Paul Muni

Paul Muni (born Frederich Meshilem Meier Weisenfreund; September 22, 1895 – August 25, 1967) was an American stage and film actor from Chicago. He started his acting career in the Yiddish theater and during the 1930s, he was considered one of the most prestigious actors at the Warner Bros. studio and was given the rare privilege of choosing his own parts.

Muni often played powerful characters, such as the lead role in Scarface (1932), and was known for his intense preparation for his parts, often immersing himself in the study of the real characters' traits and mannerisms. He was also highly skilled in makeup techniques, a talent that he had learned from his parents, who were also actors, and from his early years on stage with the Yiddish theater in Chicago. At the age of 12, he played the stage role of an 80-year-old man, and in the film Seven Faces, he played seven characters.

Muni appeared in 22 films and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor five times, winning the award for his role in the 1936 film The Story of Louis Pasteur. He also won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for the same film. He also starred in numerous Broadway plays and won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role in the 1955 production of Inherit the Wind.

Early life and career

Muni was born in 1895 as Frederich Meier Weisenfreund to a Jewish family in Lemberg, Galicia, then Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Lviv, Ukraine). His Hebrew name was Meshilem. His parents were Salli (born Khaya Tsilke Fishler) and Phillip Weisenfreund. He learned Yiddish as his first language. When he was seven, he emigrated with his family to the United States in 1902; they settled in Chicago. Muni's makeup skills were used for The Story of Louis Pasteur. As a boy, he was known as "Moony". He started his acting career in the Yiddish theatre in Chicago with his parents, who were both actors. As a teenager, he developed skill in creating makeup, which enabled him to play much older characters. Film historian Robert Osborne notes that Muni's makeup skills were so creative that for most of his roles, "he transformed his appearance so completely, he was dubbed 'the new Lon Chaney.'" In his first stage role at the age of 12, Muni played the role of an 80-year-old man. He was quickly recognized by Maurice Schwartz, who signed him to perform in his Yiddish Art Theater.

A 1925 New York Times article mentioned Sam Kasten's and Muni's performances at the People's Theater among the highlights of the year's Yiddish theater season, describing them as second only to Ludwig Satz.

Muni began acting on Broadway in 1926. His first role was that of an elderly Jewish man in the play We Americans, written by playwrights Max Siegel and Milton Herbert Gropper. It was the first time that he had acted in English.

In 1921, he married Bella Finkel (February 8, 1898 – October 1, 1971), an actress in the Yiddish theatre and daughter of Moishe Finkel. They remained married until Muni's death in 1967.

Hollywood In 1929, Muni was signed by Fox. His name was simplified and anglicized to Paul Muni (derived from his nickname of youth "Moony"). His acting talents were quickly recognized, and he received an Oscar nomination for his first film, The Valiant (1929), although the film fared poorly at the box office.

Scarface, part of a cycle of gangster films at the time, was written by Ben Hecht

In 1935, Muni starred in Black Fury. At the 8th Academy Awards, Muni was not officially nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor, but he came in second on the basis of write-in votes, which were allowed that year.

Muni persuaded Warner Bros. to take a financial risk by producing the successful historical biography The Story of Louis Pasteur, which was released in 1936. This became Muni's first of many biographical roles. Until that film, most Warner Bros. stories had originated from current events and major news stories, with the notable exceptions of George Arliss's earlier biographical films Disraeli, Alexander Hamilton and Voltaire. The film won Best Picture and was interpreted as indirectly attacking the repression of Nazi Germany. This play was directed by Luther Adler and co-starred Marlon Brando. Years later, in response to a question put to him by Alan King, Brando stated that Muni was the greatest actor he ever saw. At London's Phoenix Theatre on July 28, 1949, Muni began a run as Willy Loman in the first British production of Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. He took over from Lee J. Cobb, who had played the principal role in the original Broadway production. Both productions were directed by Elia Kazan.

In 1952, Muni traveled to Italy to star in Stranger on the Prowl, directed by Joseph Losey, partly as an act of solidarity and support for blacklisted friends living abroad in exile.

A few years later, during 1955 and 1956, Muni had his biggest stage success in the United States as the crusading lawyer, Henry Drummond (based on Clarence Darrow), in Inherit the Wind, winning a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play. In late August 1955, Muni was forced to withdraw from the play due to a serious eye ailment causing deterioration in his eyesight. He was later replaced by actor Melvyn Douglas.

In early September 1955, Muni, then 59 years old, was diagnosed with a tumor of the left eye. The eye was removed in an operation at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York. His right eye was reported to be normal. In early December 1955, Muni returned to his starring role as Henry Drummond in Inherit the Wind.

