Ferdinand Marian
Encyclopedia
Ferdinand Marian was an Austrian
theatre and film actor
, best known for playing the leading character of Joseph Süß Oppenheimer
in the Nazi propaganda
film Jud Süß
.
, the son of an opera singer, Marian turned to the stage early, though he never attended any drama classes. He ran away from home and abandoned his studies as an engineer to work as an extra at several Austrian and German theatres. In 1938 he joined the ensemble of the Deutsches Theater
in Berlin
, where he was acclaimed for his performance as Iago
in Shakespeare's Othello
.
Marian had also appeared in movies like Curtis Bernhardt
's Der Tunnel since 1933, and had his breakthrough starring together with Zarah Leander
in 1937's La Habanera
directed by Detlef Sierck
. His role as Don Pedro added to his image as an adorable but devious womanizer.
. This 1940 film, made under the supervision of Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels
, is widely considered to be one of the most hateful depictions of Jews in film. Several film stars had rejected the title role; Marian, urged by Goebbels and fearing consequences by the Reichsfilmkammer
, did not dare to refuse.
His depiction of the title character followed Nazi
propaganda
stereotypes of Jews having hooked noses and being materialistic, immoral, cunning and untrustworthy. However, he gave a well-acted, multi-layered performance, which ultimately contributed to the film's convincibility. With the exception of Marian's character – who shaved off his beard and wore Gentile attire for most of the story – the actors playing Jewish male characters were made up to look unappealing and alien (non-German). There were also scenes that purported to show Jewish religious services.
Marian also appeared in the 1941 propaganda movie Ohm Krüger
, playing Cecil Rhodes side by side with Emil Jannings
and Gustaf Gründgens
, who both had rejected the role of Jud Süß the year before. In 1943 he starred as Cagliostro
in Josef von Báky
's fantasy comedy Münchhausen.
was also Jewish and Marian and his wife protected him from reprisals by hiding him in their home.
Marian died in a road accident in 1946 near the village of Dürneck (today part of Freising
) in Bavaria
, probably driving under the influence. It is said that he was on his way to Munich
with a borrowed car to collect denazification
papers that with the permission by US film officer Eric Pleskow
would allow him to work again, having celebrated this news just beforehand. Other sources suggest that the accident was suicide.
The 2010 film Jew Suss: Rise and Fall
by Oskar Roehler
, starring Tobias Moretti
, portrayed the production of Jud Süß
with Marian as the central character.
Austrians
Austrians are a nation and ethnic group, consisting of the population of the Republic of Austria and its historical predecessor states who share a common Austrian culture and Austrian descent....
theatre and film actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, best known for playing the leading character of Joseph Süß Oppenheimer
Joseph Süß Oppenheimer
Joseph Süß Oppenheimer was a Jewish banker and financial planner for Duke Karl Alexander of Württemberg in Stuttgart...
in the Nazi propaganda
Nazi propaganda
Propaganda, the coordinated attempt to influence public opinion through the use of media, was skillfully used by the NSDAP in the years leading up to and during Adolf Hitler's leadership of Germany...
film Jud Süß
Jud Süß (1940 film)
Jud Süß is an antisemitic propaganda film produced in 1940 by Terra Filmkunst at the behest of Joseph Goebbels. The movie was directed by Veit Harlan, who wrote the screenplay with Eberhard Wolfgang Möller and Ludwig Metzger, and starred Ferdinand Marian and Harlan's wife Kristina Söderbaum.The...
.
Life and career
Born in ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, the son of an opera singer, Marian turned to the stage early, though he never attended any drama classes. He ran away from home and abandoned his studies as an engineer to work as an extra at several Austrian and German theatres. In 1938 he joined the ensemble of the Deutsches Theater
Deutsches Theater
The Deutsches Theater in Berlin is a well-known German theatre. It was built in 1850 as Friedrich-Wilhelm-Städtisches Theater, after Frederick William IV of Prussia. Located on Schumann Street , the Deutsches Theater consists of two adjoining stages that share a common, classical facade...
in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, where he was acclaimed for his performance as Iago
Iago
Iago is a fictional character in Shakespeare's Othello . The character's source is traced to Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio's tale "Un Capitano Moro" in Gli Hecatommithi . There, the character is simply "the ensign". Iago is a soldier and Othello's ancient . He is the husband of Emilia,...
in Shakespeare's Othello
Othello
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
.
Marian had also appeared in movies like Curtis Bernhardt
Curtis Bernhardt
Curtis Bernhardt was a German film director born in Worms, Germany, under the name Kurt Bernhardt. Some of his American films were called "woman's films" including the Joan Crawford film Possessed . Bernhardt trained as an actor in Germany, and performed on the stage, before starting as a film...
's Der Tunnel since 1933, and had his breakthrough starring together with Zarah Leander
Zarah Leander
Zarah Leander was a Swedish actress and singer.Leander began her career in the late 1920s, and by the mid 1930s her success in Europe, particularly in Germany and the Scandinavian countries, led to invitations to work in the United States...
in 1937's La Habanera
La Habanera (film)
La Habanera is a 1937 German melodramatic feature film directed by Detlev Sierck . Zarah Leander, recently signed by UFA, is the main star in the lead role of Astrée Sternhjelm and performs its title song, "La Habanera"...
directed by Detlef Sierck
Douglas Sirk
Douglas Sirk was a Danish-German film director best known for his work in Hollywood melodramas in the 1950s.-Life and work:...
. His role as Don Pedro added to his image as an adorable but devious womanizer.
