Kortner, Fritz

ACTOR, DIRECTOR (AUSTRIA)
BORN 12 May 1892, Wien - DIED 22 Jul 1970, München, Bayern
BIRTH NAME Kohn, Nathan
CAUSE OF DEATH cancer
GRAVE LOCATION München, Bayern: Waldfriedhof (246-W-23)

Son of the Jewish jeweller Juda Jakob Kohn (1849-1919). He admired the work of Karl Kraus and after he saw Josef Kainz in Schiller's "Die Räuber" he decided he wanted to be an actor. Ferdinand Gregori supported his early career. In 1911 Max Reinhardt brought him to the Deutsche Theater in Berlin but he left soon and appeared in different cities. In 1919 he had his big break as Mortimer in Schiller's "Maria Stuart". In 1924 he married the actress Johanna Hofer and they stayed together until he died.

In 1932 he left for Ascona and after the nazis came to power he stayed out of Germany. In 1938 he moved to Hollywood and in 1947 he returned to Europe. During the 1950s he was an important director in Germany and worked for the Kammerspiele in München and in Berlin. Three months before his death his last production "Emilia Galotti" was staged in Vienna.

Family
• Wife: Hofer, Johanna (1924-1970)

Related persons
• directed Kückelmann, Gertrud
• cooperated with Wimmer, Maria

Events
16/9/1928Premiere of Hermann Ungar's "Der Rote General" at the Theater in der Königgrätzer Strasse in Berlin. It was directed by Erich Engel. The scenery was created by Caspar Neher. The cast included Gustav von Wangenheim, Emil Lind, Fritz Kortner, Eleonora von Mendelssohn, Egon Friedell and Rudolf Platte. [Engel, Erich][Platte, Rudolf][Wangenheim, Gustav von]
28/3/1929Performance of Frank Wedekind's "Der Marquis von Keith" in honour of the recently deceased Albert Steinrück. It took place at the Schauspielhaus at the Gendarmemarkt in Belrin. Director was Leopold Jessner and Heinrich Mann speeched. Among the participating actors were Heinrich George, Werner Krauss, Carola Neher, Tilla Durieux, Jakob Tiedtke, Conrad Veidt, Max Pallenberg, Elisabeth Bergner, Paul Wegener, Hans Albers, Käthe Dorsch and Veit Harlan. [Albers, Hans][Bergner, Elisabeth][Brausewetter, Hans][Dietrich, Marlene][Durieux, Tilla][George, Heinrich][Goetz, Curt][Harlan, Veit][Körber, Hilde][Krauss, Werner][Mann, Heinrich][Pallenberg, Max][Steinrück, Albert][Veidt, Conrad][Wedekind, Frank][Wedekind, Tilly][Wegener, Paul]

Images

The grave of Fritz and Johanna Kortner at the Waldfriedhof in Munich.
Picture by Androom (23 Aug 2010)

 

Sources
• Blubacher, Thomas, Gibt es etwas Schöneres als Sehnsucht?, Die Geschwister Eleonora und Francesco von Mendelssohn, Henschel Verlag, Leipzig, 2008
Fritz Kortner – Wikipedia
Albert Steinrück: Abschiedsvorstellung am Gendarmenmarkt


Kosárek, Adolf

Published: 20 May 2013
Last update: 03 Mar 2022