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Fritz Leiber (actor)

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This article is about the actor. For his son, the science fiction writer, see Fritz Leiber.

Fritz Reuter Leiber Sr. (January 31, 1882 – October 14, 1949) was an American actor.[1] A Shakespearean actor on stage, he also had a successful career in film.[2] He was the father of science fiction and fantasy writer Fritz Leiber Jr., who was also an actor for a time.[3]

Fritz Leiber
Leiber in 1930, photo by Ethel Standiford
Born
Fritz Reuter Leiber

(1882-01-31)31 January 1882
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died14 October 1949(1949-10-14) (aged 67)
Hollywood, CA, U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active1916–1949
Spouse
Virginia Bronson (1885–1970)
​
​
(m. 1910)​
ChildrenFritz Leiber

Life

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Leiber was born in Chicago, the son of Meta (Klett) and Albrecht Leiber. His father was from Baden-Baden and his mother was from Mecklenburg.[4] Leiber was based in Chicago for most of his pre-Hollywood career. He married Virginia Bronson (1885–1970), who like him was a Shakespearean performer.[5]

Career

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Fritz Leiber as Caesar with Theda Bara in Cleopatra (1917)

Leiber and his wife spent much of their time touring in a Shakespearian acting company, known by the 1930s as Fritz Leiber & Co.[6] Leiber made his film debut in 1916, playing Mercutio in the Francis X. Bushman version of Romeo and Juliet.[7]

His many silent-era portrayals included Caesar in Theda Bara's 1917 Cleopatra and Solomon in the mammoth 1921 Betty Blythe vehicle The Queen of Sheba.[1]

 
Fritz Lieber autographed drawing by Manuel Rosenberg for the Cincinnati Post, 1919

Leiber thrived as a character actor in sound films, usually in historical roles. His piercing eyes and shock of white hair allowed him to convincingly play a variety of characters, including priests, professors, musical professors, and religious fanatics.

In the film Champagne Waltz (1937), he portrayed an orchestra maestro; the role required him to play classical music on a violin and jazz on a clarinet. One of Leiber's larger assignments of the 1940s, and his most notable musical role, was as Franz Liszt in the Claude Rains remake of Phantom of the Opera (1943).[2] He played a dead chemist in the movie Angel on My Shoulder (1946). He performed briefly opposite Charles Chaplin as the priest who visits Monsieur Verdoux (1947) in his prison cell.[8]

Leiber appeared together with his son Fritz Leiber, Jr. in the wedding-feast scene of Greta Garbo's film Camille (1936), in Warner Bros.' The Great Garrick (1937), and in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) (in which Fritz, Jr. was uncredited).

 
Fritz Leiber in The Story of Louis Pasteur trailer

Portrait collection

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Often during his career Leiber had a likeness made of himself in costume and make-up for the role he was then playing,[9] varying the format and media to include oil painting, charcoal sketching; a sculpted bust, a clay bas-relief, and others. After the actor's death, the collection passed to his son, Fritz Leiber Jr., who used the experience of inheriting this surfeit as the basis of his 1963 story "237 Talking Statues, Etc." The two Fritz Leibers also physically resembled each other enough to give casual visitors the impression that the portraits were of Leiber Jr. himself.[citation needed]

Death

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Leiber died in Hollywood, from a heart attack at the age of 67.[10][11]

Filmography

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Fritz Leiber". Archived from the original on December 30, 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Fritz Leiber - Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos - AllMovie". AllMovie.
  3. ^ "Obituary: Fritz Leiber". Independent.co.uk. 14 September 1992.
  4. ^ "FamilySearch.org". FamilySearch. Archived from the original on 2021-08-01.
  5. ^ League, The Broadway. "Virginia Bronson – Broadway Cast & Staff - IBDB". www.ibdb.com.
  6. ^ League, The Broadway. "Twelfth Night – Broadway Play – 1930 Revival - IBDB". www.ibdb.com.
  7. ^ "Romeo and Juliet (1916) - Jack Noble - Cast and Crew - AllMovie". AllMovie.
  8. ^ "Monsieur Verdoux (1947) - Charles Chaplin - Cast and Crew - AllMovie". AllMovie.
  9. ^ Jordison, Sam (7 April 2008). "Fritz Leiber, master of Shakespearean sci-fi". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
  10. ^ Ellenberger, Allan R. (1 May 2001). Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory. McFarland. ISBN 9780786450190 – via Google Books.
  11. ^ "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Google News Archive Search".
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