---
name: "Paul Muni"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/paul-muni"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "21 September 1895"
died: "25 August 1967"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_fi1m_score: 73
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-09-19T23:27:09.839873+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."
---

# Paul Muni

Actor. Born 21 September 1895 in Lemberg, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Lviv, Ukraine]. Died 25 August 1967.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 21 September 1895, Lemberg, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Lviv, Ukraine]
- **Died:** 25 August 1967
- **Active:** 1932–1937
- **Also known as:** Пол Муни, Meshilem Meier Weisenfreund, Frederich Meshilem Meier Weisenfreund
- **Frequently works with:** [Henry Blanke](https://film.one/person/henry-blanke.md), [Sheridan Gibney](https://film.one/person/sheridan-gibney.md), [William Dieterle](https://film.one/person/william-dieterle.md)
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar (1 won · 5 nominated)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 73, as actor, over 3 titles
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 3 of 3 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Drama 3, History 2, Crime 1, Romance 1
- **Screen time:** 6 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $4m across 1 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Muni, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q182292, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0612847/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/13352

## Fi1m on Paul Muni

> Paul Muni was best when he did least. In the irons in *I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang* a glance and a flexing hand carry the film; in the biopics that followed, under the beards and the makeup, he acted, and it shows.

The moment in *I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang* (1932) that stays with us is not a speech. In the camp James Allen glances at the guards and his hand flexes once in the irons. That is all, and it tells you what he wants, what he cannot have and how long he has been counting. It shook us more than anything said aloud in the film, and the film says a good deal aloud, none of it landing as hard. Muni could do this. He did not always choose to.

He came up in the Yiddish theatre, a child in his parents' company and then a member of the Yiddish Art Theatre, and he did not play Broadway in English until 1926. Fox signed him in 1929 for *The Valiant* and *Seven Faces*; neither made him. 1932 did, twice over: Tony Camonte in *Scarface* and Allen on the chain gang, which brought a Warner Bros contract and, with it, the prestige biographies. *The Story of Louis Pasteur* (1936) and *The Life of Emile Zola* (1937), both directed by William Dieterle, set the pattern: a real man, months of research into how he spoke and moved, a great deal of makeup. The same year he played Wang, a Chinese farmer, in *The Good Earth*. He went back to the stage between pictures, and his last film was *The Last Angry Man* (1959).

The charge against him has always been overacting, and it is not unfair. Dieterle, who directed three of the biopics, kept saying so, and our own review of the chain gang film found him broader in the early scenes, where the script has him explain what he wants to build, than in the camp, where he barely moves. The Yiddish stage taught him to send a whisper to the back row, and on screen that training could work against him, because the camera is already in the front row. The makeup was the other trap. He was compared to Lon Chaney, and like Chaney he seemed to believe the transformation was the performance. Often it was only the costume.

But watch him in the irons, or in the good suits Orry-Kelly gives him in the film's middle stretch, a man who has become somebody and is waiting for it to be taken away. That stillness is rarer than any beard. He said once that "'star' is what you call actors who can't act", and he meant it as a boast about being a journeyman. It is a good line, and the chain gang film is where he earns it. Start there. Go on to *Scarface* if you want the noise. The biopics can wait.

## Biography

Paul Muni was an American stage and film actor. Born Frederich Meshilem Meier Weisenfreund on 22 September 1895 in Lemberg, then in the Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Lviv, Ukraine), he began his career in the Yiddish theatre and later appeared on Broadway before entering films.

He is known for his roles in *Scarface* (1932), *I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang* (1932), *The Story of Louis Pasteur* (1936), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, and *The Life of Emile Zola* (1937). He received several further Academy Award nominations for Best Actor and also won a Tony Award for his stage work.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org.*

## On Fi1m (3)

- *The Good Earth* (1937), Fi1m 64, as Wang — [page](https://film.one/film/the-good-earth.md)
- *The Life of Emile Zola* (1937), Fi1m 70, as Emile Zola — [page](https://film.one/film/the-life-of-emile-zola.md)
- *I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang* (1932), Fi1m 85, as James Allen — [page](https://film.one/film/i-am-a-fugitive-from-a-chain-gang.md)

