Erich Stroheim Biography (1885-1957)

Original name, Erich Oswald Stroheim; also known as Erich Oswald Hans Carl Maria von Stroheim; born September 22, 1885, in Vienna, Austria; immigrated tothe United States, 1909, naturalized citizen, 1926; died of cancer, May 12, 1957, in Maurepas, France; son of Benno (a hat manufacturer and dealer) and Johanna Stroheim; married Margaret Knox, February 10, 1913 (separated, 1914; died, 1915); married May Jones (a seamstress and dressmaker), 1916 (divorced, 1918); married Valerie Germonprez, 1918 (separated); children: (second marriage) Erich, Jr.; (third marriage) Josef. Career: Actor, director, producer, art designer, and costume designer. Worked as assistant and military adviser to filmmakers D. W. Griffith, 1914-15, and John Emerson, 1915-17. Sometimes credited as Count von Stroheim, Eric O. H. von Stroheim, and Karl von Stroheim. Simpson-Crawford (department store), gift wrapper; Max Grab Fashion Co., traveling salesman; worked at West Point Inn, in California, 1912; also worked as travel agent and railway worker. Military service: Served in Austro-Hungarian Army. Awards, Honors: Academy Award nomination, best supporting actor, 1950, for Sunset Blvd.; Certificate of Merit, servicesto film, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 1954.

Nationality
Austrian
Gender
Male
Occupation
Actor, director, producer, art designer, costume designer
Birth Details
September 22, 1885
Vienna, Austria
Death Details
May 12, 1957
Maurepas, France

