MAX STEINER – THE FATHER OF FILM MUSIC
Author of over three hundred film scores and having radically changed the way films are scored, Max Steiner received, over the course of his career, no fewer than twenty-six Oscar nominations, winning three.
Category: Austria outside Austria
PETER LORRE – AN UNMISTAKABLE FACE
Although Peter Lorre spent most of his career working as a character actor, he soon became a true legend, rising to become one of the favourite actors of Charlie Chaplin, amongst others.
GRETE BERGER – VERSATILE CHARACTER ACTRESS
Actress Grete Berger is probably not remembered by many today. Yet she played a rather well-known character: Countess Margit Schwarzenberg in Hanns Heinz Ewers and Stellan Rye’s The Student of Prague.
MIA MAY – GEM OF SILENT CINEMA
Mainly specialized in melodramas and tragedies, Mia May, while having her own unique style, was compared, in her time, to legends such as Pola Negri, Asta Nielsen, and Henny Porten.
ELISSA LANDI – AS ELEGANT AS AN EMPRESS
Actress and writer Elissa Landi was a particularly well-known and popular face in Hollywood cinema of the 1930s and according to some sources was even a descendant of Empress Elisabeth of Austria.
EDWARD BERGER – AN OSCAR-WINNING DIRECTOR
When asked whether or not he has a personal style, Edward Berger spoke of ‘narrow perspectives’, i.e. the concentration on a great subjectivity, focusing almost exclusively on the protagonists.
WILLIAM BERGER – A LEGEND OF THE SPAGHETTI WESTERN
Austrian actor William Berger undoubtedly had an eventful life, full of satisfaction and highly dramatic moments. And his unmistakable face, now menacing, now friendly and reassuring, has contributed to making him deservedly immortal.
ALEXANDER MOISSI – INTERNATIONAL TALENT
Initially, Italian-Austrian actor Alexander Moissi only managed to get a few marginal roles due to his strong Italian accent. Things changed, however, when Austrian actor Josef Kainz noticed him and called him ‘the actor of the future’. Thus, he soon became one of the most important names in German-speaking theatre (and later also cinema).
JESTER NAEFE – “THE AUSTRIAN MARYLIN MONROE”
Austrian actress Jester Naefe – nicknamed ‘the German Marilyn Monroe’ by the press, since her career mainly took place in Germany – during the few years of her life was able to make herself known to a good number of viewers not only because of her beauty, but also because of her grace and talent in adapting to every possible role.
TILLA DURIEUX – NOT ONLY CINEMA AND THEATRE
Actress, director, political activist. While one of her most famous pictures is Franz von Stuck’s painting of her in the role of Circe, Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s painting Tilla Durieux (1914) is dedicated precisely to her. Her algid face cannot be forgotten. Her courage in fighting for freedom contributed in its own way to making the world we live in a better place.