Stefan Schnabel

Stefan Artur Schnabel (February 2, 1912 – March 11, 1999) was a German-American actor who worked in theatre, radio, films and television. After moving to the United States in 1937 he became one of the original members of Orson Welles's Mercury Theatre repertory company. He portrayed Dr. Stephen Jackson on the CBS daytime TV series Guiding Light for 17 years.

Biography Stefan Artur Schnabel was born February 2, 1912, in Berlin, Germany. He was the younger son of classical pianist Artur Schnabel (who was Jewish) and contralto Therese Behr Schnabel. His older brother was pianist Karl Ulrich Schnabel.

"My father used to say that there was never a doorknob in our house that wasn't in somebody's hand," Schnabel said in a 1981 interview. "Both of my parents were musicians and teachers and so our house was always filled with pupils, and I would entertain them by dancing or doing something in pantomime since most of the pupils were foreigners." As a child Schnabel was assigned to teach the German language to his parents' American and Australian students. He had such proficiency in English that he was able to join The Old Vic repertory theatre company when his family emigrated to England after Hitler's rise to power. He studied with the Old Vic for four years. He made his debut in 1933 as an off-stage wind noise in The Tempest, and later played in Antony and Cleopatra (1934), Major Barbara (1935), As You Like It (1936), and the 1937 production of Hamlet starring Laurence Olivier. When Welles created the CBS radio series, The Mercury Theatre on the Air, Schnabel performed on episodes including the legendary broadcast, "The War of the Worlds". the film he first proposed for RKO Pictures before settling instead on Citizen Kane. After elaborate pre-production the project never reached production because Welles was unable to sufficiently trim its budget to compensate for lost revenue in the wartime overseas market.

Schnabel made his screen debut in a subsequent Mercury production, the 1943 film, Journey into Fear. However, Schnabel was filmed in 1933 in a work that was completed in 2016 under the title Das Kalte Herz (The Cold Heart). He was in more than 60 films, including The Iron Curtain (1948), Houdini (1953), The Counterfeit Traitor (1962), Firefox (1982) and Green Card (1990).

Schnabel became a naturalized U.S. citizen in August 1941. He served with the U.S Army's Office of Strategic Services during World War II, broadcasting propaganda messages to his native Germany and working with the underground in England, Germany, France and the Netherlands. He was awarded a Certificate of Merit.

After appearing in more than 100 prestigious television dramas, Schnabel became best known for portraying Dr. Stephen Jackson for 17 years (April 21, 1966–81) on the CBS-TV soap opera, Guiding Light. were married in 1947. They lived in Rowayton, Connecticut, for 45 years, founded the Rainbow Theater in Norwalk, and appeared there together in plays including T. S. Eliot's The Confidential Clerk and Friedrich Dürrenmatt's The Physicists. In 1992 the couple moved to Rogaro, Italy

Cultural references Schnabel, in his role as the conspirator Metellus Cimber, was played by Rhodri Orders in the 2008 movie Me and Orson Welles.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes 1943 Journey into Fear Translator For Ship's Captain 1948 The Iron Curtain Colonel Ilya Ranov 1949 Law of the Barbary Coast Alexis Boralof 1949 Barbary Pirate Yusof, The Bey of Tripoli 1952 Diplomatic Courier Rasumny Platov 1953 Houdini German Prosecuting Attorney 1956 Crowded Paradise Big Man 1957 The 27th Day Soviet General 1958 The Mugger "Fats" Donner 1958 Majestät auf Abwegen Unknown 1960 Ça va être ta fête Bragarian 1961 Town Without Pity Unknown 1961 The Secret Ways Border Official 1961 The Big Show Lawyer 1961 Question 7 Unknown 1961 The Phony American Unknown 1962 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Siani Season 7 Episode 35: "The Children of Alda Nuova" 1962 The Counterfeit Traitor Gestapo Agent At Funeral 1962 Two Weeks in Another Town Zeno 1962 Freud: The Secret Passion Chairman of Medical Profession In Vienna Uncredited 1963 The Ugly American Andrei Krupitzyn 1963 Rampage Sakai Chief 1964 Unknown 1975 The Happy Hooker Elderly Gentleman 1976 Blood Bath Unknown 1982 Firefox First Secretary 1983 Lovesick Gunnar Bergsen, M.D. 1987 Anna Professor 1988 Dracula's Widow Helsing 1990 Green Card Party Guest #2 1992 Ferien mit Silvester Unknown 1933/2016 Das Kalte Herz (The Cold Heart) Holländer-Michel (first film role) filmed in 1933, completed in 2016