Famous Works

  • CREDITS
  • Film Appearances
  • Ghosts (also known as The Curse), 1915
  • Officer on horseback, Captain Macklin, 1915
  • Lutz, Old Heidelberg, 1915
  • Extra, The Birth of a Nation, 1915
  • Gangster, His Picture in the Papers, 1916
  • Accomplice, The Flying Torpedo, 1916
  • Macbeth, 1916
  • Pharisee and other roles, Intolerance, 1916
  • The Buzzard, The Social Secretary, 1916
  • Less Than the Dust, 1916
  • Sylvia of the Secret Service, 1917
  • Lieutenant, Panthea, 1917
  • Russian officer, In Again, Out Again, 1917
  • Prussian officer, For France, 1917
  • Draft 258, 1917
  • Prince Badinoff's aide, Reaching for the Moon, 1917
  • Eric von Eberhard, The Heart of Humanity (also known as Heartsof Humanity and Hearts of the World), 1918
  • German officer, The Unbeliever, 1918
  • Von Bickel, The Hun Within, 1918
  • Lieutenant von Steuben, Blind Husbands (also known as The Pinnacle), 1919
  • Count Wladislas Serge Karamzin, Foolish Wives, 1922
  • Celebrity, Souls for Sale, 1923
  • Prince Nicki, The Honeymoon, 1928
  • Prince Nicki von Wildeliebe-Rauffenburg, The Wedding March (also known as The Honeymoon), 1928
  • Title role, The Great Gabbo, 1929
  • Valdar/Schiller Blecher, Three Faces East, 1930
  • Victor Sangrito, Friends and Lovers, 1931
  • Artur von Furst, The Lost Squadron, 1932
  • Karl Salter, As You Desire Me, 1932
  • Hauptmann Oswald Von Traunsee, Fugitive Road, 1934
  • Wolters, Crimson Romance, 1934
  • Dr. Andre Crespi, The Crime of Dr. Crespi, 1936
  • Colonel Mathesius, Mademoiselle Docteur, 1937
  • Colonel Mathesius, Under Secret Orders, 1937
  • Tschou-Kin, Les Pirates du Rail, 1937
  • Marthe Richard, 1937
  • Captain von Rauffenstein, La Grande Illusion (also known as Grand Illusion), World Pictures Corp., 1937
  • Denis, L'Affaire Lafarge, 1937
  • Winckler, L'Alibi (also known as The Alibi), 1937
  • Marson, Gibraltar (also known as It Happened in Gibraltar),1938
  • Walter, Les Disparus de Saint-Agil (also known as Boys' School), 1938
  • Emile Lasser, La Revolte des Vivants, 1939
  • Paris--New York, 1939
  • Kohrlick, Tempete (also known as Tempete sur Paris), 1939
  • Pears, Pieges (also known as Personal Column and Snares), 1939
  • Le Monde Tremblera, 1939
  • Hoffman, Menaces, 1939
  • Werner von Krale, Macao, l'Enfer du Jeu, 1939
  • Eric, Derriere la Facade, 1939
  • General Simovic, Ultimatum, 1940
  • Captain Stanley Wells, Rappel Immediat (also known as Tango d'Adieu), 1940
  • Andre Desormeaux, I Was an Adventuress, 1940
  • Brenner, So Ends Our Night, United Artists, 1941
  • Dr. Otto Von Harden, The North Star (also known as Armored Attack), 1943
  • Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, Five Graves to Cairo, 1943
  • Deresco, Storm over Lisbon, 1944
  • Professor Franz Mueller, The Lady and the Monster (also known as The Lady and the Doctor and Tiger Man), 1944
  • Carl Hoffmeyer, Scotland Yard Investigator, 1945
  • Flamarion, The Great Flamarion, 1945
  • Edgar, La Danse de Mort, 1946
  • Eric von Berg, On ne Meurt Pas Comme Ca, 1946
  • Diijon, The Mask of Diijon, 1946
  • La Foire aux Chimeres, 1946
  • La Prigioniera dell'Isola, 1947
  • Le Signal Rouge, 1948
  • Portrait d'un Assassin (also known as Portrait of an Assassin), 1949
  • Werner Krali, Mask of Korea, 1950
  • Max Von Mayerling, Sunset Blvd. (also known as Sunset Boulevard), 1950
  • Jacob ten Brinken, Alraune (also known as Mandrake, TheUnnatural, and La Mandragore), 1952
  • Professeur Kieffer, Minuit ... Quai de Bercy, 1953
  • William O'Hara, L'Envers du Paradis, 1953
  • Conrad Nagel, Alerte au Sud (also known as Alert in the South and Allarme a Sud), 1953
  • La Madone des Sleepings, 1955
  • Sacha Zavaroff, Serie Noire, 1955
  • Ludwig van Beethoven, Napoleon (also known as Napoleone andNapoleone Bonaparte), 1955
  • Appeared in archival footage, The Man You Loved to Hate, 1979
  • Also appeared in The Failure, Farewell to Three, and Wild and Wooly.
  • Film Work
  • Costume designer, Ghosts (also known as The Curse), 1915
  • Technical director, Old Heidelberg, 1915
  • Assistant director, His Picture in the Papers, 1916
  • Assistant director, Macbeth, 1916
  • Assistant director, Intolerance, 1916
  • Assistant director, The Social Secretary, 1916
  • Assistant director, Less Than the Dust, 1916
  • Assistant director, Sylvia of the Secret Service, 1917
  • Assistant director, Panthea, 1917
  • Assistant director and art director, In Again, Out Again, 1917
  • Technical director, Blind Man's Luck, 1917
  • Assistant director, The Heart of Humanity (also known as Heartsof Humanity and Hearts of the World), 1918
  • Director, art director, and editor, Blind Husbands (also known asThe Pinnacle), 1919
  • Director and art director, The Devil's Passkey, 1920
  • Director (with Rupert Julian), co-art director, and co-costume designer,Merry-Go-Round, 1922
  • Director, co-art director, and co-costume designer, Foolish Wives,1922
  • Producer, director, co-art director, and co-costume designer, The Merry Widow, 1925
  • Director, co-art director, and editor, Greed, 1925
  • Director, The Honeymoon, 1928
  • Director, co-art director, co-costume designer, and editor, The Wedding March (also known as The Honeymoon), 1928
  • Director, The Great Gabbo, 1929
  • Codirector and co-art director, Queen Kelly, 1929
  • Director, Hello, Sister (also known as Walking Down Broadway), 1933
  • Stage Appearances
  • Toured France in a production of Arsenic and Old Lace, prior to 1950.
  • WRITINGS
  • Screenplays
  • Blind Husbands (also known as The Pinnacle), 1919
  • The Devil's Passkey, 1920
  • Merry-Go-Round, 1922
  • Foolish Wives, 1922
  • The Merry Widow, 1925
  • Greed, 1925published by Cinematheque Royale de Belgique, Brussels,Belgium, 1958
  • The Honeymoon, 1928
  • The Wedding March (also known as The Honeymoon), 1928
  • Tempest, 1928
  • (With others) Queen Kelly, 1929
  • Hello, Sister (also known as Walking Down Broadway), 1933
  • Fugitive Road, 1934
  • The Devil Doll (also known as The Witch of Timbuctoo), 1936
  • I Was an Adventuress, 1940
  • La Danse de Mort, 1946
  • Other
  • Paprika, [New York City], 1935
  • Les Feux de la Saint-Jean, [Givors, France], Part 1: Veronica, 1951Part 2: Constanza, 1954
  • Poto-Poto, [Paris], 1956
  • Contributor to periodicals, including Film Weekly, Motion Picture Classic, Positif, and Sight and Sound.

Further Reference

Adaptations:

  • The film Between Two Women (also known as Surrounded by Women), based on a story by von Stroheim, was released in 1937.
OTHER SOURCES
    Periodicals:
    • Atlantic, September 1987, p. 73.
    Other:
    • http://www.cs.monash.edu.au/~pringle/silent/ssotm* September 17, 1999

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