Alexander Granach
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Alexander Granach (April 18, 1890 – March 14, 1945) was a popular German actor in the 1920s and 1930s who immigrated to the United States in 1938. Granach was born Jessaja Gronach in Werbowitz (Wierzbowce/Werbiwci) (Horodenka district, Austrian Galicia then, now Verbivtsi, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, Ukraine), to Jewish parents and rose to theatrical prominence at the Volksbühne in Berlin. Granach entered films in 1922; among the most widely exhibited of his silent efforts was the vampire classic Nosferatu (1922), in which the actor was cast as Knock, the lunatic counterpart to Renfield, effectively a substitute name for Dracula. He co-starred in such major early German talkies as Kameradschaft (1931). The Jewish Granach fled to the Soviet Union when Hitler came to power. When the Soviet Union also proved inhospitable, he settled in Hollywood, where he made his first American film appearance as Kopalski in Ernst Lubitsch's Ninotchka (1939) for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Granach proved indispensable to film makers during the war years, effectively portraying both dedicated Nazis (he was Julius Streicher in The Hitler Gang, 1944) and loyal anti-fascists. Perhaps his best role was as Gestapo Inspector Alois Gruber in Fritz Lang's Hangmen Also Die! (1943). His last film appearance was in MGM's The Seventh Cross (1944), in which almost the entire supporting cast was prominent European refugees.
Filmography
My Buddy
as Tim Oberta
My Buddy
as Tim Oberta
The Seventh Cross
as Zillich
The Seventh Cross
as Zillich
The Hitler Gang
as Julius Streicher
The Hitler Gang
as Julius Streicher
Three Russian Girls
as Major Braginski
Three Russian Girls
as Major Braginski
For Whom the Bell Tolls
as Paco
For Whom the Bell Tolls
as Paco
Wrecking Crew
as Joe Poska
Wrecking Crew
as Joe Poska
Northwest Rangers
as Pierre - Man in Casino
Northwest Rangers
as Pierre - Man in Casino
Half Way to Shanghai
as Mr. Nikolas
Half Way to Shanghai
as Mr. Nikolas
Joan of Paris
as Gestapo Agent
Joan of Paris
as Gestapo Agent
A Man Betrayed
as T. Amato
A Man Betrayed
as T. Amato
So Ends Our Night
as The Pole
So Ends Our Night
as The Pole
Foreign Correspondent
as Hotel Valet (uncredited)
Foreign Correspondent
as Hotel Valet (uncredited)
Ninotchka
as Comrade Kopalski
Ninotchka
as Comrade Kopalski
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
as Soldier (uncredited)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
as Soldier (uncredited)
The Struggle
as Rovelli (uncredited)
The Struggle
as Rovelli (uncredited)
The Theft of the Mona Lisa
as Redner
The Theft of the Mona Lisa
as Redner
I.N.R.I. – A Film of Humanity
as Judas Ischariot
I.N.R.I. – A Film of Humanity
as Judas Ischariot
Paganini
as Ferucchio
Paganini
as Ferucchio