## Complete filmography (29)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood* (2019), as (archive footage)
- *Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood* (2008), as James Allen (archive footage)
- *Saints and Sinners* (1962), series, as Samuel Foss
- *The Last Angry Man* (1959), as Sam Abelman
- *General Electric Theater* (1953), series, as Senator Ryder
- *Stranger on the Prowl* (1952), as The Stranger With A Gun
- *The Philco Television Playhouse* (1948), series, as George Simon
- *Angel on My Shoulder* (1946), as Eddie Kagle / Judge Fredrick Parker
- *Counter-Attack* (1945), as Alexei Kulkov
- *A Song to Remember* (1945), as Professor Joseph Elsner
- *Stage Door Canteen* (1943), as Paul Muni
- *Commandos Strike at Dawn* (1942), as Eric Toresen
- *Hudson's Bay* (1940), as Pierre Esprit Radisson
- *We Are Not Alone* (1939), as Dr. David Newcome
- *Juarez* (1939), as Benito Pablo Juárez
- *Breakdowns of 1938* (1938), as Emile Zola (archive footage) (uncredited)
- *The Life of Emile Zola* (1937), as Emile Zola — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/the-life-of-emile-zola.md)
- *The Good Earth* (1937), as Wang — Fi1m 64, [page](https://film.one/film/the-good-earth.md)
- *The Woman I Love* (1937), as Lt. Claude Maury
- *The Story of Louis Pasteur* (1936), as Louis Pasteur
- *Dr. Socrates* (1935), as Lee
- *Black Fury* (1935), as Joe Radek
- *Bordertown* (1935), as Johnny Ramirez
- *Hi, Nellie!* (1934), as Samuel N. 'Brad' Bradshaw
- *The World Changes* (1933), as Orin Nordholm Jr.
- *I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang* (1932), as James Allen — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/film/i-am-a-fugitive-from-a-chain-gang.md)
- *Scarface* (1932), as Antonio 'Tony' Camonte
- *Seven Faces* (1929), as Chibou / Diablero / Smith / Schubert / Juan / Gans / Napoleon
- *The Valiant* (1929), as James Dyke

## Gallery

- ![Paul Muni](https://film.one/media/person/1226184/gallery-f3d42abcb5e6.jpg) Paul Muni — First National Pictures, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Paul_Muni_-_Zola_-_1936.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![American actor Paul Muni (1935)](https://film.one/media/person/1226184/gallery-5fa16a4f4e8c.jpg) American actor Paul Muni (1935) — Elmer Fryer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Paul_Muni_by_Elmer_Fryer.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Scene from the film I Am A Fugitive From a Chain Gang (1932). Pictured is Paui Muni.](https://film.one/media/person/1226184/gallery-1578aa4c6df8.jpg) Scene from the film I Am A Fugitive From a Chain Gang (1932). Pictured is Paui Muni. — Warner Bros., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Paul_Muni_I_am_a_Fugitive_From_a_Chain_Gang.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Actor Paul Muni and his wife Bella at the 10th Academy Awards. That year, Paul Muni's costar in "The Good Earth" Luisa Rainer won Best Actress for her role. (1938)](https://film.one/media/person/1226184/gallery-8dd95c165625.jpg) Actor Paul Muni and his wife Bella at the 10th Academy Awards. That year, Paul Muni's costar in "The Good Earth" Luisa Rainer won Best Actress for her role. (1938) — Los Angeles Daily News, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/Paul_Muni_and_his_wife_Bella_at_the_1937_Academy_Awards.jpg/1280px-Paul_Muni_and_his_wife_Bella_at_the_1937_Academy_Awards.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Paul Muni](https://film.one/media/person/1226184/gallery-9188476698f5.jpg) Paul Muni — Image via TMDB
- ![Paul Muni](https://film.one/media/person/1226184/gallery-5dff221c4071.jpg) Paul Muni — Image via TMDB
- ![Paul Muni](https://film.one/media/person/1226184/gallery-9eb9616afe8d.jpg) Paul Muni — Image via TMDB
- ![Paul Muni (left) and Claude Rains in Angel on My Shoulder (1946) - cropped screenshot](https://film.one/media/person/1226184/gallery-1ce0b261bfc6.jpg) Paul Muni (left) and Claude Rains in Angel on My Shoulder (1946) - cropped screenshot — film screenshot (United Artists), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Paul_Muni-Claude_Rains_in_Angel_on_My_Shoulder.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Paul Muni in Scarface (1932) publicity still.](https://film.one/media/person/1226184/gallery-c5389cdee8e9.jpg) Paul Muni in Scarface (1932) publicity still. — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f3/Paul_Muni_in_Scarface_%281932%29.jpg/1280px-Paul_Muni_in_Scarface_%281932%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Paul Muni](https://film.one/media/person/1226184/gallery-c7d54afd31ff.jpg) Paul Muni — Image via TMDB

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 1 won, 5 nominated

- 1960: Best Actor (nominated), for *The Last Angry Man*
- 1938: Best Actor (nominated), for *The Life of Emile Zola*
- 1937: Best Actor (won), for *The Story of Louis Pasteur*
- 1936: Best Actor (nominated), for *Black Fury*
- 1934: Best Actor (nominated), for *I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang*
- 1929: Best Actor (nominated), for *The Valiant*

### Other awards — 2 won

- Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play 1956: Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play (won)
- Volpi Cup for Best Actor 1936: Volpi Cup for Best Actor (won), for *The Story of Louis Pasteur*

*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/paul-muni