Frank Reicher
Frank Reicher | |
---|---|
Reicher as Ferrand in "The Pigeon" (circa 1912) | |
Born |
Munich, Germany | December 2, 1875
Died |
January 19, 1965 89) Inglewood, California, U.S. | (aged
Resting place | Inglewood Park Cemetery |
Occupation | Stage and Film Actor, Director and Producer |
Years active | 1899–1951 |
Spouse(s) | Ella Reicher |
Frank Reicher (December 2, 1875 – January 19, 1965), was a German-born American stage and film actor, director and producer. He is best known for playing Captain Englehorn in the 1933 film King Kong.
Early life
Frank Reicher was born in Munich, Germany, the son of actor Emanuel Reicher [1] and Hedwig Kindermann,[2] a popular German prima donna who was a daughter of the famous baritone August Kindermann. Reicher's parents divorced in 1881 and his mother died two years later while at Trieste.[3][4] His sister, Hedwiga Reicher, would also become a Hollywood actor. Frank Reicher immigrated to the States in 1899 and became a naturalized American citizen some twelve years later.[1]
Career
Reicher made his Broadway debut the year he came to America playing Lord Tarquin in Harrison Fiske's production of Becky Sharp, a comedy by Langdon Mitchell based on William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair.[5] His early career was spent in legitimate theater on and off Broadway. He was head of the Brooklyn Stock Company when Jacob P. Adler performed The Merchant of Venice in Yiddish while the rest of the cast remained in English. Reicher was for a number of years affiliated with the Little Theatre on West Forty-Fourth Street as an actor and manager and would remain active on Broadway as actor, director or producer well into the 1920s. On stage, Reicher starred in such plays as the first Broadway production of Georg Kaiser's From Morning to Midnight (as the cashier), and the original production of Percy MacKaye's The Scarecrow (in the title role).[6][7]
Frank Reicher is probably more familiar to modern audiences as a supporting character actor in films. He began his cinema career with an uncredited role in the 1915 film The Case for Becky and would go on work in over two hundred motion pictures. He is probably best remembered for playing Captain Englehorn in the movies King Kong and The Son of Kong and for such films as The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947) and Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (1950). His last Hollywood role was in the very first theatrical Superman movie, Superman and the Mole Men, in 1951.[6][8]
Marriage
Frank Reicher married his wife Ella sometime around 1899 most likely in Germany prior to his coming to America. Ella, who was a native of Oldenburg, joined him there the following year. The couple remained together until her death in 1948.[9][10][11][12]
Death
Frank Reicher died at the age of 89 at a hospital in Inglewood, California. He was survived by his sister and a brother.[6] His interment was at Inglewood Park Cemetery.
Partial filmography
As actor
- The Case of Becky (1915) as One of Dr. Emerson's Patients (uncredited)
- Wise Husbands (1921)
- Her Man o' War (1926) as Prof. Krantz
- Beau Sabreur (1928) as Gen. de Beaujolais
- Four Sons (1928) as The Schoolmaster
- Someone to Love (1928)
- Napoleon's Barber (1928)
- His Captive Woman (1929)
- Mata Hari (1931)
- King Kong (1933) as Capt. Englehorn
- The Son of Kong (1933) as Capt. Englehorn
- Before Dawn (1933)
- Hi, Nellie! (1934)
- I Am a Thief (1934)
- Hi, Nellie! (1934)
- Men in White (1934 – scenes deleted)
- Charlie Chan in Egypt (1935)
- Life Returns (1935)
- The Story of Louis Pasteur (1935)
- The Great Impersonation (1935)
- Kind Lady (1935)
- The Invisible Ray (1936)
- Second Wife (1936)
- Camille (1936)
- Fit for a King (1937)
- Stage Door (1937)
- Night Key (1937)
- Three Comrades (1938)
- Devil's Island (1939)
- Everything Happens at Night (1939)
- Mystery of the White Room (1939) as Dr. Amos Thornton
- The Magnificent Fraud (1939)
- Shining Victory (1941) as Dr. Esterhazy
- Underground (1941)
- Nazi Agent (1942) as Fritz
- The Mummy's Tomb (1942) as Dr. Norman
- The Mystery of Marie Roget (1942)
- The Purple V (1943)
- Bomber's Moon (1943) as Dr. Hartman
- Watch on the Rhine (1943)
- Background to Danger (1943)
- The Mummy's Ghost (1944) as Dr. Norman
- House of Frankenstein (1944) as Ullman
- Address Unknown (1944)
- The Jade Mask (1945) as Harper
- Hotel Berlin (1945) as Fritz (uncredited)
- The Blue Jade (1945)
- My Pal Trigger (1946)
- The Shadow Returns (1946)
- Monsieur Verdoux (1947)
- The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)
- Carson City Raiders (1948)
- Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (1950)
- Superman and the Mole Men (1951) as Hospital Superintendent
As director
- The Secret Sin (1915)
- The Case of Becky (1915)
- Alien Souls (1916)
- The Storm (1916)
- Public Opinion (1916)
- Lost and Won (1917)
- Castles for Two (1917)
References
- 1 2 US Passport Application August 4, 1922
- ↑ Who Was Who in the Theatre, 1912-1976: 1936
- ↑ L'art moderne 1904
- ↑ The Jewish Encyclopedia: Volume 10 edited by Isidore Singer, Cyrus Alder (1905)
- ↑ Famous actresses of the day in America By Lewis Clinton Strang 1902 pg. 120
- 1 2 3 The New York Times January 23, 1965
- ↑ IBDb.com Frank Reicher
- ↑ IMDb.com Frank Reicher
- ↑ California Death Index
- ↑ 1920 US Census Records
- ↑ The Los Angeles Times April 4, 1948
- ↑ US Passport Application (Ella Reicher) August 4, 1922
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Frank Reicher. |
- Frank Reicher at the Internet Movie Database
- Frank Reicher at the Internet Broadway Database
- Frank Reicher at Find a Grave