Gustav von Seyffertitz

Gustav von Seyffertitz (4 August 1862 – 25 December 1943) was a German film actor and director. He settled in the United States. He was born in Haimhausen, Bavaria, and died in Los Angeles, California, aged 81.

Biography Gustav von Seyffertitz was born into an aristocratic family as the son of Guido Freiherr von Seyffertitz and his wife Anna Gräfin von Butler Clonebough zu Haimhausen. His family expected him to start a military career, but was shocked when he said that he wanted to be an actor. He was a member of the Meiningen Court Theatre and also appeared in operas. He emigrated to the United States in 1896, after being asked by the Austrian-American theatre director Heinrich Conried. Despite his thick German accent, he was successful on Broadway where he worked as a stage actor and director during the 1900s and 1910s. He appeared as an actor in such lavish productions as The Brass Bottle in 1910. This play was turned into several films and was the idea for the television show I Dream of Jeannie in the 1960s. He made his film debut in 1917, appearing with Douglas Fairbanks in Down to Earth.

In his films, the dignified-looking Seyffertitz often played the "very embodiment of the Hideous Hun - America's notion of the merciless, atrocity-happy German military officer". One of his most successful film roles was Professor Moriarty in 1922's Sherlock Holmes with John Barrymore. He also played the antagonist to Mary Pickford in Sparrows (1926) and appeared as Ramon Novarro's uncle, the king of a small German state, in Ernst Lubitsch's The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927). He continued his career into the sound film and portrayed supporting roles in the Josef von Sternberg-Marlene Dietrich films Dishonored (1931) and Shanghai Express (1932). Among his later film roles was a parody on Sigmund Freud in Frank Capra's film classic Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936). He appeared in 118 films between 1917 and 1939.

Seyffertitz was married five times and had numerous children.

