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Francis Lederer Biography (1899-)

Addresses: Home: Box 32, Canoga Park, CA, 91305.

Nationality

Czechoslovakian

Gender

Male

Occupation

actor, dancer, director, producer, writer, teacher

Birth Details

November 6, 1899

Prague, Czechoslovakia

Famous Works

• Non-Theatrical Career
• Apprentice and salesman; shop window decorator in Prague.
• Debut
• a walk on in Burning Heart, while apprenticing at the New German Theatre, Prague, 1919-22.
• New York Debut
• Andreas Steiner, Autumn Crocus, Morosco, 1932.
• London Debut
• Fleuriot, My Sister and I, Streatham Hill, 1931.
• Principal Stage Appearances
• Joined a touring repertory company as an actor, stage manager, property man and prompter, performing throughout Moravia, Silesia and Hungary, 1922; various German theatres in Brno, Olmutz and Marienbad in Czechoslovakia, playedRomeo in the Mex Reinhardt production of Romeo and Juliet, Prince Henry, Henry IV, Part 1, and Wonder Bar, 1928-30; Mosca, Volpone, Garrick, London, 1932; Andreas Steiner, Autumn Crocus, Lyric, London, 1931; Victor Florescu, The Cat and the Fiddle, Palace, NY, 1932; Autumn Crocus, El Capitan, Los Angeles, 1934; Joe Bonaparte, Golden Boy, Curran, San Francisco, 1937; Chico, Seventh Heaven, Civic,Chicago, IL, 1939; succeeded Laurence Oliver as Gaylord Esterbrook, No Time for Comedy, Barrymore, NY, 1939; appeared at the Wilmington Playhouse,DE: General Bonaparte, The Man of Destiny, Kenneth Dovey, The OldLady Shows Her Medals, Old Master, Playgoers, 1942; Lafont, Parisienne, Fulton, NY, 1950; Captain Bluntschli, Arms and the Man, Edison, NY, 1950; Adrian Van Dyck, Collector's Item, Palace, Manchester, England, 1951; Relative Values and Nina, Berlin, Germany,1951; Jacques Devallee, Wedding in Paris, Hippodrome, London, 1954; Paul Delville, The Marriage-Go-Round; The Pleasure of His Company; Three Curtains; Watch on the Rhine.
• Major Tours
• Max Christmas, The Pursuit of Happiness, 1941; The Play's the Thing, 1942; A Doll's House, 1944; The Silver Whistle, summer theatres, 1950; Prince Regent. The Sleeping Prince, opened Huntington Hartford, 1956; Mr. Frank, The Diary of Anne Frank, 1958.
• Principal Film Appearances
• Refuge, 1929; Pandora's Box, 1929; Wonderful Lies ofNina Petrova, 1930; Man of Two Worlds, 1934; The Pursuit of Happiness, 1934; Romance in Manhattan, 1934; The Gay Deception, 1935; One Rainy Afternoon, 1936; My American Wife, 1936; It's All Yours, 1938; Confessions of a Nazi Spy, 1939; TheMan I Married, 1940; Voice of the Wind, 1944; The Madonna'sSecret, 1946; The Diary of a Chambermaid, 1946; Million DollarWeekend, 1948; Captain Carey, U.S.A., 1950 Stolen Identity, 1953; The Ambassador's Daughter, 1956; Lisbon, 1956; Maracaibo, 1958.
• Principal Television Appearances
• Turn the Key Deftly, Breck Showcase, CBS, 1959.
• Theatre-Related Career
• Founder, American National Academy of Performing Arts, Los Angeles, CA 1973; founder, International Academy of Performing Arts, Washington, DC, 1975.