Biography
Gustaf Gründgens was a German actor and theatre director. Born Gustav Heinrich Arnold Gründgens on 22 December 1899 in Düsseldorf, he trained at the drama school of the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus after the First World War and began his career at smaller theatres in Halberstadt, Kiel and Berlin.
In 1923 he joined the Kammerspiele in Hamburg, where he also directed for the first time. He later worked in Berlin under Max Reinhardt and at the Prussian State Theatre. Gründgens appeared in films from 1929, including the role of Schränker in M (1931). His stage portrayal of Mephistopheles in Goethe's Faust, first performed in 1932, became one of his best-known roles; he reprised it in the 1960 film adaptation. He served as artistic director of theatres in Berlin, Düsseldorf and Hamburg, and his career continued through the Nazi period.
