Otto Kruger
Encyclopedia
Otto Kruger was an American actor who began his career in 1915. His career was most prolific during the 1930s and 1940s.
, Otto Kruger was musically trained, but switched careers and went into acting. Making his Broadway debut at the age of fifteen, Kruger quickly became a matinee idol
. Though he started to get noticed in the early 1920s, it was the 1930s when his career was at its height, including an appearance in the 1934 film Chained
, opposite Joan Crawford
and Clark Gable
. Though he played the hero on occasion, for most of his career, he played the main villain or a charming or corrupt businessman. One of his best known roles was in the 1954 film Magnificent Obsession
.
Among his television
appearances was a 1959 role as Dr. Mumford in the episode "Experiments in Terror" on the NBC
science fiction
/adventure
series The Man and the Challenge
. In 1961, he appeared as Franklyn Malleson Ghentin in "A Fool for a Client" on James Whitmore
's The Law and Mr. Jones
on ABC
. He retired in the 1960s.
Career
The grandnephew of South African pioneer and president Paul KrugerPaul Kruger
Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger , better known as Paul Kruger and affectionately known as Uncle Paul was State President of the South African Republic...
, Otto Kruger was musically trained, but switched careers and went into acting. Making his Broadway debut at the age of fifteen, Kruger quickly became a matinee idol
Matinee idol
Matinée idol is a term used mainly to describe film or theatre stars who are adored to the point of adulation by their fans.The term almost exclusively refers to male actors. Invariably the adulation was fixated on the actor's looks rather than performance...
. Though he started to get noticed in the early 1920s, it was the 1930s when his career was at its height, including an appearance in the 1934 film Chained
Chained (1934 film)
Chained is a 1934 motion picture directed by Clarence Brown, and starring Joan Crawford, Clark Gable and Otto Kruger. The plot concerns a kept woman who finds herself drawn to a charismatic South American rancher while aboard a cruise, all the while still harboring feelings for her married lover...
, opposite Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
and Clark Gable
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable , known as Clark Gable, was an American film actor most famous for his role as Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh...
. Though he played the hero on occasion, for most of his career, he played the main villain or a charming or corrupt businessman. One of his best known roles was in the 1954 film Magnificent Obsession
Magnificent Obsession (1954 film)
Magnificent Obsession is a Universal International Pictures romantic feature film directed by Douglas Sirk; starring Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson. The screenplay was written by Robert Blees and Wells Root, after the book Magnificent Obsession by Lloyd C. Douglas. The film was produced by Ross Hunter...
.
Among his television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
appearances was a 1959 role as Dr. Mumford in the episode "Experiments in Terror" on the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
/adventure
Adventure
An adventure is defined as an exciting or unusual experience; it may also be a bold, usually risky undertaking, with an uncertain outcome. The term is often used to refer to activities with some potential for physical danger, such as skydiving, mountain climbing and or participating in extreme sports...
series The Man and the Challenge
The Man and the Challenge
The Man and the Challenge is a 36-segment half-hour television adventure/science fiction series which ran new episodes on NBC from September 12, 1959, to June 11, 1960. It starred George Nader as Dr. Glenn Barton, a research scientist for the Institute of Human Factors, an agency that conducted...
. In 1961, he appeared as Franklyn Malleson Ghentin in "A Fool for a Client" on James Whitmore
James Whitmore
James Allen Whitmore, Jr. was an American film and stage actor.-Early life:Born in White Plains, New York, to Florence Belle and James Allen Whitmore, Sr., a park commission official, Whitmore attended Amherst Central High School in Snyder, New York, before graduating from The Choate School in...
's The Law and Mr. Jones
The Law and Mr. Jones
The Law and Mr. Jones is a 45-episode half-hour television crime drama starring James Whitmore. The series aired on ABC in two nonconsecutive seasons from October 7, 1960, to September 22, 1961, and again from April 19 to July 5, 1962...
on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. He retired in the 1960s.