Filmography As actor

Down to Earth (1917) as Dr. Jollyem The Countess Charming (1917) as Jacob Vandergraft The Little Princess (1917) as Mr. Carrisford The Devil-Stone (1917) as Stephen Densmore Stella Maris (1918) as The Surgeon (uncredited) Rimrock Jones (1918) as Stoddard The Widow's Might (1918) as Horace Hammer The Hidden Pearls (1918) as Senator Joseph Benton Amarilly of Clothes-Line Alley (1918) as Surgeon (uncredited) The Whispering Chorus (1918) as Mocking face His Majesty, Bunker Bean (1918) as Professor Balthasar Mr. Fix-It (1918) as Doctor (uncredited) Old Wives for New (1918) as Melville Bladen To Hell with the Kaiser! (1918) Less Than Kin (1918) as Endicott Lee Till I Come Back to You (1918) as Karl von Drutz The Source (1918) as Ekstrom Sic 'Em, Sam (1918, Short) Swat the Kaiser (1918, Short) as The Kaiser The Roaring Road (1919) as Minor Role (uncredited) The Dark Star (1919) as German Spy The Vengeance of Durand (1919) as Henri Durand Even as Eve (1920) as Amasu Munn Slaves of Pride (1920) as John Reynolds The Sporting Duchess (1920) as Major Roland Mostyn Madonnas and Men (1920) as Grimaldo / John Grimm Dead Men Tell No Tales (1920) as Señor Joaquin Sherlock Holmes (1922) as Professor Moriarty When Knighthood Was in Flower (1922) as Grammont The Face in the Fog (1922) as Michael The Inner Man (1922) as Jud Benson Mark of the Beast (1923) as John Hunter Unseeing Eyes (1923) as Father Paquette Under the Red Robe (1923) as Clom Yolanda (1924) as Oliver de Daim The Lone Wolf (1924) as Wetheimer The Bandolero (1924) as Marques de Bazan The Hooded Falcon (1924) Grounds for Divorce (1925) as Labell The Goose Woman (1925) as Mr. Vogel A Regular Fellow (1925) as Prime Minister Flower of Night (1925) as Vigilante leader The Eagle (1925) as Court Servant at Dinner (uncredited) The Danger Girl (1926) as James Red Dice (1926) as Andrew North Sparrows (1926) as Mr. Grimes The Dice Woman (1926) as Datto of Mandat The Bells (1926) as Jerome Frantz Don Juan (1926) as Neri the alchemist (uncredited) The Lone Wolf Returns (1926) as Morphew Unknown Treasures (1926) as Simmons Diplomacy (1926) as Baron Ballin My Official Wife (1926) as Grand Duke Private Izzy Murphy (1926) as Cohannigan Going Crooked (1926) as Mordaunt Anything Once! (1927, Short) as Chancellor Gherkin The Price of Honor (1927) as Peter Fielding Birds of Prey (1927) as Foxy Barbed Wire (1927) as Pierre Corlet The Magic Flame (1927) as The Chancellor The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927) as King Karl VII Rose of the Golden West (1927) as Gomez The Gaucho (1927) as Ruiz the usurper The Wizard (1927) as Prof. Paul Coriolos The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come (1928) as Nathan Cherry Vamping Venus (1928) as Jupiter Yellow Lily (1928) as Kinkelin The Mysterious Lady (1928) as General Boris Alexandroff The Red Mark (1928) as De Nou The Docks of New York (1928) as "Hymn Book" Harry The Woman Disputed (1928) as Otto Krueger Me, Gangster (1928) as Factory Owner The Case of Lena Smith (1929) as Herr Hofrat The Canary Murder Case (1929) as Dr. Ambrose Lindquist Come Across (1929) as Pop Hanson Chasing Through Europe (1929) as Phineas Merrill His Glorious Night (1929) as Krehl Seven Faces (1929) as M. Pratouchy Dangerous Paradise (1930) as Mr. Jones The Case of Sergeant Grischa (1930) as General Schieffenzahn The Bat Whispers (1930) as Dr Venrees Are You There? (1930) as Barber Dishonored (1931) as Austrian Secret Service Chief The Front Page (1931) as Professor Max J. Engelhoffer (uncredited) Ambassador Bill (1931) as Prince de Polikoff Safe in Hell (1931) as Larson Shanghai Express (1932) as Eric Baum The Roadhouse Murder (1932) as Charles Spengler Doomed Battalion (1932) as Austrian General Almost Married (1932) as Pringle's Doctor Afraid to Talk (1932) as Attorney Harry Berger The Penguin Pool Murder (1932) as Von Donnen / Dr Max Bloom Rasputin and the Empress (1932) as Dr. Franz Wolfe (uncredited) The Silver Cord (1932) as German Doctor (uncredited) When Strangers Marry (1933) as Van Wyck Captured! (1933) as German Military Judge (uncredited) Queen Christina (1933) as General Mystery Liner (1934) as Inspector Von Kessling All Men Are Enemies (1934) as Baron (uncredited) Change of Heart (1934) as Dr. Nathan Kurtzman Murder on the Blackboard (1934) as Dr. Max Von Immen The Moonstone (1934) as Carl von Lucker Little Men (1934) as Schoolmaster Page (uncredited) The Night Is Young (1935) as Ambassador (uncredited) She (1935) as Billali (uncredited) Remember Last Night? (1935) as Professor Karl Jones Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) as Doctor Emile von Haller (uncredited) Murder on a Bridle Path (1936) as Doctor Bloom Mad Holiday (1936) as Hendrick Van Mier In Old Chicago (1938) as Dutch Paradise for Three (1938) as Lawyer (uncredited) Swiss Miss (1938) as Gardener (uncredited) Marie Antoinette (1938) as King's Confessor (uncredited) King of Alcatraz (1938) as Bill Lustig (uncredited) Cipher Bureau (1938) as Albert Grood Son of Frankenstein (1939) as A burgher #1 Hotel Imperial (1939) as Priest (uncredited) Never Say Die (1939) as Chemist (uncredited) Nurse Edith Cavell (1939) as President of Court The Mad Empress (1939) as Ambassador Metternich

As director The Secret Garden (1919) Princess Jones (1921) Closed Doors (1921) Peggy Puts It Over (1921)