Gustav Diessl

Gustav Diessl (30 December 1899 – 20 March 1948) was an Austrian artist, and film and stage actor.

Biography Diessl was born Gustav Karl Balthasar Diessl in Vienna. In 1916, he was an extra on different stages in Vienna but was soon recruited into the army for World War I. During his military service, he was held prisoner for a year.

After the war, Diessl started training as a stage designer but left to pursue a professional career in acting. Meanwhile, he played for a touring company and in 1921 had his first fixed engagement at the Neue Wiener Bühne. That same year he made his film debut, appearing in Im Banne der Kralle, which was produced in Austria and directed by Carl Froelich (G. W. Pabst, who would later direct Diessl in Westfront 1918, made his only appearance as a screen actor in this film). Over the years, Diessl compiled an extensive filmography, including many romantic comedies, several of which were filmed in war-time Italy. One of his more notable roles is in the German 1945 propaganda epic Kolberg, which Nazi officials designed to bolster the peoples' morale at a time when a German victory in World War II seemed increasingly hopeless.

After his first marriage ended, Diessl lived with actress Camilla Horn for several years. After this, he married a second time in 1938 to soprano Maria Cebotari. Diessl died in 1948 following two strokes.

Selected filmography

In Thrall to the Claw (1921) – Ingenieur Vineta, the Sunken City (1923) Ssanin (1924) The Revenge of the Pharaohs (1925) – Hussein – Kemal Sensations-Prozess (1928) – Dr. Spindler Abgründe (1928) – Thomas Beck, Lawyer The Devious Path (1928) Pandora's Box (1929) – Jack the Ripper The Living Corpse (1929) – Viktor Mikhajlovich Karenin That Murder in Berlin (1929) Marriage (1929) The Man Without Love (1929) – Mérone – ein Schauspieler A Mother's Love (1929) – Hans Immermann The White Hell of Pitz Palu (1929) – Dr. Johannes Krafft Women on the Edge (1929) – Robert Stevens Three Around Edith (1929) – Roger Brown Westfront 1918 (1930) – Karl Morals at Midnight (1930) – Brat, ein Gefangener Lieutenant, Were You Once a Hussar? (1930) – Fedor Karew Hans in Every Street (1930) – Soranzo The Great Longing (1930) – Himself The Yellow House of Rio (1931) – King-Fu / Scalpa Men Behind Bars (1931) – Morris Nights in Port Said (1932) – Seaman Hans Die Herrin von Atlantis (1932) – Morhange Teilnehmer antwortet nicht (1932) – Konrad Quandt (1932) - Martin Die Herrgottsgrenadiere (1932) - Faletti The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) - Thomas Kent Roman einer Nacht (1933) - Der Fremde S.O.S. Eisberg (1933) - Professor Dr. Karl Lorenz Weiße Majestät (1934) - Jakob Burghardt, Bergführer Un de la montagne (1934) - Jacques Burgard Everything for a Woman (1935) - Frederic Keyne, Flugzeuginsustrieller Demon of the Himalayas (1935) - Dr. Norman - Ethnologe The Love of the Maharaja (1936) - Maharadscha A Woman Between Two Worlds (1936) - Dr. Hellwig Moscow-Shanghai (1936) - Serge Smrirnow Shadows of the Past (1936) Starke Herzen (1937) - Rittmeister Alexander von Harbin The Tiger of Eschnapur (1938) - Sascha Demidoff, Abenteurer The Indian Tomb (1938) - Sascha Demidoff, Ingenieur Fortsetzung folgt (1938) - Fred, sein Freund Rubber (1938) - Don Alonzo de Ribeira The Green Emperor (1939) - Henry Miller / Hendrik Mylius Ich verweigere die Aussage (1939) - Robert Lenart I Am Sebastian Ott (1939) - Strobl The Star of Rio (1940) - Don Felipe Escobar Herz ohne Heimat (1940) - Alexander Diersberg, sein Stiefbruder Senza cielo (1940) - Dr. Martin The Comedians (1941) - Ernst Biron, Count of Kurland Clarissa (1941) - Bankdirektor Feerenbach The Hero of Venice (1941) - Marco Fuser People in the Storm (1941) - Alexander Oswatic The Woman of Sin (1942) Maria Malibran (1943) Calafuria (1943) - Tommaso Bardelli La danza del fuoco (1943) - Giulio Boldrini Nora (1944) - Dr. Rank Mist on the Sea (1944) - Pietro Rosati Ein Blick zurück (1944) - Erwin Corbach Kolberg (1944) - Lt. Schill The Trial (1948) - Prosecutor Both The Appeal to Conscience (1949) - Dr. Gregor Karpinski (final film role)