Partial filmography
- The Runaway Wife (1915)
- A Mother's ConfessionA Mother's ConfessionA Mother's Confession is a 1915 silent film written and directed by Ivan Abramson, and starring Christine Mayo and Austin Webb.. , The Moving Picture World-Plot and background:...
(1915) - The Prizefighter and the LadyThe Prizefighter and the LadyThe Prizefighter and the Lady is a 1933 black-and-white MGM crime romance comedy starring Myrna Loy, Max Baer, Primo Carnera, Jack Dempsey, and Walter Huston. It was the film debut for professional boxers Baer and Carnera. Carnera was the world heavyweight boxing champion at the time of the film's...
(1933) - Ever in My HeartEver in My HeartEver in My Heart is a 1933 drama film starring Barbara Stanwyck and Otto Kruger. An American girl marries a foreigner, but anti-German sentiment during World War I drives them apart.-Cast:*Barbara Stanwyck as Mary Archer Wilbrandt...
(1933) - Turn Back the ClockTurn Back the Clock (film)Turn Back the Clock is an MGM comedy drama film directed by Edgar Selwyn, written by Edgar Selwyn and Ben Hecht, and starring by Lee Tracy and Mae Clarke...
(1933) - Beauty for SaleBeauty for SaleBeauty for Sale is a 1933 film about the romantic entanglements of three beauty salon employees. It stars Madge Evans, Alice Brady, and Otto Kruger. It was based on the novel Beauty by Faith Baldwin.-Cast:*Madge Evans as Letty Lawson...
(1933) - The Women in His LifeThe Women in His Life-Cast:* Otto Kruger as Kent 'Barry' Barringer* Una Merkel as Miss 'Simmy' Simmons* Ben Lyon as Roger McKane* Isabel Jewell as Catherine 'Cathy' Watson* Roscoe Karns as Lester* Irene Hervey as Doris Worthing* C. Henry Gordon as Tony Perez...
(1933) - Springtime for HenrySpringtime for HenrySpringtime for Henery is a 1934 American comedy film directed by Frank Tuttle and starring Otto Kruger, Nancy Carroll and Nigel Bruce. It was based on a play of the same name by Benn W. Levy which enjoyed an eight month run on Broadway.-Plot:...
(1934) - Men in WhiteMen in White (1934 film)Men in White is a Pre-Code film starring Clark Gable and Myrna Loy, and directed by Ryszard Bolesławski. Because of the suggested illicit romance and the suggested abortion in the movie, it was frequently cut...
(1934) - Treasure IslandTreasure Island (1934 film)Treasure Island is a 1934 movie adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s famous 1883 novel Treasure Island. Jim Hawkins discovers a treasure map and travels on a sailing ship to a remote island, but pirates led by Long John Silver threaten to take away the honest seafarers’ riches and...
(1934) - ChainedChained (1934 film)Chained is a 1934 motion picture directed by Clarence Brown, and starring Joan Crawford, Clark Gable and Otto Kruger. The plot concerns a kept woman who finds herself drawn to a charismatic South American rancher while aboard a cruise, all the while still harboring feelings for her married lover...
(1934) - Dracula's DaughterDracula's DaughterDracula's Daughter is a 1936 American vampire horror film produced by Universal Studios, a sequel to the 1931 film Dracula. Directed by Lambert Hillyer from a screenplay by Garrett Fort, the film stars Otto Kruger, Gloria Holden, Marguerite Churchill and, as the only cast member to return from the...
(1936) - Glamorous NightGlamorous Night (film)Glamorous Night is a 1937 British drama film directed by Brian Desmond Hurst and starring Mary Ellis, Otto Kruger and Victor Jory. It is an adaptation of the play Glamorous Night by Ivor Novello.-Cast:* Mary Ellis ... Melitza Hjos...
(1937) - They Won't ForgetThey Won't ForgetThey Won't Forget is a 1937 film directed by Mervyn LeRoy . It was based on a novel by Ward Greene called Death in The Deep South, which was in turn a fictionalized account of a real life case: the trial and subsequent lynching of Leo Frank after the murder of Mary Phagan in 1913...
