--- name: "Fritz Kortner" canonical: "https://film.one/person/fritz-kortner" roles: ["Actor"] born: "12 May 1892" died: "22 July 1970" reviewed_on_fi1m: 1 average_as: "actor" average_over: 1 updated: "2026-09-20T01:33:50.379833+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Fritz Kortner Actor. Born 12 May 1892 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]. Died 22 July 1970. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 12 May 1892, Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria] - **Died:** 22 July 1970 - **Berlin International Film Festival:** 1 Berlin prize (1 won) - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Kortner, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q78919, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0466776/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/13905 ## Biography Fritz Kortner was an Austrian actor and theatre director. Born Fritz Nathan Kohn in Vienna on 12 May 1892, he studied at the Vienna Academy of Music and Dramatic Art before joining Max Reinhardt’s company in Berlin in 1911 and later working with Leopold Jessner from 1916. He appeared in silent films from 1916 and became known for character roles, often sinister or threatening figures, in German Expressionist theatre and cinema. With the rise of the Nazis, Kortner, who was Jewish, left Germany in 1933 and worked as a character actor in the United States before returning in 1949. He directed innovative productions of classics, including a 1964 staging of *Richard III*. His film roles include Dr Ludwig Schön in *Pandora’s Box* (1929), Nera in *The Hands of Orlac* (1924) and Kosti in *The Razor’s Edge* (1946). Kortner died in Munich on 22 July 1970. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, britannica.com, encyclopedia.com.* ## On Fi1m (1) - *The Razor's Edge* (1946), Fi1m 63, as Kosti — [page](https://film.one/film/the-razors-edge.md) ## Complete filmography (94) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Emilia Galotti* (1971), Director - *Clavigo* (1970), Writer, Stage Director - *Der Kaufmann von Venedig* (1969), as Shylock - *Fritz Kortner spricht Monologe für eine Schallplatte* (1966), Actor - *Fünfter Akt, siebente Szene. Fritz Kortner probt Kabale und Liebe* (1965), Actor - *Leonce und Lena* (1964), Director - *Der eingebildete Kranke* (1964), Director - *Die Sendung der Lysistrata* (1961), Director, Writer - *Androcles and the Lion* (1958), Director - *Sarajevo* (1955), Director - *Secrets of the City* (1955), Director, Writer - *Epilogue* (1950), as Mr. P. L. Hoopman - *The Last Illusion* (1949), as Professor Mauthner · Writer - *The Vicious Circle* (1948), as Joseph Schwartz - *Berlin Express* (1948), as Otto Franzen - *The Brasher Doubloon* (1947), as Vannier - *The Razor's Edge* (1946), as Kosti — Fi1m 63, [page](https://film.one/film/the-razors-edge.md) - *Somewhere in the Night* (1946), as Anzelmo aka Dr. Oracle - *The Wife of Monte Cristo* (1946), as Maillard - *The Hitler Gang* (1944), as Gregor Strasser - *The Strange Death of Adolf Hitler* (1943), as Bauer · Screenplay - *The Purple V* (1943), as Thomas Forster - *The Eternal Jew* (1940), as Dimitri Karamasoff (archive footage) - *Midnight Menace* (1937), as Minister Peters of Grovnia - *The Crouching Beast* (1935), as Ahmed Bey - *Abdul the Damned* (1935), as The Sultan, Abdul Hamid II & Kislar - *Little Friend* (1934), as Giant - *Evensong* (1934), as Arthur Kober - *Chu Chin Chow* (1934), as Abu Hasan - *A Girl You Don't Forget* (1932), Writer, Director - *The Upright Sinner* (1931), Writer, Director - *The Murderer Dmitri Karamazov* (1931), as Dimitri Karamasoff - *Danton* (1931), as Danton - *The Love Storm* (1930), as Captain Kell - *Dreyfus* (1930), as Hauptmann Alfred Dreyfus - *The Other* (1930), as Staatsanwalt Hallers - *Giftgas* (1929), as Konzernpräsident Straaten - *Atlantic* (1929), as Heinrich Thomas - *Die stärkere Macht* (1929), Actor - *The Ship of Lost Men* (1929), as Capt. Fernando Vela - *Die Frau im Talar* (1929), Actor - *The Woman One Longs For* (1929), as Dr. Karoff - *The Somnambulist* (1929), Actor - *Pandora's Box* (1929), as Dr. Ludwig Schön - *The Last Night* (1928), as Montaloup - *Marquis d’Eon, der Spion der Pompadour* (1928), Actor - *Odette* (1928), as Frontenac - *Frau Sorge* (1928), as Der alte Meyhöfer - *Die Geliebte des Gouverneurs* (1927), Writer - *Die Ausgestoßenen* (1927), Actor - *Alpentragödie* (1927), as Father - *Primanerliebe* (1927), as Karsten - *Mata Hari: the Red Dancer* (1927), as Graf Bobrykin - *The Life of Beethoven* (1927), as Ludwig van Beethoven - *Draga Maschin* (1927), Actor - *Should We Be Silent?