Curt Bois

Curt Bois (born Kurt Boas; April 5, 1901 – December 25, 1991) was a German actor with a career spanning over 80 years. He is best remembered for his performances as the pickpocket in Casablanca and the poet Homer in Wings of Desire (1987).

Life and career

Bois was born to a German Jewish family in Berlin and began acting in 1907, becoming one of the film world's first child actors, with a role in the 1907 short film Bauernhaus und Grafenschloß. In 1909, he played the title role in Der Kleine Detektiv ('The Little Detective'). Bois performed in theatre, cabaret, musicals, silent films, and "talkies" over his long acting career. He performed under Max Reinhardt and found success in 1928 in a Viennese stage production of "Charley's Aunt" at the Josefstadt Theater. He was a successful character comic, and for a while film studios tried to make him into a "German Harold Lloyd".

In 1934, institutionalized Anti-Semitism forced the Jewish Bois to leave his home in Nazi Germany for the United States. There he found work on stage on Broadway. By 1937, he had made his way to Hollywood and began acting in films, the best-known being Casablanca (1942), in which he warns a befuddled English gentleman to be on guard against pickpockets ("vultures everywhere") while stealing the man's wallet. He had a notable supporting role in Caught (1949), starring Robert Ryan, Barbara Bel Geddes, and James Mason; Ryan played a megalomaniacal industrialist openly based on Howard Hughes and Bois was Ryan's conflicted fixer, Franzi Kartos. Most of his Hollywood roles were small, but nevertheless Bois was in demand. After World War II, Bois decided it was safe to return to Germany, which he did in 1950.

Bois finished his life and career in Germany, first in the East, and then in the West. He appeared at the Schiller Theater and the Theater des Westens for many years. One of his final performances was in Wim Wenders' Der Himmel über Berlin (Wings of Desire) in 1987, portraying the aged poet Homer "who endlessly wanders Berlin in the hope of properly capturing the city on paper". He won the European Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for this role. He played his last role in the 1989 short film Das letzte Band, ending a film career of 82 years. Bois died in Berlin at the age of 90.