(1937) - Thanks for the MemoryThanks for the Memory (1938 film)Thanks for the Memory is a 1938 film starring Bob Hope and Shirley Ross, and directed by George Archainbaud. The title is from the song that later became Hope's theme, which first appeared in The Big Broadcast of 1938 earlier the same year...
(1938) - DisbarredDisbarred (1939 film)Disbarred is a 1939 film about a crooked lawyer starring Gail Patrick and Robert Preston. The supporting cast includes Otto Kruger and Sidney Toler. The movie was directed by film noir specialist Robert Florey....
(1939) - Another Thin ManAnother Thin ManAnother Thin Man is a 1939 American film that is the third film in the six-volume series, The Thin Man. It again stars William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, and is based on the writings of Dashiell Hammett. Their son, Nicky Jr., is also introduced in the film. The cast includes...
(1939) - Black EyesBlack Eyes (film)Black Eyes is a 1939 British drama film directed by Herbert Brenon and starring Otto Kruger, Mary Maguire and Walter Rilla.-Cast:* Otto Kruger - Ivan Ivanovich Petroff* Mary Maguire - Tanya Petroff* Walter Rilla - Roudine* John Wood - Karlo Karpoff...
(1939) - The Gang's All HereThe Gang's All Here (1939 film)The Gang's All Here is a 1939 British, black-and-white, crime, drama, musical, directed by Thornton Freeland and starring Ronald Shiner as Spider Ferris. It was produced by Associated British Picture Corporation. Subsequently, the film was released in 1943 with the film title of The Amazing Mr...
(1939) - The Magic BulletThe Magic BulletDr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet is a 1940 biographical film directed by William Dieterle and starring Edward G. Robinson, based on the true story of the German doctor and scientist Dr. Paul Ehrlich. The film was released by Warner Bros., with some controversy considering the subject of syphilis in a...
(1940) - The Man I MarriedThe Man I MarriedThe Man I Married is a 1940 drama film starring Joan Bennett and Francis Lederer. An American woman marries a German, only to lose him to the Nazi Party when the couple travel to Germany.-Cast:...
(1940) - A Dispatch from Reuter's (1940)
- SaboteurSaboteur (film)Saboteur is a 1942 Universal film directed by Alfred Hitchcock with a screenplay written by Peter Viertel, Joan Harrison, and Dorothy Parker. The movie stars Priscilla Lane, Robert Cummings, and Norman Lloyd...
(1942)
- Hitler's ChildrenHitler's Children (film)Hitler's Children is a 1943 American black-and-white propaganda film made by RKO Radio Pictures. It was directed by Edward Dmytryk and Irving Reis from an adaptation by Emmet Lavery of Gregor Ziemer's book Education For Death....
(1943) - Night Plane from ChungkingNight Plane from ChungkingNight Plane from Chungking is an American war film released by Paramount Pictures, and is a remake of Paramount's earlier film Shanghai Express ....
(1943) - Tarzan's Desert MysteryTarzan's Desert MysteryTarzan's Desert Mystery is a 1943 film starring Johnny Weismuller and Nancy Kelly. The movie was directed by Wilhelm Thiele.Like its immediate predecessor, "Tarzan Triumphs," this movie makes reference to Tarzan's mate, Jane, played in earlier Weissmuller films by Maureen O'Sullivan, but it does...
(1943) - CorregidorCorregidor (1943 film)Corregidor is an American war film directed by William Nigh and starring Otto Kruger, Elissa Landi, and Donald Woods. The film is set in December 1941 through May 1942 during the Japanese invasion of the Philippines.-Cast:...
(1943) - Cover Girl (1944)
- Murder, My SweetMurder, My SweetMurder, My Sweet is a 1944 American film noir directed by Edward Dmytryk, and starring Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, and Anne Shirley. The film was released in the United Kingdom under the title Farewell, My Lovely, which is the title of the 1940 Raymond Chandler novel it is based on, and also the...
