Oskar Homolka

Oscar Homolka (12 August 1898 – 27 January 1978) was an Austrian film and theatre actor, who went on to work in Germany, Britain and the United States. Both his voice and his appearance fitted him for roles as communist spies or Soviet officials, for which he was in regular demand. By the age of 30, he had appeared in more than 400 plays; his film career covered at least 100 films and TV shows.

After his military service ended, Homolka attended the Imperial Academy of Music and the Performing Arts in Vienna, the city of his birth, and began his career on the Austrian stage. In 1924 he played Mortimer in the premiere of Brecht's play The Life of Edward II of England at the Munich Kammerspiele, and from 1925 in Berlin where he worked under Max Reinhardt.

Other stage plays in which Homolka performed during this period include: The first German performance of Eugene O'Neill's The Emperor Jones, 1924, Anna Christie, 1924, , 1925, Juarez and Maximilian, 1925–1926, Her Young Boyfriend, 1925, The Jewish Widow, 1925, Stir, 1925, Mérimée and Courteline, 1926, Periphery, 1926, Neidhardt von Gneisenau, 1926, Dorothea Angermann, 1926–1927, Der Revisor, 1926, Androcles and the Lion, 1926, Bonaparte, 1927, The Ringer and The Squeaker by Edgar Wallace, both 1927, Underworld, 1930, Today's Sensation, 1931, The Last Equipage, 1931, The Waterloo Bridge, 1931, Faust, 1932, Karl and Anna, Doctor's Dilemma, Pygmalion, Juno and the Paycock, and many Shakespearean plays including: A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1925, Troilus and Cressida, 1927, Richard III, King Lear, and Macbeth. After his arrival in London, he continued to star on stage, including with Flora Robson in the play Close Quarters.

His first films were Die Abenteuer eines Zehnmarkscheines (Uneasy Money, 1926), Hokuspokus (Hocuspocus, 1930), and Dreyfus (The Dreyfus Case, 1930), Zwischen Nacht und Morgen (Between Night and Dawn, 1931), Geheimdienst (Intelligence, 1931), Junge Liebe (Young Love, 1931), and Nachtkolonne (Night Column, 1932). According to Homolka's own account, he made at least thirty silent films in Germany and starred in the first talking picture ever made there.

After the Nazi party came to power in Germany, Homolka moved to Britain, where he starred in the films Rhodes of Africa, with Walter Huston (1936) and Everything Is Thunder, with Constance Bennett (1936). Later, he was one of the many Austrian and specifically Viennese actors and theatrical people who left Europe for the US.

Homolka's Broadway debut came in Grey Farm (1940).

In 1936, he appeared opposite Sylvia Sidney in Alfred Hitchcock's thriller Sabotage. Although he often played villains such as Communist spies and Soviet-bloc military officers or scientists, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of the crusty, beloved uncle in I Remember Mama (1948).

He also acted with Ingrid Bergman in Rage in Heaven, with Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch, with Ronald Reagan in Prisoner of War and with Katharine Hepburn in The Madwoman of Chaillot. He returned to England in the mid-1960s, to play the Soviet KGB Colonel Stok in Funeral in Berlin (1966) and Billion Dollar Brain (1967), opposite Michael Caine. His last film was the Blake Edwards romantic drama The Tamarind Seed in 1974.

In 1967 Homolka was awarded the Filmband in Gold of the Deutscher Filmpreis for outstanding contributions to German cinema.

His career in television included appearances in three episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents in 1957 and 1960, and a 1964 episode of Hazel. In 1973, he appeared in "Border Line", an episode of The Protectors, filmed in Austria.

Homolka was referenced in the 1970s TV series The Odd Couple. When Oscar Madison makes his desperate last call to find a date and his prospect does not recall him, Madison asks "How many Oscars do you know?" After a pregnant pause, Madison replies, "You know Oscar Homolka?"

Personal life Homolka became an American citizen on December 25, 1942. They married in December 1937, but she died on April 5, 1938. They had two sons, Vincent and Laurence, but divorced after nine years of marriage. He and Tetzel are buried in Christ Church churchyard, Fairwarp, East Sussex, England. Their gravestone is notable for having a pair of theatrical masks carved into the surface.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes 1926 Adventures of a Ten Mark Note Direktor Haniel lost film 1927 Aftermath Der Matrose Tragedy of the Street Anton The Girl Without a Homeland Plempe Regine, die Tragödie einer Frau Robert, ihr Bruder The Holy Lie Jack The Trial of Donald Westhof Lessing Petronella – Das Geheimnis der Berge Fridolin Bortis 1928 Prince or Clown Zurube The Serfs Gouverneur Fürst Kurganow The Prince of Rogues Antmann The Green Alley Doctor Horner 1930 Revolt in the Reformatory Erzieher Masks Breitkopf Hocuspocus Grandt Dreyfus Major Walsin-Esterhazy 1931 Road to Rio Ricardo 1914 Sazanow Between Night and Dawn Anton In the Employ of the Secret Service Lanskoi, generalmajor 1932 Night Convoy André Carno Nights in Port Said Winston Winkler 1933 Moral und Liebe Robert Keßler Spies at Work Blünzli (Agent B 18) Invisible Opponent James Godfrey 1936 Rhodes of Africa Paul Kruger Everything Is Thunder Detective Schenck Götz Sabotage Karl Anton Verloc 1937 Ebb Tide Captain Jakob Therbecke 1940 Seven Sinners Antro Comrade X Commissar Vasiliev The Invisible Woman Blackie Cole 1941 Rage in Heaven Dr. Rameau Ball of Fire Professor Gurkakoff 1943 Mission to Moscow Maxim Litvinov Hostages Lev Pressinger 1947 The Shop at Sly Corner Desius Heiss 1948 I Remember Mama Uncle Chris nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor 1949 Anna Lucasta Joe Lucasta 1950 The White Tower Andreas 1951 Dr. Herbert Hirth 1952 Top Secret Zekov 1953 The House of the Arrow Inspector Hanaud 1954 Prisoner of War Colonel Biroshilov 1955 The Seven Year Itch Dr. Brubaker 1956 War and Peace Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov 1957 A Farewell to Arms Dr. Emerich Alfred Hitchcock Presents Carl Kaminsky Season 3 Episode 6: "Reward to Finder" 1958 The Key Captain Van Dam Tempest Savelic 1960 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Carpius Season 5 Episode 16: "The Ikon of Elijah" Alfred Hitchcock Presents Jan Vander Klaue / Mr. A.J. Keyser Season 5 Episode 29: "The Hero" 1961 Mr. Sardonicus Krull 1962 Boys' Night Out Doctor Prokosch Mooncussers Urias Hawke The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm The Duke 1964 The Long Ships Krok 1965 Joy in the Morning Stan Pulaski 1966 Funeral in Berlin Colonel Stok 1967 The Happening Sam Billion Dollar Brain Colonel Stok 1968 Assignment to Kill Inspector Ruff 1969 The Madwoman of Chaillot The Commissar 1970 The Executioner Racovsky Song of Norway Engstrand 1974 The Tamarind Seed General Golitsyn