Ben Dova (born as Joseph Späh (also written as Spah) on March 14, 1905, in Strasbourg, Alsace–Lorraine – died September 30, 1986, in Manassas, Virginia) was a German–American acrobat and actor.
Ben Dova | |
|---|---|
 Joseph Späh on the last flight of the Hindenburg | |
| Born | Joseph Späh March 14, 1905 Strasbourg, Alsace–Lorraine |
| Died | September 30, 1986 (aged 81) Manassas, Virginia |
| Occupation(s) | Acrobat, actor |
| Years active | 1922–1982 |
| Known for |
|
Career
editHe emigrated from Germany to the United States in 1922 and became a contortionist in the vaudeville genre, using the artist name Ben Dova, from the English "bend over". His signature act was playing a drunk man balancing on a street light. In 1933 he performed his act on top of the 56-story Chanin Building in New York with no safety measures, for the benefit of the newsreels.[1]
Next to his acrobatic career he became an actor, performing in small parts in movies and television episodes, most notably as Klaus Szell (the brother of the movie's antagonist) in Marathon Man (1976).
Hindenburg disaster
editDova was a passenger on board the LZ 129 Hindenburg during the Hindenburg disaster and escaped using his acrobatic skills.[2][3] The FBI investigated him as a possible saboteur but found no evidence and cleared him from wrongdoing.[4]
He was played by Robert Clary in the motion picture The Hindenburg (1975).[5]
Filmography
edit- A Chinatown Fantasy (1930, short)[6]
- The Way of All Freshmen, (1933, a Broadway Brevity short) – Acrobatic dancer[7]
- Toast of the Town (1952, television variety show, one episode)[8]
- Naked City (1962, television series, season 3, episode 20: To Walk Like a Lion) – Tailor[9]
- Marathon Man (1976) – Klaus Szell[4]
- Der Preis fürs Überleben (1980, West German movie) – Jim[10]
- Dear Mr. Wonderful (1982, West German movie) – Ben[4]
- Höllenfahrten: Titanic der Lüfte – Die letzte Fahrt der Hindenburg (2000, German TV episode) – Self[11]
- Die letzten Stunden der Hindenburg (2011, German documentary) – Self[12]
References
edit- ^ BEN DOVA – The Drunk Daredevil, The Human Marvels
- ^ One survivor of the Hindenburg disaster was an acrobat who jumped out, Gizmodo, July 3, 2014
- ^ Survivor Describes Jump From Blazing Hindenburg, The Pittsburgh Press, May 8, 1937
- ^ a b c Monsters: The Hindenburg Disaster and the Birth of Pathological Technology, Edward Regis, 2015
- ^ The Golden Age of Disaster Cinema: A Guide to the Films, 1950–1979,p.122, Nik Havert, 2019
- ^ Encyclopedia of American Short Films, 1926–1959, p.108, Graham Webb, 2020
- ^ Encyclopedia of American Short Films, 1926–1959, p.605, Graham Webb, 2020
- ^ Toast of the Town / Season 5 / Episode 48, TheTVDB
- ^ (in Romanian) To Walk Like a Lion (1962), cinemagia.ro
- ^ (in German) Der Preis fürs Überleben, filmportal.de
- ^ (in German) Titanic der Lüfte – Die letzte Fahrt der Hindenburg, fernsehserien.de
- ^ (in German) Die letzten Stunden der Hindenburg, The A.V. Club
