Hugo Haas

Hugo Haas (19 February 1901 – 1 December 1968) was a Czech film actor, director and writer. He appeared in more than 60 films from 1926 to 1962 and directed 20 films from 1933 to 1962.

Life and career

Haas was born in Brno, Austria-Hungary (now in the Czech Republic), and he died in Vienna, Austria from complications of asthma. He and his brother Pavel Haas studied voice at the Brno Conservatory under composer Leoš Janáček. Pavel Haas went on to become a noted composer before he was killed in Auschwitz in 1944.

Czechoslovak theater and film After graduating from the conservatory in 1920, Hugo Haas began acting at the National Theater in Brno, in Ostrava and in Olomouc. In 1924, he moved to Prague and regularly appeared at the Vinohrady Theatre, where he remained until 1929. In 1930, the Czech director, critic, and poet Karel Hugo Hilar made Haas a member of the Prague National Theatre drama company, where he remained until his emigration in 1939. One of his highly acclaimed roles was as Doctor Galén in The White Disease, which Karel Čapek had written especially for him. His final role at the National Theater was as Director Busman in Čapek's R.U.R.

Emigration Following the 1938 Munich Agreement and the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in early 1939, Hugo Haas was dismissed from the National Theater due to his Jewish origin.

Return to Europe In the late 1950s, Haas returned to Europe. After a brief stay in Italy, he settled in Vienna in 1961, where he made occasional appearances on television. Except for a brief visit during the centennial celebrations for the National Theater in Prague in 1963, he never returned to his homeland but was buried there, in Brno. His wife Maria died in 2009, aged 92.

Selected filmography

As director Velbloud uchem jehly (1936) Děvčata, nedejte se! (1937) Kvočna (1937) Co se šeptá (1938) Skeleton on Horseback (after The White Disease) (1937) Pickup (1951) The Girl on the Bridge (1951) Strange Fascination (1952) One Girl's Confession (1953) Thy Neighbor's Wife (1953) Bait (1954) The Other Woman (1954) Hold Back Tomorrow (1955) Edge of Hell (1956) Hit and Run (1957) Lizzie (1957) Night of the Quarter Moon (1958) Born to Be Loved (1959) Paradise Alley (1962)

As actor

The Eleventh Commandment (1925) - Jirí Voborský From the Czech Mills (1925) - Baron Zachariás Zlámaný Když struny lkají (1930) - a gentleman in a bar The Last Bohemian (1931) - MUDr. Katz Muži v offsidu (1931) - Načeradec (1931) - Richard Načeradec, businessman Kariéra Pavla Camrdy (1931) - Vokoun Obrácení Ferdyše Pištory (1932) - Richard Rosenstok, banker (1932) - Adam Hejnu, shoemaker Madla z cihelny (1933) - Jan Dolanský The House in the Suburbs (1933) - Zajícek Její lékar (1933) - Pavel Hodura, painter Life Is a Dog (1933) - Skladatel Viktor Honzl / Prof. Alfréd Rokos Sister Angelika (1933) - Pavel Ryant Okénko (1933) - Lecturer Jakub Johánek The Last Man (1934) - Prof. Alois Kohout The Little Pet (1934) - Dr. Alois Pech, vezenský knihovník Long Live with Dearly Departed (1935) - Petr Suk The Eleventh Commandment (1935) - Jiri Vobosky Paradise Road (1936) - Tobiás The Seamstress (1936) - Francois Lorrain - Parisian fashion king Three Men in the Snow (1936) - Továrník Eduard Bárta Devcata, nedejte se! (1937) - Prof. Emanuel Pokorný Morality Above All Else (1937) - Professor Antonín Karas Andula Won (1937) - Pavel Haken The White Disease (1937) - Dr. Galen Co se šeptá (1938) - Vilém Gregor Svět kde se žebrá (1938) - Josef Dostál, beggar-millionaire Camel Through the Eye of a Needle (1939) - Žebrák Josef Pešta Days of Glory (1944) - Fedor Summer Storm (1944) - Anton Urbenin Strange Affair (1944) - Domino / Constantine Mrs. Parkington (1944) - Balkan King (uncredited) The Princess and the Pirate (1944) - Proprietor 'Bucket of Blood' Secret Documents (1945) - Morenius A Bell for Adano (1945) - Father Pensovecchio Jealousy (1945) - Hugo Kral Dakota (1945) - Marko Poli What Next, Corporal Hargrove? (1945) - Mayor Quidoc Two Smart People (1946) - Señor Rodriquez Holiday in Mexico (1946) - Angus, Evans' butler The Private Affairs of Bel Ami (1947) - Monsieur Walter Fiesta (1947) - Maximino Contreras Northwest Outpost (1947) - Prince Nickolai Balinin The Foxes of Harrow (1947) - Otto Ludenbach Merton of the Movies (1947) - Von Strutt - Director My Girl Tisa (1948) - Tescu Casbah (1948) - Omar For the Love of Mary (1948) - Gustav Heindel The Fighting Kentuckian (1949) - Gen. Paul De Marchand King Solomon's Mines (1950) - Van Brun, aka Smith Vendetta (1950) - Brando - a Bandit Pickup (1951) - Jan Horak The Girl on the Bridge (1951) - David Strange Fascination (1952) - Paul Marvan One Girl's Confession (1953) - Dragomie Damitrof Thy Neighbor's Wife (1953) - Town Judge Raphael Vojnar Bait (1954) - Marko The Other Woman (1954) - Walter Darman Edge of Hell (1956) - Valentine Hit and Run (1957) - Gus Hilmer / Twin Brother Lizzie (1957) - Walter Brenner Born to Be Loved (1959) - Prof. Brauner Paradise Alley (1962) - Mr. Agnus