Bressart made his stage debut in 1914 and his film debut in 1928. Going to the U.S. after being forced out of Germany in 1936, Bressart starred in his first American film, "Swanee River," in 1939. He went on to a successful career in films and during the filming of "My Friend Irma," Bressart passed away.
March 17, 1949, Los Angeles, California, United States
Place Of Birth
Eydtkuhnen, East Prussia, Germany [now Chernyshevskoe, Russia]
Profession
Actor, Soundtrack
Spouse
Frieda Lehner (m. ?–1949)
Star Sign
Pisces
#
Fact
1
At the age of 57, five days after his birthday, Felix Bressart died of leukemia in Hollywood.
2
The actor Felix Bressart was born as Sally Breslau. He had his first engagement at theater in 1915 and like all great actors in those days he finally went to Max Reinhardt. He became a popular and successful comedian very fast.
3
The first movie in which Felix Bressart acted as a clumsy soldier was "Drei Tage Mittelarrest" (1930). It was a funny but also a bad movie. Later the movie was imposed with a prohibition, not in Germany but in the USA.
4
Since 1928 he turned up regular in films especially in comedies and military oldies which had a boom at the beginning of the 30s and became very popular because of Bressart.
5
After the Nazis seized power in 1933, Jewish-born Bressart had to leave Germany and continued his career in German-speaking movies in Austria, where Jewish artists were still relatively safe. After no fewer than 30 films in eight years, he immigrated to the United States.
6
In his life Bressart was exactly what he impersonated in film: a shy, reserved and something clumsy human being. His clumsiness in his life and perhaps in his films were surrounded of a special tragedy. But the public found him funny - it didn't laugh so much at what happened to Felix Bressart on the screen than that it laughed at him with the roughness of children who find it funny when human beings are stuttering.
7
He combined his mildly inflected East European accent with a soft-spoken delivery to create kindly, friendly characters, as in Lubitsch's To Be or Not to Be (1942), in which he sensitively recites Shylock's famous "Hath not a Jew eyes?" speech from The Merchant of Venice. Lubitsch also directed Bressart to similar effect in The Shop Around the Corner (1940).
8
To bridge the lean time till he was able to gain a foothold in the US film industry he was busy as a non-medical practitioner with his own practice in Beverly Hills.
9
His last film was My Friend Irma (1949), the movie version of a popular radio show. Bressart died during production, forcing the producers to finish the film with Hans Conried. In the final film, Conried speaks throughout, but Bressart is still seen in the long shots.
10
MGM signed Bressart to a studio contract in 1939. Most of his MGM work consisted of featured roles in major films like Edison, the Man (1940).
11
The influential German community in Hollywood helped to establish Bressart in America, as his earliest American movies were directed by Ernst Lubitsch, Henry Koster, and Wilhelm Thiele.
12
As a Jew Felix Bressart had to emigrate from Germany in 1933. In 1938, he reached the USA where he was soon offered film roles. In contrast to other emigres, his roles were artistically demanding.
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
Take One False Step
1949
Professor Morris Avrum
Portrait of Jennie
1948
Pete
A Song Is Born
1948
Professor Gerkikoff
I've Always Loved You
1946
Frederick Hassman
Her Sister's Secret
1946
Pepe - New Orleans Cafe Owner
The Thrill of Brazil
1946
Ludwig Kriegspiel
Ding Dong Williams
1946
Hugo Meyerheld
Dangerous Partners
1945
Prof. Roland Budlow
Without Love
1945
Prof. Ginza
Secrets in the Dark
1944
Short
Blonde Fever
1944
Johnny
Greenwich Village
1944
Hofer
The Seventh Cross
1944
Poldi Schlamm
Song of Russia
1944
Petrov
Don't Be a Sucker
1943
Short
Anti - Nazi Teacher
Three Hearts for Julia
1943
Anton Ottoway
Above Suspicion
1943
Mr. A. Werner
Iceland
1942/I
Papa Jonsdottir
Crossroads
1942
Dr. Andre Tessier
To Be or Not to Be
1942
Greenberg
Mr. and Mrs. North
1942
Arthur Talbot
Kathleen
1941
Mr. Schoner
Married Bachelor
1941
Professor Ladislaus Milic
Blossoms in the Dust
1941
Dr. Max Breslar
Ziegfeld Girl
1941
Mischa
Comrade X
1940
Vanya
Bitter Sweet
1940
Max
Escape
1940
Fritz Keller
Third Finger, Left Hand
1940
August Winkel
Edison, the Man
1940
Michael Simon
It All Came True
1940
The Great Boldini
The Shop Around the Corner
1940
Pirovitch
Swanee River
1939
Henry Kleber
Ninotchka
1939
Comrade Buljanoff
Bridal Suite
1939
Maxl
Three Smart Girls Grow Up
1939
Music Teacher
Heut' ist der schönste Tag in meinem Leben
1935
Max Kaspar
Viereinhalb Musketiere
1935
Professor Volksmann
Alles für die Firma
1935
Philipp Sonndorfer
Ball im Savoy
1935
Birowitsch, der Sekretär
Peter
1934
Her grandfather
Salto in die Seligkeit
1934
Kriegel, Geheimdetektiv
C'était un musicien
1933
Le baron Vandernyff
Wie d'Warret würkt
1933
Herr Schramek
...und wer küßt mich?
1933
Direktor Ritter
The Lucky Top Hat
1932
Gottfried Jonathan Bankbeamter
Holzapfel weiß alles
1932
Johannes Georg Holzapfel
Der Herr Bürovorsteher
1931
Joachim Reißnagel
Kameradschaft
1931
Café Doorman (uncredited)
Ausflug ins Leben
1931
Hirsekorn - Schauspieler und Chauffeur
Trara um Liebe
1931
Major Fröschen
Nie wieder Liebe!
1931
Jean
Der Schrecken der Garnison
1931
Musketier Kulicke
True Jacob
1931
Böcklein
Die Privatsekretärin
1931
Bankdiener Hasel
Eine Freundin so goldig wie Du
1930
Richard
Drei Tage Mittelarrest
1930
Franz Nowotni, Fuesilier
Old Song
1930
Jacques
Der keusche Josef
1930
Eizes, ihr Faktotum
Die Drei von der Tankstelle
1930
Gerichtsvollzieher / Bailiff
Die zärtlichen Verwandten
1930
Onkel Emil
Der Kampf mit dem Drachen oder: Die Tragödie des Untermieters
1930
Short
Der 'Untermieter'
The Son of the White Mountain
1930
Jailer
Es gibt eine Frau, die dich niemals vergißt
1930
Alte Kleider
1929
Short
Liebe im Kuhstall
1928
Der Gerichtsvollzieher
Soundtrack
Title
Year
Status
Character
Greenwich Village
1944
performer: "When You Wore a Tulip and I Wore a Big Red Rose" - uncredited
$100,000