Jud Süß
Marian's career was overshadowed by his appearance as the title character in Jud Süß, a notorious antisemitic German movie directed by Veit HarlanVeit Harlan
Veit Harlan was a German film director and actor.-Life and career:Harlan was born in Berlin. After studying under Max Reinhardt, he first appeared on the stage in 1915 and, after World War I, worked in the Berlin stage. In 1922 he married Jewish actress and cabaret singer Dora Gerson; the couple...
. This 1940 film, made under the supervision of Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels
Joseph Goebbels
Paul Joseph Goebbels was a German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. As one of Adolf Hitler's closest associates and most devout followers, he was known for his zealous oratory and anti-Semitism...
, is widely considered to be one of the most hateful depictions of Jews in film. Several film stars had rejected the title role; Marian, urged by Goebbels and fearing consequences by the Reichsfilmkammer
Reichsfilmkammer
The Reichsfilmkammer was a public corporation based in Berlin that regulated the film industry in National Socialist Germany between 1933 and 1945...
, did not dare to refuse.
His depiction of the title character followed Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
stereotypes of Jews having hooked noses and being materialistic, immoral, cunning and untrustworthy. However, he gave a well-acted, multi-layered performance, which ultimately contributed to the film's convincibility. With the exception of Marian's character – who shaved off his beard and wore Gentile attire for most of the story – the actors playing Jewish male characters were made up to look unappealing and alien (non-German). There were also scenes that purported to show Jewish religious services.
Marian also appeared in the 1941 propaganda movie Ohm Krüger
Ohm Krüger
Ohm Krüger was a 1941 propaganda film, produced in Nazi Germany, about Paul Kruger in the Boer War. It was the first film to be awarded the 'Film of the Nation' award. It was re-released in 1944.-Plot:...
, playing Cecil Rhodes side by side with Emil Jannings
Emil Jannings
Emil Jannings was a German actor. He was not only the first actor to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, but also the first person to be presented an Oscar...
and Gustaf Gründgens
Gustaf Gründgens
Gustaf Gründgens , born Gustav Heinrich Arnold Gründgens, was one of Germany's most famous and influential actors of the 20th century, intendant and artistic director of theatres in Berlin, Düsseldorf, and Hamburg...
, who both had rejected the role of Jud Süß the year before. In 1943 he starred as Cagliostro
Alessandro Cagliostro
Count Alessandro di Cagliostro was the alias of the occultist Giuseppe Balsamo , an Italian adventurer.-Origin:The history of Cagliostro is shrouded in rumour, propaganda and mysticism...
in Josef von Báky
Josef von Baky
Josef von Báky was a Hungarian filmmaker. He was also known as Josef v. Baky and József Baky. He was born in the town of Zombor in the Kingdom of Hungary in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, since 1920 Sombor in Yugoslavia., . He worked as an assistant to Geza von Bolvary.He worked as director or...
's fantasy comedy Münchhausen.
Personal life
Marian's personal life contradicted his role in the film Jud Süß. He had a daughter from his first marriage to Jewish pianist, Irene Saager. His second wife's former husband Julius GellnerJulius Gellner
Julius Gellner , was one of the most famous German-speaking theatre directors of the 20's of the 20th century. Between 1924 and 1933 he was superintendent and vice-Director of the Munich theater "Münchner Kammerspiele im Schauspielhaus"...
was also Jewish and Marian and his wife protected him from reprisals by hiding him in their home.
Marian died in a road accident in 1946 near the village of Dürneck (today part of Freising
Freising
Freising is a town in Bavaria, Germany, and capital of the district Freising. Total population 48,500.The city is located north of Munich at the Isar river, near the Munich International Airport...
) in Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
, probably driving under the influence. It is said that he was on his way to Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
with a borrowed car to collect denazification
Denazification
Denazification was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of any remnants of the National Socialist ideology. It was carried out specifically by removing those involved from positions of influence and by disbanding or rendering...
papers that with the permission by US film officer Eric Pleskow
Eric Pleskow
Eric Pleskow is an Austrian film producer and was the former president of the movie studios United Artists and Orion Pictures.- Biography :...
would allow him to work again, having celebrated this news just beforehand. Other sources suggest that the accident was suicide.
The 2010 film Jew Suss: Rise and Fall
Jew Suss: Rise and Fall
Jew Suss: Rise and Fall is a 2010 German drama film directed by Oskar Roehler, picturizing the creation process of the 1940 antisemitic Nazi propaganda movie Jud Süß. It was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival....
by Oskar Roehler
Oskar Roehler
Oskar Roehler is a German film director, screen writer and journalist. He was born in Starnberg as the son of writer Gisela Elsner and the writer Klaus Roehler. Since the mid-1980s he has been working as a screenwriter, for, among others, Niklaus Schilling, Christoph Schlingensief and Mark...
, starring Tobias Moretti
Tobias Moretti
Tobias Moretti is an Austrian actor.-Biography:Born in Gries am Brenner, Tyrol, Moretti is the eldest of four brothers. His brothers are named Tomas, Cristoph and Gregor. Since 1997 he has been married to Julia Moretti , an oboist...
, portrayed the production of Jud Süß
Jud Süß (1940 film)
Jud Süß is an antisemitic propaganda film produced in 1940 by Terra Filmkunst at the behest of Joseph Goebbels. The movie was directed by Veit Harlan, who wrote the screenplay with Eberhard Wolfgang Möller and Ludwig Metzger, and starred Ferdinand Marian and Harlan's wife Kristina Söderbaum.The...
with Marian as the central character.