Mauritz Stiller
Encyclopedia
Mauritz Stiller was a Finnish-Swedish actor
, screenwriter
and silent film
director
, who was mostly active in Sweden
.
, his family was of Ashkenazi Jewish
heritage, having lived in Russia
and Poland
before settling in Finland
. At age four, Stiller's mother committed suicide
, after which he was raised by family friends. From early on, Stiller was interested in acting. His talents did not go unnoticed, and soon Stiller was offered the opportunity to practice and display his acting skills in the theaters of Helsinki and Turku in Finland.
Drafted into the army of Czar Nicholas II
-- Finland was at the time an autonomous Grand Duchy of Russia—rather than report for duty he fled the country for exile, and settled in Sweden. He became a Swedish citizen in 1921.
industry. He began by writing scripts, in addition to acting and directing in short films but within a few years gave up on acting to devote his time to writing and directing. He was soon directing feature-length productions and his 1918 effort Thomas Graals bästa barn (Thomas Graal's First Child), starring Karin Molander
, and with Victor Sjöström
in the leading role, received much acclaim.
By 1920, having directed more than thirty-five films including Sir Arne's Treasure
and Erotikon
, Stiller was a leading figure in Swedish filmmaking. He also directed The Blizzard
starring a young Einar Hanson
and based on the Selma Lagerlof
novel Gunnar Hedes saga.
At the Royal Dramatic Theatre
in Stockholm, he met a young actress named Greta Gustafsson whom he cast in an important but secondary role in his film, Gösta Berlings saga
(The Atonement of Gosta Berling) giving her the stage name Greta Garbo
. For Stiller, the screen presence of the eighteen-year-old actress led to him bringing her and Hanson to the United States
after he accepted an offer from Louis B. Mayer
to direct for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
.
In Hollywood, Mauritz Stiller was assigned to direct The Temptress
(1926) for MGM, but he could not deal with studio structure. After repeated arguments with MGM executives, he was replaced on the film by Fred Niblo
and his contract with the studio terminated. Stiller was immediately hired by Paramount Pictures
., where he made three successful films but was let go a second time while directing his fourth as a result of his continuing disagreements with studio bosses. Hanson died in a car accident in June 1927.
at the age of forty-five. He was interred in the Norra begravningsplatsen
in Stockholm
.
Stiller's contribution to the motion picture industry has since been recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
at 1713 Vine Street. In Kristianstad
, a monument was erected in his honor. Originally, his star on the Walk of Fame was erroneously listed as "Maurice Diller" and wasn't corrected until the late 1980s.
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, who was mostly active in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
.
Life
Born Moshe Stiller in HelsinkiHelsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
, his family was of Ashkenazi Jewish
Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...
heritage, having lived in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
before settling in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
. At age four, Stiller's mother committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
, after which he was raised by family friends. From early on, Stiller was interested in acting. His talents did not go unnoticed, and soon Stiller was offered the opportunity to practice and display his acting skills in the theaters of Helsinki and Turku in Finland.
Drafted into the army of Czar Nicholas II
Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until...
-- Finland was at the time an autonomous Grand Duchy of Russia—rather than report for duty he fled the country for exile, and settled in Sweden. He became a Swedish citizen in 1921.
Career
By 1912, Stiller had become involved with Sweden's rapidly developing silent filmSilent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
industry. He began by writing scripts, in addition to acting and directing in short films but within a few years gave up on acting to devote his time to writing and directing. He was soon directing feature-length productions and his 1918 effort Thomas Graals bästa barn (Thomas Graal's First Child), starring Karin Molander
Karin Molander
Karin Molander was a Swedish stage and film actress whose career spanned over five decades.-Career:Born Katarina Margareta Elisabet Edwertz in Stockholm, Sweden, she began taking classes from theater actress Julia Håkansson at a young age...
, and with Victor Sjöström
Victor Sjöström
Victor Sjöström was a Swedish actor, screenwriter, and film director.- Biography:Born in Silbodal, in the Värmland region of Sweden, he was only a year old when his father, Olof Adolf Sjöström, moved the family to Brooklyn, New York. His mother died when he was seven years old in 1886...
in the leading role, received much acclaim.
By 1920, having directed more than thirty-five films including Sir Arne's Treasure
Sir Arne's Treasure
Sir Arne's Treasure is a 1919 Swedish crime-drama film directed by Mauritz Stiller, starring Richard Lund, Hjalmar Selander, Concordia Selander and Mary Johnson. It is based on the novel Herr Arne's Hoard by Selma Lagerlöf, originally published in 1903...
and Erotikon
Erotikon
Erotikon is a 1920 Swedish romantic comedy film directed by Mauritz Stiller, starring Tora Teje, Karin Molander, Anders de Wahl and Lars Hanson. It is based on the 1917 play A kék róka by Ferenc Herczeg...