His last movie role was as an aging doctor in The Last Angry Man (1959), and he was again nominated for an Oscar. After that, Muni mostly retired from acting to deal with failing eyesight and other health problems. He did the same in preparing for his role as Henry Drummond, based on Clarence Darrow, in the play Inherit the Wind. He read what he could find, talked to people who knew Darrow personally, and studied physical mannerisms from photographs of him. "To Paul Muni, acting was not just a career, but an obsession", writes The New York Times. They note that despite his enormous success both on Broadway and in films, "he threw himself into each role with a sense of dedication." Playwright Arthur Miller commented that Muni "was pursued by a fear of failure." noting he meticulously prepared for his roles. Muni was widely recognized as eccentric if talented: he objected to anyone wearing red in his presence, and he could often be found between sessions playing his violin. Over the years, he became increasingly dependent on his wife, Bella, a dependence which increased as his failing eyesight turned to blindness in his final years. and Andrew Sarris, accuse him of overacting. Thomson described Muni as "a crucial negative illustration in any argument as to what constitutes screen acting."

Personal life

In his private life, Muni was considered to be very shy and was uncomfortable with being recognized in public. He enjoyed reading and taking walks with his wife in secluded sections of Central Park.

Muni campaigned for the re-election of President Herbert Hoover in 1932.

After retiring from acting, he lived in California. In his den, which he called his "Shangri-La", he spent time reading books and listening to the radio.

Legacy and honors Muni had four official Academy Award nominations for Best Actor, winning for The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936) and receiving official nominations for I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932), The Life of Emile Zola (1937) and The Last Angry Man (1959). His nomination for the film The Valiant (1929) is unofficial because at the 2nd Academy Awards, acting nominees were not announced, only the winners' names. Muni's performance in Black Fury was not nominated for an Oscar. (Note that the Academy's website includes both "The Valiant" and "Black Fury" among Muni's nominated performances.) New York Film Critics Circle Award for The Life of Emile Zola Tony Award for Best Actor in Inherit the Wind A star was installed in his honor on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6435 Hollywood Blvd. A film musical titled Actor: The Paul Muni Story (1978) was based on his life, with Herschel Bernardi starring. A biography titled Actor: The Life and Times of Paul Muni (1974) was written by Jerome Lawrence.

In popular culture Referring to his childhood during the Great Depression, Hawkeye Pierce in the "Hawkeye" episode of the television series M*A*S*H says: "You knew where you stood in those days. Franklin Roosevelt was always president, Joe Louis was always the champ, and Paul Muni played everybody."

Muni and George Raft appeared as characters in the fifth season of Boardwalk Empire, meeting with Al Capone to discuss the film Scarface.

Comedian and actor Paul Mooney took his stage name, which was also his childhood nickname, from Muni.

Filmography YearTitleRoleNotes Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor Seven Faces Lost film Scarface I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor 1933 1934 Hi Nellie! Bordertown Black Fury Dr. Socrates 1936 Academy Award for Best ActorVolpi Cup for Best Actor Released in sepia tone New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best ActorNominated — Academy Award for Best Actor Juarez We Are Not Alone 1941 Hudson's Bay 1942 Commandos Strike at Dawn 1943 Stage Door Canteen Himself Filmed in Technicolor Counter-Attack 1946 Angel on My Shoulder 1952 Imbarco a mezzanotte called Stranger on the Prowl in the U.S. 1959 Mar del Plata Film Festival Award for Best ActorNominated — Academy Award for Best ActorNominated — New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor

Radio appearances Program Episode Airdate Lux Radio Theatre The Story of Louis Pasteur 1936 Lux Radio Theater "The Life of Emile Zola" May 8, 1939 Cavalcade of America "Edwin Booth" March 31, 1941 The Free Company "The Miracle Of The Danube" April 27, 1941 Cavalcade of America "Bolivar, The Liberator" October 6, 1941 Cavalcade of America "Eagle's Nest" December 28, 1942 Radio Hall of Fame "No Uncommon Clay" April 30, 1944 Suspense Theater "The Search For Henri Leferve" July 6, 1944 Arch Oboler's Plays "This Living Book" October 11, 1945 Academy Award Theater April 13, 1946 Eternal Light "And It Came To Pass" December 7, 1947 Studio One "Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse" January 20, 1948 Cavalcade of America "Alerting of Dr. Pomerantz" February 16, 1948 Cavalcade of America "Garden Key" November 8, 1948 Biography in Sound "Clarence Darrow" September 13, 1956