(1944) - Wonder ManWonder Man (film)Wonder Man is a 1945 film starring Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo. It is based on a short story by Arthur Sheekman, adapted for the screen by a staff of writers led by Jack Jevne and Eddie Moran, produced by Samuel Goldwyn, and directed by H. Bruce Humberstone...
(1945) - Allotment WivesAllotment WivesAllotment Wives is a film noir starring Kay Francis in her final screen appearance. An army investigator tries to shut down a scam that preys on soldiers and unknowingly falls in love with the woman behind it.-Cast:*Kay Francis as Sheila Seymour...
(1945) - The Woman Who Came BackThe Woman Who Came BackWoman Who Came Back is a 1945 film about an offbeat woman who becomes convinced that she's a witch, a conclusion which eventually leads to mass hysteria in the town to which she has recently returned. The eerily atmospheric movie was directed by Walter Colmes.-Cast:*John Loder as Dr. Matt...
(1945) - Duel in the Sun (1946)
- 711 Ocean Drive711 Ocean Drive711 Ocean Drive is an American crime film noir directed by Joseph M. Newman. The drama features Edmond O'Brien, Joanne Dru and Otto Kruger.-Plot:...
(1950) - Payment on DemandPayment on DemandPayment on Demand is a 1951 drama film directed by Curtis Bernhardt. The screenplay by Bernhardt and Bruce Manning chronicles a marriage from its idealistic early days to its dissolution.-Plot synopsis:...
(1951) - High NoonHigh NoonHigh Noon is a 1952 American Western film directed by Fred Zinnemann and starring Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly. The film tells in real time the story of a town marshal forced to face a gang of killers by himself...
(1952) - Magnificent ObsessionMagnificent Obsession (1954 film)Magnificent Obsession is a Universal International Pictures romantic feature film directed by Douglas Sirk; starring Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson. The screenplay was written by Robert Blees and Wells Root, after the book Magnificent Obsession by Lloyd C. Douglas. The film was produced by Ross Hunter...
(1954) - Black WidowBlack Widow (1954 film)Black Widow is a 1954 mystery color film noir, written, produced and directed by Nunnally Johnson and starring Van Heflin, Ginger Rogers, Gene Tierney, and George Raft.-Plot:...
(1954) - The Last CommandThe Last Command (1955 film)The Last Command is a 1955 Trucolor film about Jim Bowie and the fall of the Alamo during the Texas War of Independence. Filmed by Republic Pictures, it was an unusually expensive undertaking for the low-budget studio.-Production:...
(1955) - The Colossus of New YorkThe Colossus of New YorkThe Colossus of New York is a science fiction film produced by William Alland, and directed by Eugène Lourié. It starred Ross Martin, Otto Kruger, John Baragrey, Mala Powers and Charles Herbert....
(1958) - The Young PhiladelphiansThe Young PhiladelphiansThe Young Philadelphians is a 1959 drama film starring Paul Newman, Barbara Rush and Alexis Smith, and directed by Vincent Sherman. Robert Vaughn was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The film is based on the novel The Philadelphian by Richard P...
(1959) - Cash McCallCash McCallCash McCall is a 1960 movie starring James Garner and Natalie Wood, based upon the novel of the same name by Cameron Hawley about a man who buys businesses in order to sell them at a profit...
(1960) - The Wonderful World of the Brothers GrimmThe Wonderful World of the Brothers GrimmThe Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm is a 1962 American film directed by Henry Levin and George Pal. The latter was the producer and also in charge of the stop motion animation. The film was one of the highest grossing films of 1962. It won one Oscar and was nominated for three additional...
(1962) - Sex and the Single GirlSex and the Single Girl (film)Sex and the Single Girl is a 1964 American comedy film directed by Richard Quine and starring Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood, Henry Fonda, Lauren Bacall, and Mel Ferrer....
(1964)