. Then, in 1921, he moved to New York to act on Broadway. He moved to Hollywood in the late 1920s to appear in foreign-language versions of American films. In the mid-1930s he appeared in classic horror films The Black Cat, Werewolf of London, The Black Room, Mark of the Vampire and The Devil-Doll, and worked steadily in the espionage films of the 1930s/40s, his Slavic accent landing him roles both noble and villainous. One of his largest screen roles was in 1946's So Dark the Night. He died later in 1946, aged 66, of a heart attack in Los Angeles, California.
Filmography
1946
- O.S.S. as Marcel Aubert
- So Dark the Night as Dr. Boncourt
- Just Before Dawn as Dr. Evans (uncredited)
- The Diary of a Chambermaid as The Postman (Uncredited)
- Sister Kenny as Frenchman (uncredited)
1945
- White Pongo as Dr. Gerig
- A Royal Scandal as Wassilikow (uncredited)
- Voice of the Whistler as Dr. Rose (replaced by Frank Reicher) (uncredited)
1943
- Mission to Moscow as Heinrich Sahm (uncredited)
- Above Suspicion as Gestapo Official (Uncredited)
1942
- Kings Row as Dr. Candell
- Isle of Missing Men as Richard Heller
- For the Common Defense! as Adolph (uncredited)
1941
- Four Mothers as Music Foundation Director (uncredited)
- Man Hunt as Jeweler
- Underground as Herr Director
- Manpower as Pop Duval
- Out of Darkness as Victor Jourdain (uncredited)
1940
- Rebecca as Hotel Desk Clerk (uncredited)
- Buyer Beware as Child's Father (uncredited)
- The Man I Married as Czech
- A Dispatch from Reuters as Von Konstat (uncredited)
- Know Your Money as Samuels the Druggist (uncredited)
- Calling Philo Vance as Austrian Judge (uncredited)
- I Was an Adventuress as Jacques Dubois
- Knute Rockne All American as Elder in Norway (uncredited)
- All This, and Heaven Too as Doctor (uncredited)
- Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet as Martl
1939
- Juarez as Baron von Magnus (uncredited)
- Hotel Imperial as Pograncz (uncredited)
- Espionage Agent as Larsch
- Confessions of a Nazi Spy as Fritz Muller - German Agent (uncredited)
- Judge Hardy and Son as Anton Volduzzi
- Angels Wash Their Faces as Mr. Smith
- Nurse Edith Cavell as Dr. Gunther
- The Three Musketeers as Landlord
- We Are Not Alone as Mr. Adolf Schiller
- Devil's Island as Debriac
- While America Sleeps as Klaus
1938
- Invisible Enemy as Kirman
- Spring Madness as Soviet Travel Bureau Agent
- Suez as Doctor
- Blondes at Work as J.Z. Beckman (uncredited)
- Arsène Lupin Returns as Vasseur (uncredited)
- You and Me as Mr. Levine
- Cocoanut Grove as Pawnbroker
- The Spy Ring as General A. R. Bowen
- Gateway as Rabbi
- I'll Give a Million as Citizen
- Racket Busters as Peters (uncredited)
1937
- Stolen Holiday as Deputy Bergery
- Heidi as Inn Keeper
- The Women Men Marry as John (uncredited)
- The Great O'Malley as Morris - the Pawnbroker (uncredited)
- Espionage as Chief of Police
- I Met Him in Paris as Emile - Upper Sled Run Tower Control
- Black Legion as Dombrowski
- Beg, Borrow or Steal as Antique Shop Proprietor (uncredited)
1936
- The Devil-Doll as Detective (uncredited)
- Paddy O'Day as Russian Musician
- The White Angel as Pastor Fliedner
- Sins of Man as Doctor
- Till We Meet Again as Schultz
- Charlie Chan's Secret as Ulrich
- Boulder Dam as Pa Vangarick
- Alibi for Murder as Sir Conrad Stava
1935
- Air Hawks as Schulter's Henchman
- The Florentine Dagger as Karl
- Mark of the Vampire as Coroner (uncredited)
- Werewolf of London as Priest (uncredited)
- Here's to Romance as Descartes
1934
- No Greater Glory as Racz
- Now and Forever as Doctor (uncredited)
- The Black Cat as The Majordomo
- As the Earth Turns as Mr. Janowski
- Many Happy Returns as Dr. Otto von Strudel
1933
- To the Last Man as Mark Hayden
- Convention City as Zorb