, Stiller was a leading figure in Swedish filmmaking. He also directed The Blizzard
The Blizzard (1923 film)
The Blizzard is a Swedish silent drama film directed by Mauritz Stiller and starring Einar Hanson, Mary Johnson, Pauline Brunius and Hugo Björne. The film's original Swedish title is Gunnar Hedes saga...
starring a young Einar Hanson
Einar Hanson
Einar Hanson , also known as Einar Hansen, was a Swedish silent film motion-picture actor.-Career:...
and based on the Selma Lagerlof
Selma Lagerlöf
Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf was a Swedish author. She was the first female writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, and most widely known for her children's book Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige ....
novel Gunnar Hedes saga.
Stiller and Garbo
Royal Dramatic Theatre
The Royal Dramatic Theatre is Sweden's national stage for "spoken drama", founded in 1788. Around one thousand shows are put on annually on the theatre's eight running stages....
in Stockholm, he met a young actress named Greta Gustafsson whom he cast in an important but secondary role in his film, Gösta Berlings saga
Gösta Berlings saga (film)
The Saga of Gosta Berling is a 1924 Swedish romantic drama film directed by Mauritz Stiller and released by AB Svensk Filmindustri, starring Lars Hanson, Gerda Lundequist and Greta Garbo in her native break-out role on film. The film is based on the 1891 debut novel of the same name by the Swedish...
(The Atonement of Gosta Berling) giving her the stage name Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo , born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, was a Swedish film actress. Garbo was an international star and icon during Hollywood's silent and classic periods. Many of Garbo's films were sensational hits, and all but three were profitable...
. For Stiller, the screen presence of the eighteen-year-old actress led to him bringing her and Hanson to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
after he accepted an offer from Louis B. Mayer
Louis B. Mayer
Louis Burt Mayer born Lazar Meir was an American film producer. He is generally cited as the creator of the "star system" within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in its golden years. Known always as Louis B...
to direct for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
.
In Hollywood, Mauritz Stiller was assigned to direct The Temptress
The Temptress
The Temptress is an American silent romantic drama film directed by Fred Niblo. Starring Greta Garbo, Antonio Moreno, Lionel Barrymore and Roy D'Arcy it premiered on October 10, 1926...
(1926) for MGM, but he could not deal with studio structure. After repeated arguments with MGM executives, he was replaced on the film by Fred Niblo
Fred Niblo
Fred Niblo was an American pioneer film actor, director and producer.-Biography:He was born Frederick Liedtke in York, Nebraska, to a French mother and a father who had served as a captain in the American Civil War and was wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg...
and his contract with the studio terminated. Stiller was immediately hired by Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
., where he made three successful films but was let go a second time while directing his fourth as a result of his continuing disagreements with studio bosses. Hanson died in a car accident in June 1927.
Death and legacy
Mauritz Stiller returned to Sweden in 1927 and died the following year from pleurisyPleurisy
Pleurisy is an inflammation of the pleura, the lining of the pleural cavity surrounding the lungs. Among other things, infections are the most common cause of pleurisy....
at the age of forty-five. He was interred in the Norra begravningsplatsen
Norra begravningsplatsen
Norra begravningsplatsen, literally "The Northern Cemetery" in Swedish, is a major cemetery of Metropolitan Stockholm. The cemetery is located in the municipality of Solna.Inaugurated on June 9, 1827, it is the burial site for a number of Swedish notables....
in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
.
Stiller's contribution to the motion picture industry has since been recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
at 1713 Vine Street. In Kristianstad
Kristianstad
Kristianstad is a city and the seat of Kristianstad Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 35,711 inhabitants in 2010.-History:The city was founded in 1614 by King Christian IV of Denmark, the city's name literally means 'Town of Christian', as a planned city after the burning of the town of Vä...