* (1926), as Der annoncirende Arzt - *Kiedy kobieta zdradza męża* (1924), as lokaj - *Moderne Ehen* (1924), Actor - *The Hands of Orlac* (1924), as Nera - *Dr. Wislizenus* (1924), as Dr. Wislizenus - *Armes kleines Mädchen* (1924), Actor - *Ein Weib, ein Tier, ein Diamant* (1923), as Urmensch - *Warning Shadows* (1923), as The Count - *Nora* (1923), as Krogstadt - *The Ghost with the Deadly Kiss* (1923), Actor - *Am Rande der Großstadt* (1922), Actor - *What Belongs to Darkness* (1922), as Gangster - *Peter the Great* (1922), as Patriarch Adrian - *Der Graf von Essex* (1922), as Lord Nottingham - *Am roten Kliff* (1922), as Henning Rinkens - *Der Eisenbahnkönig, 1. Teil - Mensch und Mammon* (1921), Actor - *Der Eisenbahnkönig, 2. Teil - Lauernder Tod* (1921), Actor - *Backstairs* (1921), as The Postman - *Danton* (1921), as Minor Role (rumored) - *Landstraße und Großstadt* (1921), as Mendel Hammerstein - *Die Verschwörung zu Genua* (1921), as Gianettino - *Haschisch, das Paradies der Hölle* (1921), as Sultan - *The House on the Moon* (1921), as Jan van Haag - Wachsfigurenhändler - *Die Lieblingsfrau des Maharadscha* (1921), as Bhirma - *The Night of Queen Isabeau* (1920), as Connetable - *Christian Wahnschaffe I: Weltbrand* (1920), as Iwan Becker - *Der Schädel der Pharaonentochter* (1920), Actor - *Catherine the Great* (1920), as Potemkin - *Die Brüder Karamasoff* (1920), Actor - *Va banque* (1920), Actor - *Satan* (1920), as Pharao Amenhotep - *Die Verschleierte* (1920), Actor - *Gerechtigkeit* (1920), Actor - *Das Auge des Buddha* (1919), Actor - *Der Sonnwendhof* (1918), Actor - *Frauenehre* (1918), Actor - *Her Other Self* (1918), as Professor - *Der Märtyrer seines Herzens* (1918), as Ludwig van Beethoven · Writer - *Der Sturm*, Director, Teleplay ## Gallery - ![Fritz Kortner](https://film.one/media/person/1235430/gallery-fd4c7277be7e.jpg) Fritz Kortner — UnknownUnknown, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Fritz-Kortner-1959.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Regisseur Fritz Kortner 1958 hinter den Kulissen der Münchner Kammerspiele](https://film.one/media/person/1235430/gallery-ac80f527698c.jpg) Regisseur Fritz Kortner 1958 hinter den Kulissen der Münchner Kammerspiele — MoSchle, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/FritzKortner1958.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Berlin, Johannisthal: JOFA-Atelier, Stahl-Nachbauer, Portrait [?]](https://film.one/media/person/1235430/gallery-831a0c701d89.jpg) Berlin, Johannisthal: JOFA-Atelier, Stahl-Nachbauer, Portrait [?] — Willy Pragher, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Berlin%2C_Johannisthal-_JOFA-Atelier%2C_Stahl-Nachbauer%2C_Portrait_%28%3F%29_-_LABW_-_Staatsarchiv_Freiburg_W_134_Nr._002787.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![The Austrian actor Fritz Kortner (1892-1970) at the age of circa 19 years](https://film.one/media/person/1235430/gallery-e29a2ee3e9fa.jpg) The Austrian actor Fritz Kortner (1892-1970) at the age of circa 19 years — Aron Adolf Feuerzeug, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/43/Fritz_Kortner_um_1911.jpg/1280px-Fritz_Kortner_um_1911.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) ## Awards ### Berlin International Film Festival — 1 won - 1963: Berliner Kunstpreis (won) ### Other awards — 5 won - Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts order 1970: Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts order (won) - Ernst Reuter Medal 1967: Ernst Reuter Medal (won) - honorary golden medal of the state capital Munich 1967: honorary golden medal of the state capital Munich (won) - Kainz Medal 1967: Kainz Medal (won) - Knight Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 1957: Knight Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (won) *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/fritz-kortner