Complete filmography

Bauernhaus und Grafenschloß (1907 short) Der fidele Bauer – 1. Terzett: Ein Infant'rist, ein Artill'rist (1908 short) Der fidele Bauer – 2. Terzett: Bauernmarsch (1908 short) Der fidele Bauer – 3. Duettino zwischen Liesl und Heinerle (1908 short) Der kleine Detektiv (1909 short) Mutterliebe (1909 short) Klebolin klebt alles (1909 short) Ein neuer Erwerbszweig (1912 short) Des Pfarrers Töchterlein (The Minister's Daughter) (1913 short) Das Geschenk des Inders (1914) as Child Streichhölzer, kauft Streichhölzer! (1916) BZ-Maxe & Co. (1916) (1916) Tante Röschen will heiraten (1916) Die Spinne (1917) Abenteuer im Warenhaus (1917 short) (1917) Das Unruhige Hotel (1917) Der Dieb (1918) as Hellmuth (1918) Der Gast aus der vierten Dimension (1918) So'n kleiner Schwerenöter (1918 short) The Oyster Princess (1919) as Conductor She and the Three (1922) as Der Hilfsregisseur When She Starts, Look Out (1926) as Ali ben Mokka Der goldene Schmetterling (The Golden Butterfly) (1926) as André Dubois, Ballettmeister The Young Man from the Ragtrade (1926) as Moritz Spiegel Countess Ironing-Maid (1926) The Prince of Pappenheim (1927) as Egon Fürst The Transformation of Dr. Bessel (1927) as Simche Regierer Majestät schneidet Bubiköpfe (1928) Anschluß um Mitternacht (Call at Midnight) (1929) as Emil The Schlemihl (1931) as Hartwig Ein steinreicher Mann (A Tremendously Rich Man) (1932) as Curt Hollywood Hotel (1937) as Dress Designer Tovarich (1937) as Alfonso Romance in the Dark (1938) as Von Hemisch Gold Diggers in Paris (1938) as Padrinsky The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938) as Rabbit Boy Meets Girl (1938) as Dance Director (uncredited) Garden of the Moon (1938) as Maharajah of Sund The Great Waltz (1938) as Kienzl Hotel Imperial (1939) as Anton The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) as Student The Lady in Question (1940) as Henri Lurette Boom Town (1940) as Ferdie He Stayed for Breakfast (1940) as Comrade Tronavich Hullabaloo (1940) as Armand Francois Bitter Sweet (1940) as Ernst That Night in Rio (1941) as Salles Hold Back the Dawn (1941) as Bonbois Blue, White and Perfect (1942) as Friedrich Gerber, alias Nappy Dubois The Tuttles of Tahiti (1942) as Jensen My Gal Sal (1942) as De Rochemont Pacific Rendezvous (1942) as Kestrin Casablanca (1942) as Pickpocket Destroyer (1943) as Yasha (uncredited) Paris After Dark (1943) as Max (uncredited) Princess O'Rourke (1943) as Count Peter de Candome Swing Fever (1943) as Nick Sirocco The Desert Song (1943) as François Cover Girl (1944) as Chef at Danny McGuire's Gypsy Wildcat (1944) as Valdi Blonde Fever (1944) as Brillon The Spanish Main (1945) as Paree Saratoga Trunk (1945) as Augustin Haussy Jungle Flight (1947) as Pepe The Woman from Tangier (1948) as Parquit Arch of Triumph (1948) as Tattooed Waiter French Leave (1948) as Marcel The Woman in White (1948) as Louis Up in Central Park (1948) as Maitre d' (uncredited) Let's Live a Little (1948) as Chemist (uncredited) Caught (1949) as Franzi Kartos Kiss in the Dark (1949) as Hugo Schloss The Lovable Cheat (1949) as Count de la Brive The Great Sinner (1949) as Jeweler / Money Lender Oh, You Beautiful Doll (1949) as Zaltz (uncredited) Joe Palooka Meets Humphrey (1950) as Pierre Fortunes of Captain Blood (1950) as King Charles II Androklus und der Löwe (Androcles and the Lion) (1958 TV film) as Androklus Herr Puntila and His Servant Matti (1955–1960) as Johannes Puntila The Haunted Castle (1960) as Hugo Flüchtlingsgespräche (1964 TV film) as Ziffel Der eingebildete Kranke (1964 TV film) as Argan Honour Among Thieves (1966) as Emil Die hundertste Nacht (1966 TV film) as Iwakichi Bert Brecht vor dem McCarthy-Ausschuß (1966 TV film) Der Zauberberg (1968 TV film) as Naphta Amerika oder der Verschollene (1968 TV film) as Karl Roßmann's father Der Pott (1971 TV film) as Simon Norton Der trojanische Sessel (1971 TV film) as Franz Seider Strychnin und saure Drops (1974 TV film) Das Rentenspiel (1977 TV film) as Grandfather Das Idol von Mordassow (1979 TV film) Liebe, Tod und Heringshäppchen (1979 TV film) as Friedrich Schlick Die Alten kommen (1980 TV film) Wochenendgeschichten (1980 TV film) Bühne frei für Kolowitz (1980 TV film) as Benjamin Weiß Der Mond scheint auf Kylenamoe (1980 TV film) Gesucht wird... Drei Geschichten um nicht ganz ehrenwerte Herren (1980 TV film) Das Boot ist voll (1981) as Lazar Ostrowskij Flächenbrand (1981 TV film) as Bühler Der Schützling (1981 TV film) as Leiser Die feine englische Art: Täglich eine gute Tat (1982 TV film) as Lord Emsworth Die feine englische Art: Hundeglück (1982 TV film) as Lord Emsworth Die feine englische Art: Die Lady frißt (1982 TV film) as Lord Emsworth Die feine englische Art: Blut wird fließen (1982 TV film) as Lord Emsworth The Roaring Fifties (1983) (uncredited) Wings of Desire (1987) as Homer