, a monument was erected in his honor. Originally, his star on the Walk of Fame was erroneously listed as "Maurice Diller" and wasn't corrected until the late 1980s.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Credited as | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director Film director A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:... |
Writer Screenwriter Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:... |
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... |
Role | ||
| 1912 | The Gardener The Gardener (film) The Gardener is a 1912 Swedish silent drama film directed by Victor Sjöström. It is mostly known for being the first film to ever be banned by the Swedish censor system. It was long thought to have been lost, but in 1979 a copy was found in an archive in the United States... (Trädgårdsmästaren) |
Passenger | |||
| 1912 | Mor och dotter | Raoul de Saligny | |||
| 1912 | I lifvets vår | von Plæin | |||
| 1912 | Den tyranniske fästmannen | Elias Pettersson | |||
| 1912 | De svarta maskerna | ||||
| 1913 | Vampyren | ||||
| 1913 | På livets ödesvägar | ||||
| 1913 | När larmklockan ljuder | ||||
| 1913 | När kärleken dödar | ||||
| 1913 | Mannekängen | ||||
| 1913 | The Conflicts of Life The Conflicts of Life The Conflicts of Life is a 1913 Swedish silent drama film directed by Victor Sjöström and Mauritz Stiller.-Cast:* Nils Ahrén - Charles von Barton* Ivar Kåge - Carsten Berner* Richard Lund - Berchtold* Greta Pfeil - Lila* Victor Sjöström - Otto Berner... (Livets konflikter) |
||||
| 1913 | Brother Against Brother Brother against brother "Brother against brother" is a slogan used in histories of the American Civil War, describing the predicament faced in families in which loyalties and military service were divided between the Union and the Confederacy... (Gränsfolken) |
||||
| 1913 | En pojke i livets strid | ||||
| 1913 | Den okända | ||||
| 1913 | Den moderna suffragetten | ||||
| 1913 | Barnet | ||||
| 1914 | Stormfågeln | ||||
| 1914 | Skottet | ||||
| 1914 | När svärmor regerar | Elias | |||
| 1914 | Kammarjunkaren | ||||
| 1914 | För sin kärleks skull | ||||
| 1914 | Det röda tornet | ||||
| 1914 | Bröderna | ||||
| 1915 | När konstnärer älska | ||||
| 1915 | Minlotsen | ||||
| 1915 | Mästertjuven | ||||
| 1915 | Madame de Thèbes | ||||
| 1915 | Playmates (Lekkamraterna) | ||||
| 1915 | Hans hustrus förflutna | ||||
| 1915 | Hans bröllopsnatt | ||||
| 1915 | Hämnaren | ||||
| 1915 | Dolken | ||||
| 1916 | The Wings The Wings (film) -Production background:The film was directed by Mauritz Stiller, starring Egil Eide, Lars Hanson, Lili Bech, and Julius Hälsig, and was based on Herman Bang's 1902 novel Mikaël, which was the same source Carl Theodor Dreyer used for his 1924 film Michael.... (Vingarne) |
Film director | |||
| 1916 | Lyckonålen | ||||
| 1916 | Kärlek och journalistik | ||||
| 1916 | Kampen om hans hjärta | ||||
| 1916 | Balettprimadonnan | ||||
| 1917 | Thomas Graals bästa film | ||||
| 1917 | Alexander den store | ||||
| 1918 | Thomas Graals bästa barn | ||||
| 1919 | Sången om den eldröda blomman | ||||
| 1919 | Sir Arne's Treasure Sir Arne's Treasure Sir Arne's Treasure is a 1919 Swedish crime-drama film directed by Mauritz Stiller, starring Richard Lund, Hjalmar Selander, Concordia Selander and Mary Johnson. It is based on the novel Herr Arne's Hoard by Selma Lagerlöf, originally published in 1903... (Herr Arnes pengar) |
||||
| 1920 | Fiskebyn | ||||
| 1920 | Erotikon Erotikon Erotikon is a 1920 Swedish romantic comedy film directed by Mauritz Stiller, starring Tora Teje, Karin Molander, Anders de Wahl and Lars Hanson. It is based on the 1917 play A kék róka by Ferenc Herczeg... |
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| 1921 | Johan | ||||
| 1921 | Guarded Lips (De landsflyktige) | ||||
| 1923 | The Blizzard The Blizzard (1923 film) The Blizzard is a Swedish silent drama film directed by Mauritz Stiller and starring Einar Hanson, Mary Johnson, Pauline Brunius and Hugo Björne. The film's original Swedish title is Gunnar Hedes saga... (Gunnar Hedes saga) |
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| 1924 | The Saga of Gosta Berling (Gösta Berlings saga) | ||||
| 1926 | The Temptress The Temptress The Temptress is an American silent romantic drama film directed by Fred Niblo. Starring Greta Garbo, Antonio Moreno, Lionel Barrymore and Roy D'Arcy it premiered on October 10, 1926... |
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| 1927 | The Woman on Trial | ||||
| 1927 | Hotel Imperial Hotel Imperial (film) Hotel Imperial is a 1927 American silent film directed by Mauritz Stiller, set in World War I and starring Pola Negri as a hotel chambermaid... |
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| 1927 | Barbed Wire | ||||
| 1928 | Street of Sin Street of Sin -Production background:The film was produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures, directed by Mauritz Stiller and Ludwig Berger, and starred Olga Baclanova, Emil Jannings, and Fay Wray.-Cast:*Olga Baclanova as Annie... |