Conrad Veidt
From 1916 until his death, Veidt appeared in more than 100 films. One of his earliest performances was as the murderous somnambulist Cesare in director Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), a classic of German Expressionist cinema, with Werner Krauss and Lil Dagover. His starring role in The Man Who Laughs (1928), as a disfigured circus performer whose face is cut into a permanent grin, provided the (visual) inspiration for the Batman villain the Joker, created in 1940 by Bill Finger. Veidt also starred in other silent horror films such as The Hands of Orlac (1924), another film directed by Robert Wiene, The Student of Prague (1926) and Waxworks (1924) where he played Ivan the Terrible.
Veidt also appeared in Magnus Hirschfeld's film Anders als die Andern (Different from the Others, 1919), one of the first films to sympathetically portray homosexuality, although the characters in it do not end up happily. He had a leading role in Germany's first talking picture, Das Land ohne Frauen (Land Without Women, 1929).
He moved to Hollywood in the late 1920s and made a few films, but the advent of talking pictures and his difficulty with speaking English led him to return to Germany. During this period he lent his expertise to tutoring aspiring performers, one of whom was the later American character actress Lisa Golm.
Filmography (120 Appearances)
Visual Effects: The Thief of Bagdad
The Many Faces of Dracula
Universal Horror
The Horror Hall of Fame: A Monster Salute
Above Suspicion
Casablanca
Nazi Agent
All Through the Night
The Men in Her Life
Whistling in the Dark
A Woman's Face
Escape
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
Contraband
The Thief of Bagdad
The Spy in Black
The Chess Player
Tempête sur l'Asie
Dark Journey
Under the Red Robe
King of the Damned
The Passing of the Third Floor Back
Bella Donna
Jew Süss
Wilhelm Tell
The Wandering Jew
I Was a Spy
F.P.1
The Only Girl
Rome Express
The Black Hussar
Rasputin, Demon of the Women
The Other Side
Congress Dances
The Night of the Decision
The Man Who Committed the Murder
The Love Storm
The Great Passion
The Last Company
The Last Performance
Das Land ohne Frauen
The Movie City of Hollywood
The Man Who Laughs
Laws of Love: Innocently Outlawed!
A Man's Past
The Beloved Rogue
Napoleon
The Flight in the Night
The Student of Prague
Love is Blind
Should We Be Silent?
Two Brothers
Impetuous Youth
The Wife's Crusade
The Ingmar Inheritance
Le Comte Kostia
Schicksal
Husbands or Lovers
Waxworks
The Hands of Orlac
The Film in the Film
Don Carlos und Elisabeth
Wilhelm Tell
Paganini
Glanz gegen Glück
Lucrezia Borgia
The Indian Tomb, Part II: The Tiger of Eschnapur
The Indian Tomb, Part I: The Mission of the Yoghi
Lady Hamilton
Danton
Landstraße und Großstadt
Christian Wahnschaffe II: Escape from the Golden Dungeon
Der Leidensweg der Inge Krafft
Die Liebschaften des Hektor Dalmore
Liebestaumel
Journey into the Night
Das Geheimnis von Bombay
People in Ecstasy
Desire: The Tragedy of a Dancer
The Count of Cagliostro
Christian Wahnschaffe I: Weltbrand
Manolescu's Memoirs
Evening – Night – Morning
Moriturus
The Head of Janus
Künstlerlaunen
Kurfürstendamm
Die Augen der Welt
Patience
Die Nacht auf Goldenhall
The Merry-Go-Round
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Figures of the Night
Eerie Tales
Wahnsinn
Prinz Kuckuck
Prostitution II
Die Okarina
Different from the Others
Peer Gynt - 2. Teil: Peer Gynts Wanderjahre und Tod
Around the World in 80 Days
Prostitution
The Japanese Woman
Opium
Opfer der Gesellschaft
The Mexican
Nocturno der Liebe
Jettchen Geberts Geschichte. 2. Henriette Jacoby
The Story of Dida Ibsen
Es werde Licht! 4. Teil: Sündige Mütter
Jettchen Geberts Geschichte. 1. Jettchen Gebert
Colomba
Diary of a Lost Woman
Not of the Woman Born
Das Dreimäderlhaus
The Mystery of Bangalore
Fear
Der Spion
Wenn Tote sprechen
Der Weg des Todes