Ernst Lothar
Austrian theatre director, manager and producer
About Ernst Lothar
Lived 1890 – 1974 (aged 84). Ernst Lothar was an Austrian writer, poet lawyer, film director, author, director and theatre critic.
Ernst Lothar (; 25 October 1890 – 30 October 1974) was a Moravian-Austrian writer, theatre director/manager and producer.
He was born Ernst Lothar Müller, and as Müller is a very common German surname, he dropped it. His brother, Hans Müller-Einigen, by contrast, added a surname.
Biography Lothar was born in Brünn, Austria-Hungary (now Brno in the Czech Republic) and died in Vienna. Amongst his novels was The Angel with the Trumpet and The Prisoner. In 1943 he published Beneath Another Sun (Doubleday, Doran & Co., Inc., Garden City, N.Y.). It was evidently written in exile as the foreword is signed Colorado Springs, Summer, 1942.
He was married to the Austrian actress Adrienne Gessner. They both fled into exile following the 1938 Anschluss.
Honours and awards Bauersfeld Prize (1918) Gold Medal of Vienna (1960) Kainz Medal (1960) Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class (1961) Literature Prize of the City of Vienna (1963) Golden Needle of P.E.N. Club (1963) Austrian Decoration for Science and Art (1964) Honorary member of the Burgtheater and the P.E.N. clubs
Books in translation (selected) The Loom of Justice (1935), translated by Willa and Edwin Muir
A Woman is Witness: A Paris Diary (1941), translated by June Barrows Mussey
Beneath Another Sun (1943), translated by June Barrows Mussey
The Angel with the Trumpet (1944), made into films of the same name in 1948 and 1950; republished in 2015 as "The Vienna Melody", translated by Elizabeth Reynolds Hapgood
The Prisoner: A Novel (1945), translated by James Austin Galston
The Door Opens (1945), translated by Marion A. Werner; illustrated by Garth Williams
Filmography Little Friend, directed by Berthold Viertel (UK, 1934, based on the novel Kleine Freundin) The Clairvoyant, directed by Maurice Elvey (UK, 1935, based on the novel Der Hellseher) The Angel with the Trumpet, directed by Karl Hartl (Austria, 1948, based on the novel Der Engel mit der Posaune) An Act of Murder, directed by Michael Gordon (1948, based on the novel Die Mühle der Gerechtigkeit) The Angel with the Trumpet, directed by Anthony Bushell (UK, 1950, based on the novel Der Engel mit der Posaune) Screenwriter , directed by (Austria, 1963, TV film, based on the eponymous novella by Arthur Schnitzler)
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Important facts
People in Ernst Lothar's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Ernst Lothar's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Ernst Lothar?
Austrian theatre director, manager and producer (1890–1974)
When was Ernst Lothar born?
Ernst Lothar was born on 25 October 1890 in Brno.
When did Ernst Lothar die?
Ernst Lothar died on 30 October 1974 in Vienna.
What was Ernst Lothar's occupation?
Ernst Lothar was a writer, poet lawyer, film director, author, director and theatre critic.
What nationality was Ernst Lothar?
Ernst Lothar was Austrian.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Ernst Lothar. https://biography.guide/ernst-lothar/
MLA: "Ernst Lothar." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/ernst-lothar/.
Chicago: "Ernst Lothar." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/ernst-lothar/.
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