Rudolf Klein-Rogge
| Rudolf Klein-Rogge | |
|---|---|
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| Born | November 24, 1885[1] Cologne, Germany |
| Died | May 29, 1955 (aged 69) Wetzelsdorf, Austria |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1912–1942 |
| Spouse | Thea von Harbou (1914–1920) |
Friedrich Rudolf Klein-Rogge (November 24, 1885 – May 29, 1955) was a German film actor. Klein-Rogge is known for playing sinister figures in films in the 1920s and 1930s as well as being a main-stay in director Fritz Lang's Weimar-era films.
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[edit] Biography
Klein-Rogge was born in Cologne, Germany.[1] He began taking acting lessons while studying art history in Berlin and Bonn. Klein-Rogge made his acting debut at in 1909, playing Cassius in Julius Caesar in Halberstadt.[1][2] Klein-Rogge went on to play in theaters located in Düsseldorf, Kiel and Aachen.[1] In Aachen, Klein-Rogge met actress and screenwriter Thea von Harbou. The two married in 1914.[2] In 1915, Klein-Rogge joined Nuremberg's Städtische Bühnen theatre as both an actor and director.[1]
In 1919, Klein-Rogge began acting in films.[1][2] He appeared in an uncredited role as the criminal in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.[3][4] During this time, von Harbou was having affairs with director Fritz Lang and eventually left Klein-Rogge to marry Lang.[2] Despite the split, Klein-Rogge made several films that were written by von Harbou and directed by Lang, including Destiny, Dr. Mabuse the Gambler, Die Nibelungen, Metropolis and Spies. Klein-Rogge's intense look lead him to similar roles such as a tyrant in Fritz Wendhausen's Der steinerne Reiter, a pirate in Arthur Robison's Pietro der Korsar, and the Czar in Alexandre Volkoff's Casanova. Klein-Rogge's last film with Lang was The Testament of Dr. Mabuse in 1933.[1]
Klein-Rogge played the lead roles in two films directed by von Harbou: Elisabeth und der Narr and Hanneles Himmelfahrt.[1] Klein-Rogge re-married twice. First with Margarete Neff and secondly with the Swedish actress Mary Johnson.[2]
[edit] Partial filmography
- The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
- Destiny (1921)
- Dr. Mabuse the Gambler (1922)
- Warning Shadows (1923)
- Die Nibelungen (1924)
- Metropolis (1927)
- Spies (1928)
- The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933)
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Bock 2009, p. 248
- ^ a b c d e f Eder, Bruce. "Overview:Rudolf Klein-Rogge". Allmovie. http://allmovie.com/artist/rudolf-klein-rogge-38674/bio. Retrieved February 16, 2010.
- ^ "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari : Cast: Allmovie". Allmovie. http://allmovie.com/work/the-cabinet-of-dr-caligari-7783/cast. Retrieved February 16, 2010.
- ^ Eisner 2008, p. 351
[edit] References
- Bock, Hans-Michael (2009). The Concise Cinegraph: Encyclopaedia of German Cinema. Berghahn Books. http://books.google.ca/books?id=z7gFT_Duq1cC. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
- Eisner, Lotte H. (2008). The Haunted Screen: Expressionism in the German Cinema and the Influence of Max Reinhardt. University of California Press. ISBN 0520257901. http://books.google.ca/books?id=lwZ_S6ap1LcC. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
