Joseph Giampietro

Joseph Giampietro, also known as Josef Giampietro (21 June 1866 – 29 December 1913), was an Austrian actor, operetta singer, and comedian.

Life

Giampietro studied at the Technical University in Vienna and attended the conservatory of the Society of Friends of Music located there. He began his career in Budapest in 1886, continued in Bolzano and Merano, moved on to Salzburg in 1887, and then to Karlovy Vary in 1888. He held a prominent position in Vienna's theater scene, especially performing operetta at the Deutsches Volkstheater in Vienna and the Theater an der Wien. In 1899, he was engaged at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg and subsequently moved to the Neues Theater. Beginning in 1892, he was married to Ella Funk (stage name: Erau).

In 1901, he performed the song "Und Meyer sieht mich freundlich an" ("And Meyer Looks Kindly at Me") at the Berlin cabaret Die bösen Buben, which was praised by Kurt Tucholsky as the "classical Berlin couplet". At the Metropol-Theater, he was the star of the "humoristic-satirical" annual revues written by Julius Freund with music by Victor Hollaender and Paul Lincke.

Giampietro did not shy away from new technical media for reproduction. He recorded gramophone records with songs from the revues and also appeared in films. A notable example is an early "sound picture" by German sound film pioneer Oskar Messter, in which Giampietro performed with Fritzi Massary.

He was buried in an honorary grave at the Hietzing Cemetery (Group 43, Number 40).

Career Recordings

The first records by Joseph Giampietro were released as early as 1899 in Vienna on Berliner Records. He later recorded for Beka (Berlin 1904), G&T (Berlin 1905–06), Odeon (Berlin 1906–11), Zonophone (Berlin 1910), and Gramophone (Berlin 1911). He also recorded Edison cylinders in Berlin in 1906.

Selected stage roles

Hofmarschall Kalb ("Intrigue and Love") Philipp Moser ("Der Fleck auf der Ehre") Gelbhofbauer ("Die Kreuzelschreiber") Leonhard ("Maria Magdalena") First Cuirassier ("Wallenstein's Camp")

Revues at the Metropol-Theater, Berlin

1905: Die Herren vom Maxim 1906: Der Teufel lacht dazu 1908: Donnerwetter-tadellos! 1909: Hallo! – Die große Revue 1910: Hurra, wir leben noch! 1911: Die Nacht von Berlin 1912: Die Reise um die Erde in 40 Tagen (Spectacle piece, Jean Gilbert)

Filmography

1907: Komm du kleines Kohlenmädchen. Sound picture (with Fritzi Massary) 1909: Don Juan heiratet, also known as: Der Herzensknicker (Role: Don Juan)