Walter Slezak

Walter Slezak (Template:IPA; 3 May 1902 – 21 April 1983) was an Austrian-born film and stage actor active between 1922 and 1976. He mainly appeared in German films before migrating to the United States in 1930 and performing in numerous Hollywood productions.

Slezak typically portrayed wily and loquacious characters, often philosophical, and often with a taste for food, drink, and fine living. He played a crafty villain as a U-boat captain in Alfred Hitchcock's film Lifeboat (1944), a charming, two-timing major domo to a tycoon in Come September (1961), and a wandering gypsy in The Inspector General (1949). He stood out as shrewd, unscrupulous private investigators in film noir, as in Cornered (1945) and Born to Kill (1947).<ref name="TCM Slezak">Template:Cite web</ref>

Early life

Slezak was born in Vienna, the son of opera tenor Leo Slezak and Elisabeth "Elsa" Wertheim. He studied medicine for a time and later worked as a bank teller. His older sister Margarete Slezak was also an actress.

Career

Slezak was talked into taking his first role, in the 1922 Austrian film Sodom und Gomorrah, by his friend and the film's director, Michael Curtiz.<ref name="TCM Slezak"/>In his youth (while still slim) Slezak was cast as a leading man in silent films. He also acted on the stage for many years, debuting on Broadway in 1931.<ref name="TCM Slezak" />

His first American film was Once Upon a Honeymoon (1942), with Ginger Rogers and Cary Grant.<ref name="TCM Slezak"/> He worked steadily and appeared in over 100 films including The Princess and the Pirate (1944), The Spanish Main (1945), Sinbad the Sailor (1947), Born to Kill (1947), Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion (1950), People Will Talk (1951), and Call Me Madam (1953).

Slezak played the lead in Broadway musicals, including Fanny, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical.<ref name="SOD Erika Slezak">Template:Cite web</ref>

File:Walter Slezak as Gepetto 1957.JPG

Slezak as Geppetto in the 1957 televised production of Pinocchio

Slezak acted in radio in such shows as Lux Radio Theater, Columbia Workshop, The Pepsodent Show, and The Charlie McCarthy Show. He made numerous television appearances, including in the programs The Loretta Young Show, This Is Show Business, Playhouse 90, and Studio One. He starred in an unsold television pilot, Slezak and Son, that aired in 1960 as an episode of the anthology series New Comedy Showcase,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and appeared as The Clock King in episodes 45 and 46 of TV series Batman in 1966.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1959/60, Slezak appeared at the Metropolitan Opera in Johann Strauss's operetta Der Zigeunerbaron. In the 1970s, Slezak played the non-singing role of Frosch, the jailer, in the San Francisco Opera production of Johann Strauss's operetta Die Fledermaus.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Later film roles in Britain included the Cliff Richard vehicle Wonderful Life (1964) and Black Beauty (1971).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life

Slezak married Johanna "Kaasi" Van Rijn on 10 October 1943. The couple had three children: Ingrid, Erika, and Leo. Erika went on to become an Emmy-winning actress, and starred as Victoria Lord on the long-running soap opera One Life to Live from 1971 to its cancellation in 2012. In 1974, Slezak appeared on the series as her character's godfather, Lazlo Braedecker.<ref name="TCM Slezak"/>

File:Grab von Leo Slezak.jpg

Gravesite of Slezak, his wife Johanna, and his parents Leo and Elisabeth in Egern, Bavaria

Slezak was close friends in Vienna in the 1930s with heiress Maria Altmann and her family.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Death

On 21 April 1983, Slezak died from a self-inflicted gunshot.<ref name="TCM Slezak"/> He was reportedly despondent over the state of his health, most notably heart trouble, a recent prostate operation, and a shoulder injury requiring several treatments a week.<ref>Jones, Jack. "Actor Walter Slezak Shoots Self to Death at New York Home". Los Angeles Times. 23 April 1983. Retrieved 17 December 2018.</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Thomas Staedeli, Portrait of the actor Walter Slezak, cyranos.ch; accessed 6 November 2016.</ref> He was buried in the grave of his parents in the cemetery of St. Laurentius Church, a Catholic parish in Egern, Bavaria.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Autobiography

Slezak's autobiography, What Time's the Next Swan? was published in 1962. The book's title refers to an alleged incident in the career of his father, heldentenor Leo Slezak. During a performance in the title role of Lohengrin, the elder Slezak was supposed to finish his aria by stepping into a swan boat and then being pulled offstage. When a stagehand removed the boat prematurely, Slezak supposedly reacted to the error by asking the audience "What time's the next swan?"<ref>Trabling, Walt. "Slezak Offers Memoir". Santa Cruz Sentinel. 21 October 1962. Retrieved 18 December 2018.</ref>

Awards

In 1955, Slezak won a Tony Award for his role in the Broadway production of Fanny.<ref>Associated Press. "Tony Awards Given Lunt and College Trio". San Bernardino Sun. 28 March 1955. Retrieved 18 December 2018.</ref>

