Alexander Granach
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Alexander Granach (April 18, 1890 – March 14, 1945) was a popular German actor in the 1920s and 1930s who immigrated to the United States in 1938. Granach was born Jessaja Gronach in Werbowitz (Wierzbowce/Werbiwci) (Horodenka district, Austrian Galicia then, now Verbivtsi, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, Ukraine), to Jewish parents and rose to theatrical prominence at the Volksbühne in Berlin. Granach entered films in 1922; among the most widely exhibited of his silent efforts was the vampire classic Nosferatu (1922), in which the actor was cast as Knock, the lunatic counterpart to Renfield, effectively a substitute name for Dracula. He co-starred in such major early German talkies as Kameradschaft (1931). The Jewish Granach fled to the Soviet Union when Hitler came to power. When the Soviet Union also proved inhospitable, he settled in Hollywood, where he made his first American film appearance as Kopalski in Ernst Lubitsch's Ninotchka (1939) for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Granach proved indispensable to film makers during the war years, effectively portraying both dedicated Nazis (he was Julius Streicher in The Hitler Gang, 1944) and loyal anti-fascists. Perhaps his best role was as Gestapo Inspector Alois Gruber in Fritz Lang's Hangmen Also Die! (1943). His last film appearance was in MGM's The Seventh Cross (1944), in which almost the entire supporting cast was prominent European refugees.
Known for
ActingBirthday
April 18, 1890Deathday
March 14, 1945Gender
MaleKnown Movie Credits
46Place of birth
Werbowitz, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Verbivtsi, Kolomyia Raion, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, Ukraine]Also known as
Aleksandr Granakh , Александр Гранах, Schaje GranochCast credits
Nosferatu
KnockNinotchka
Comrade KopalskiHangmen Also Die!
Gestapo Insp. Alois GruberVoice in the Wind
AngeloComradeship
KasperJoan of Paris
Gestapo AgentWarning Shadows
ShadowplayerThe Seventh Cross
ZillichHalf Way to Shanghai
Mr. NikolasEarth Spirit
SchigolchThree Russian Girls
Major BraginskiDanton
MaratLucrezia Borgia
ein Gefangener1914
Jaurès' FriendThe Theft of the Mona Lisa
RednerThe Adjutant of the Czar
StrangerGypsies
DaniloMy Buddy
Tim ObertaFor Whom the Bell Tolls
PacoSo Ends Our Night
The PoleForeign Correspondent
Hotel Valet (uncredited)