2 Quotes & Sayings By Conrad Veidt
Conrad Veidt was born in Berlin. From 1927 to 1931 he studied acting at the Berliner Schauspielschule, and in 1931 made his stage debut in "Der Asklepius" at the Deutsches Theater. During the mid-1930s he appeared in several films, including "Die Affen von Piriou", "Kaiser des Verbrechens", "Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse", and "Das Kabinett des Dr
Caligari". After the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, he left Germany for Vienna. He worked there as an actor, but his career was cut short by the outbreak of war in 1939.
He returned to Germany, where he supported himself by painting, and appeared in several films produced by UFA. In 1943 he was drafted into the Wehrmacht, serving on the Eastern Front for three years before being invalided out in 1944 with pneumonia. During that time he made a number of propaganda films for the army, including "Die große Chance" ("The Big Chance") and "Die Nebelinsel" ("The Island of Tears"), both released in 1943 to help boost troop morale.
After his discharge from hospital in 1945, Veidt returned to Vienna where he worked as a cinema projectionist until 1948 when he moved to Hollywood. By 1950 he had become a well-known character actor who appeared in many films for producer Samuel Goldwyn's company and sometimes under contract to other studios. Throughout this period he continued to paint and also wrote two books on painting - one on landscape painting, which was published posthumously in 1952, and another on still life painting, which was published posthumously in 1956.
He died at age 78 in New York City on 25 February 1957 from heart failure brought about by complications from pneumonia contracted during the final stages of cancer treatment for throat cancer; his death occurred whilst undergoing dialysis treatment for kidney failure at Memorial Hospital on Central Park West.