Ludwig Barnay

Ludwig Barnay (1842 – February 1924) was a German stage actor.

Biography He was born Ludwig (Lajos) Braun at Pest. His father was the secretary general for the local Jewish Community, Ignac Barnay (until 1844: Braun).

In 1857, the fifteen-year-old Barnay secretly left his father's house to study Kosinsky in Schiller's "The Robbers" in Vienna under the lead of Adolf von Sonnenthal. At his father's request, he pursued polytechnic studies to become a master builder. Then he became an accountant in Pest and in 1859 in Kaschau. But his inclination towards the theater was insurmountable and Barnay now turned to it resolutely, ignoring his father's warnings.

He appeared in 1860 at Trutenau and appeared in Pest the following year, after which he had engagements of varying length in Graz, Mainz, Vienna, Prague, Riga, Mainz again, Leipzig, and Weimar, often using the stage name Ludwig Lacroix. His artistic beginnings were considered rather unsuccessful. Later he made his home in Wiesbaden. Later he made his home in Wiesbaden.

Ludwig Barnay died in Berlin in February 1924. His memoirs contained an account of his performances, in which he calculated that he had been married on stage 1,721 times and had died 1,120 times.