Complete filmography

Year	Film	Role	Director	Notes
1922	Sodom and Gomorrah	Eduard Harber - Student am Cambridge-Lyzeum / Ein Goldschmied von Galiläa	Michael Curtiz (Mihaly Kertész)
1924	Michael	Michael	Carl Theodor Dreyer
1924	My Leopold	Leopold, sein Sohn	Heinrich Bolten-Baeckers
1925	Oh Those Glorious Old Student Days		Heinz Schall
1925	Sumpf und Moral
1926	Give My Regards to the Blonde Child on the Rhine		Carl Boese
1926	Watch on the Rhine	Walter Thiermann	Helene Lackner
1926	Marccos tollste Wette
1926	Young Blood	Oberprimaner	Manfred Noa
1926	The Sea Cadet		Carl Boese
1927	Wie bleibe ich jung und schön - Ehegeheimnisse
1927	Goodbye Youth	Mario	Augusto Genina
1927	The Right to Live		Robert Wohlmuth
1927	The Lorelei		Wolfgang Neff
1927	Liebe geht seltsame Wege	Florizel, 'Flo-Flo'
1927	The Long Intermission	Ottokar	Carl Froelich
1927	The Standard-Bearer of Sedan		Johannes Brandt
1928	Single Mother		Fred Sauer
1928	Almenrausch and Edelweiss	Mentel	Franz Seitz
1928	Das Hannerl von Rolandsbogen
1929	Osudné noci	Bellini
1929	Eros in Chains	Heinz Ewer	Conrad Wiene
1932	Spione im Savoy-Hotel	Kurt
1942	Once Upon a Honeymoon	Baron Franz von Luber	James Anderson (assistant)
1943	This Land Is Mine	Major Erich von Keller	Jean Renoir
1943	The Fallen Sparrow	Dr. Christian Skaas	Richard Wallace
1944	Lifeboat	Willi	Alfred Hitchcock
1944	Step Lively	Joe Gribble	Tim Whelan
1944	Till We Meet Again	Vitrey, The Mayor	Frank Borzage
1944	The Princess and the Pirate	La Roche	David Butler
1945	Salome, Where She Danced	Dimitrioff	Charles Lamont
1945	The Spanish Main	Don Juan Alvarado	Frank Borzage
1945	Cornered	Melchior Incza	Edward Dmytryk
1947	Sinbad the Sailor	Melik	Richard Wallace
1947	Born to Kill	Arnett	Robert Wise
1947	Riffraff	Molinar	Ted Tetzlaff
1948	The Pirate	Don Pedro Vargas	Vincente Minnelli
1949	The Inspector General	Yakov	Henry Koster
1950	The Yellow Cab Man	Dr. Byron Dokstedder	Jack Donohue
1950	Spy Hunt	Doctor Stahl	George Sherman
1950	Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion	Sgt. Axmann	Charles Lamont
1951	Bedtime for Bonzo	Prof. Hans Neumann	Fred de Cordova
1951	People Will Talk	Prof. Barker	Joseph L. Mankiewicz
1953	Confidentially Connie	Emil Spangenberg	Edward Buzzell
1953	Call Me Madam	August Tantinnin	Walter Lang
1953	White Witch Doctor	Huysman	Henry Hathaway
1954	The Steel Cage	Louis, the Prison Chef	Walter Doniger	segment "The Chef"
1956	The Good Fairy	Max Sporum		TV movie
1957	Ten Thousand Bedrooms	Papà Vittorio Martelli	Richard Thorpe
1957	Pinocchio	Geppetto		TV movie
1959	The Miracle	Flaco	Irving Rapper
1959	A Doll's House	Presenter		TV movie
1959	A Christmas Festival	Mr. Really-Big		TV movie
1961	Come September	Maurice Clavell	Robert Mulligan
1962	The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm	Stossel	George Pal (fairy tale sequences)
1963	A Cry of Angels	George Frideric Handel		TV movie
1964	Wonderful Life	Lloyd Davis	Sidney J. Furie
1964	Emil and the Detectives	Baron	Peter Tewksbury
1965	The Man Who Bought Paradise	Captain Meers		TV movie
1965	24 Hours to Kill	The Firm: Malouf	Peter Bezencenet
1965	A Very Special Favor	Etienne, Restaurant Proprietor	Michael Gordon
1966	Der Kongreß amüsiert sich	Wax museum guide
1966	Dr. Coppelius	Dr. Coppelius	Ted Kneeland
1966	Batman	Clock King
1967	The Caper of the Golden Bulls	Antonio Gonzalez	Russell Rouse
1968	Heidi	Father Richter	Delbert Mann	TV movie
1970	The Juggler of Notre Dame	The Innkeeper
1971	Black Beauty	Hackenschmidt	James Hill
1972	Treasure Island	Squire Trelawney	Antonio Margheriti
1976	The Mysterious House of Dr. C	Dr. Coppelius

External links

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• Template:Tcmdb name
• Walter Slezak papers, 1905-1983, held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
• Photographs and literature