Gustav Kadelburg

Franz von Schönthan and Gustav Kadelburg, 1889

Gustav Kadelburg (26 January 1851, Pest – 11 September 1925, Berlin) was a Hungarian-German Jewish actor, dramatist, writer.

He made his first appearance at Leipzig in 1869, and two years later played at the Wallnertheater in Berlin. He was very successful in comedy parts, but abandoned the stage to write comedies and farces.

In 1908 The Manchester Guardian reviewed Der Weg zur Holle ("The Road to Hell"), his farce over three acts, then playing at the Midland Theatre. While chiding the lack of originality, the reviewer praised the pace - neither too quick to exhaust nor too slow to see the chinks.

Literary works

His best-known plays (some written in conjunction with Oscar Blumenthal and Von Schönthan) are:

• In Civil
• Die Berühmte Frau (1887) (produced in English by Augustin Daly as The Great Unknown)
• Grossstadtluft (1890)
• Die Orientreise (1891) (produced in English by Augustin Daly as The Orient Express)
• Der Herr Senator (1894)
• Zwei Wappen (1896) (adapted in English in the United States as The Two Escutcheons by Sydney Rosenfeld)
• Der Wilde Baron
• Migräne
• Mauerblümchen (1893)
• Zum Wolthätigen Zweck
• Im Weissen Rössl

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Isidore Singer & Edgar Mels (1901–1906). "Gustav Kadelburg". In Singer, Isidore; et al. (eds.). The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.