Georg John

Georg John (born Georg Jacobsohn; 23 July 1879 – 18 November 1941) was a German stage and film actor.

Early life Georg Jacobsohn was born into a Jewish household in Schmiegel, Province of Posen, Imperial Germany.

Career John began his career around 1900 in smaller stages and traveling theatres. In 1904, he was engaged at the Theater of Wilhelmshaven, followed by appearances at Stolp in 1905, Altona, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Bochum and Göttingen. In 1914, John worked as an actor and producer for Vaterländische Schauspiele in Vienna.

In 1917, John first appeared in silent movies, playing a Tibetan monk in Die Fremde (The Stranger), and Death in Hilde Warren und der Tod (Hilde Warren and Death). These roles were typical of the kinds of parts he would become known for, even if, at first, he was more often seen as a father, husband or dignitary. Beginning in the 1920s, John appeared in the films of notable German filmmakers, where he often played bizarre, gnome-like figures, such as the beggar in Fritz Lang's Der müde Tod (Tired Death, 1921, released in English as Destiny), and the blind balloon-seller who recognizes the murderer due to a whistled song in 1931's M. For F. W. Murnau he played a night-watchman in Der Letzte Mann (The Last Man, 1924, released in English as The Last Laugh).

Being a Jew, John was deported in autumn 1941 to the Łódź Ghetto where he died on 18 November 1941 at the age of 62.

Selected filmography

Ramara (1916) Hilde Warren und der Tod (1917) – Tod Die Fremde (1917) Das Buch des Lasters (1917) – Bildhauer Waves of Fate (1918) Mr. Wu (1918) – Tschang-Ta Verlorene Töchter (1918) – Manager Pichler Veritas Vincit (1919) – Blinder Senator Peer Gynt (1919, part 1, 2) – Prof. Dr. Begriffenfeldt The Boy in Blue (1919) – Zigeunerhauptmann / Gypsy commander The Spiders (1919–1920, part 1, 2) – Dr. Telphas Unheimliche Geschichten (1919) Harakiri (1919) – Buddhist Monk Phantome des Lebens (1919) Der Weg der Grete Lessen (1919, Short) Dämon der Welt (1920, part 2, 3) – Fred Osring Der Menschheit Anwalt (1920) – Hexenrichter Abdonatus / Hexenrichter Lucinder Johann Baptiste Lingg (1920) – Gutsverwalter Wolleck The Legend of Holy Simplicity (1920) – Blinder Bettler Der König von Paris (1920, part 1, 2) Humanity Unleashed (1920) – Fritz Breese Schatten einer Stunde (1920) Napoleon and the Little Washerwoman (1920) Hearts are Trumps (1920) – Dunkler mann Planetenschieber (1921) Tobias Buntschuh – Das Drama eines Einsamen (1921) – Abgesandte des Stahltrusts The Stranger from Alster Street (1921) Die Geschichte von Barak Johnson (1921) Der Silberkönig (1921, part 1-4) Der müde Tod (1921) – Beggar / Bettler The Riddle of the Sphinx (1921) – Mummy Lady Hamilton (1921) – zwei Jacobiner The Indian Tomb (1921, part 1, 2) – Büßer / a Penitent Das Geheimnis der Santa Maria (1921) Das Geheimnis der sechs Spielkarten (1921, part 4) Die Geschichte des grauen Hauses 1 – Episode: Der Mord aus verschmähter Liebe (1921) The Adventurer (1922) – der rote Johnny Die Beute der Erinnyen (1922) – Tom Sprang Der brennende Acker (1922) – Großknecht / Head farmhand Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler (1922) – Pesch She and the Three (1922) – Ehrenmann hinter schwedischen Gardinen Prashna's Secret (1922) – Praschna, indischer Fakir The Fall of Jerusalem (1922) – Egyptian Emissary Marie Antoinette, the Love of a King (1922) – Robespierre The Fire Ship (1922) The Stone Rider (1923) – Pförtner A Woman, an Animal, a Diamond (1923) – Zirkusdirektor The Lost Shoe (1923) – Jon I Had a Comrade (1923) – Marodeur The Good Comrade (1923) – Marodeur Gold and Luck (1923) – Wucherer Frauenschicksal (1924) Die Nibelungen (1924) – Mime the blacksmith / Alberich the Nibelung / Slaodel, his brother Decameron Nights (1924) – Astologer My Leopold (1924) – Nibisch Das Wachsfigurenkabinett (Waxworks) (1924) – Prisoner The Last Laugh (1924) – Nachtwächter [Night Watchman] Peter the Pirate (1925) – Beppo Harry Hill's Deadly Hunt (1925, part 1, 2) Guillotine (1925) Express Train of Love (1925) Slums of Berlin (1925) – Laundress's Husband The Gentleman Without a Residence (1925) – Fürst Varieté (1925) – Seeman Bismarck (1925, part 1) The Hanseatics (1925) Adventure on the Night Express (1925) – Theewens Diener Raoul The Fallen (1926) – Schampuspusorje The Mill at Sanssouci (1926) – General Zieten Des Königs Befehl (1926) Eyes Open, Harry! (1926) – Nathan Miller Das graue Haus (1926) – Der Henker Hell of Love (1926) – Heinicke, Prokurist The Flight in the Night (1926) – Bediensteter Wenn Menschen irren. Frauen auf Irrwegen (1926) Metropolis (1927) – Arbeiter / Working Man Who Causes Explosion of M-Machine (uncredited) Erinnerungen einer Nonne (1927) The Bordellos of Algiers (1927) – Portier The Weavers (1927) – Ansorge Frühere Verhältnisse (1927) Gehetzte Frauen (1927) The Curse of Vererbung (1927) – Portier At the Edge of the World (1927) Der Mann ohne Kopf (1927) – Der Schreckliche Petronella – Das Geheimnis der Berge (1927) – Der alte Amros Only a Viennese Woman Kisses Like That (1928) – Der Manager Alraune (1928) – Der Mörder Luther (1928) – Ein Krüppel Panic (1928) Spione (1928) – Locomotive Engineer (uncredited) Man Against Man (1928) – Zamok The Hangman (1928) Volga Volga (1928) Anastasia, die falsche Zarentochter (1928) Somnambul (1929) – Der Wirt Taxi at Midnight (1929) – Dritter Wachtmeister Men Without Work (1929) – Odysseus – der 'Künstler Andreas Hofer (1929) – Franz Raffl – ein Bauer Atlantik (1929) – Wendt, Thomas' servant The Woman Without Nerves (1930) – Sekretär Fundvogel (1930) – Poacher Rag Ball (1930) The Land of Smiles (1930) – Tschang in der Operette The Flute Concert of Sanssouci (1930) – Zieten Danton (1931) – Ankläger Stürmisch die Nacht (1931) M (1931) – Blind Panhandler The First Right of the Child (1932) Death Over Shanghai (1932) – Lutsin – Praxas Diener F.P.1 antwortet nicht (1932) – Maschinist The Flower of Hawaii (1933) – Oberpriester von Hawaii Jumping Into the Abyss (1933) – Fotograf The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) – Baums Diener / Baum's Servant (final film role)