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Wolfgang Zilzer


1901 - 1991

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Wolfgang Zilzer was born in the USA because of an engagment of his father - the actor Max Zilzer - at an American theater. His mother died briefly after his birth. He returned to Germany with his father in 1905. Only two years later Wolfgang Zilzer made his stage debut and he became a demanded child actor on German stages.

At the age of 14 he appeared in a film for the first time and he could finish four more films as a juvenile, among others "Der Barbier von Filmersdorf" (15) and "Die Spinne" (16). In the 20's he became established as a shy man in different detective movies and comedies like "Schützenliesl" (26), "Mata Hari" (27), "Venus im Frack" (27), "Die weisse Spinne" (27), "Alraune" (27) and "Thérèse Raquin" (28). 

In 1931 he gave a guest appearance in the USA where he appeared in German versions of American movies. One year later he came back to Germany. After the assumption of power through the Nazis he emigrated to Paris but returned again to Germany in 1935 and got involved in the Jewish culture alliance.

Because of the political situation he finally left Germany in 1937 and landed again in the USA. Thanks to Ernst Lubitsch he found work in the film "Bluebeard's Eighth Wife". Together for Lubitsch he appeared in further film adaptions like "Ninotchka" (1939) and "To Be or Not To Be" (1942). 
When he took part in Anti-Nazi films he used the pseudonym John Voigt in order to protect the life of his father who still lived in Berlin. Like other emigrants too Zilzer had a short entrance in "Casablanca" (1942) where he died in the starting scene as a Resistance member.

In 1943 Wolfgang Zilzer decided to adopt the stage name Paul Andor because his real name was too complicated for the Americans to pronounce. 
After World War II the demand for German actors diminished and Wolfgang Zilzer concentrated to the theater. Occasionally he appeared on stage in Germany but returned to the USA over and over again.

The last years of his life he spent in Berlin where he died on the 26th of June 1991. 
 

Other movies with Wolfgang Zilzer:
Der Barbier von Filmersdorf (15) Überlistet (15) Professor Erichsons Rivale (16) Die Spinne (16) Das verschnupfte Miezerl (17) Das alte Gesetz (23) Vineta - die versunkene Stadt (23) Der sprechende Film (26) Das edle Blut (27) Verbotene Liebe (27) Arme kleine Colombine (27) Primanerliebe (27) Das Heiratsnest (27) Alpentragödie (27) Das Erwachen des Weibes (27) Die Geliebte des Gouverneurs (27) Schwere Jungens - leichte Mädchen (27) Evas Töchter (28) Dcery Eviny (28) Wenn die Mutter und die Tochter... (28) Die Carmen von St. Pauli (28) Der Raub der Sabinerinnen (28) Ossi hat die Hosen an (28) Lemkes sel. Witwe (28) Hotelgeheimnisse/Die Abenteuerin von Biarritz (28) Das Recht der Ungeborenen (29) Geschminkte Jugend (29) Mädchen am Kreuz - Maria's Leidensweg (29) Die Frau im Talar (29) Jugendtragödie (29) Revolte im Erziehungshaus (29) So ist das Leben (f29) Karriere - Tango der Liebe (30) Zapfenstreich am Rhein (30) Namensheirat/Diskretion - Ehrensache (30) Boykott (30) Aschermittwoch (30) Schneider Wibbel (30) Menschen hinter Gittern (31) Casanova wider Willen (31) Der Hochtourist (31) Razzia in St. Pauli (32) Strafsache van Geldern/Willi Vogel, der Ausbrecherkönig (32) Diebstahl! Verdächtigt wird... (32) Eine wie du! (32) Was gibt's Neues heut? (32) Confessions of a Nazi Spy - Ich war ein Spion der Nazis (39) Hotel Imperial (39) Hitler - Beast of Berlin (39) Everything Happens at Night (39) The Story of Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet - Die Lebensgeschichte Paul Ehrlichs/Paul Ehrlich, ein Leben für die Forschung (40) Four Sons (40) A Dispatch from Reuters - Ein Mann mit Phantasie (40) So Ends Our Night (41) Forbidden Passage (41) Underground (41) The Lady Has Plans (41) All Through the Night (41) Lazybones (41) Joan of Ozark (42) Invisible Agent (42) Berlin Correspondent (42) Casablanca (42) Margin for Error (42) They Got Me Covered (43) They Came to Blow Up Amerika (43) Hitler's Madman (43) Bomber's Moon (43) Behind the Rising Sun (43) Appointment in Berlin (43) Paris After Dark (43) The Strange Death of Adolf Hitler (43) In Our Time (44) They Live in Fear (44) Enemy of Women (44) Hotel Berlin (45) Counter-ATtack (45) Stairway to Light (45) Weekend at the Waldorf (45) Walk East on Beacon (52) Singing in the Dark (56) 90 Minuten bis Mitternacht (62) Der Chef wünscht keine Zeugen (63) Mister Buddwing - Gesicht ohne Namen (66) The Diary of Anne Frank (67) A Private Life (79) Union City (79)


 
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