Jannings, Emil

Born July 23, 1884, in Rorschach, Switzerland; died Jan. 2, 1950, in Strobl, Austria. German actor.

Jannings appeared in various theaters in Germany, becoming a leading actor with the Deutsches Theater in Berlin in 1914. His best roles in the classical repertoire included Mephistopheles in Goethe’s Faust and the title roles in Shakespeare’s Othello, and Hauptmann’s Drayman Henschel. Jannings also acted in Hollywood motion pictures from 1927 to 1929. His acting was distinguished by a convincing mastery of gesture and facial mimicry. His most outstanding motion-picture roles were the Doorman in The Last Laugh (1925) and Professor Unrat in The Blue Angel (1930). After 1933, Jannings acted in films by Nazi directors.