Max Schreck facts for kids
Friedrich Gustav Max Schreck (born September 6, 1879 – died February 20, 1936) was a German actor. He is best known for playing the scary vampire Count Orlok in the 1922 silent horror movie Nosferatu.
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Max Schreck's Early Life
Max Schreck was born in Berlin-Friedenau, Germany. This was on September 6, 1879. He studied acting at the Berliner Staatstheater, which was the State Theatre of Berlin. He finished his studies in 1902.
After his training, he started his acting career on stage. His first performances were in Meseritz and Speyer. For two years, he traveled around Germany. He acted in theatres in cities like Zittau, Erfurt, Bremen, and Frankfurt am Main. Later, Schreck joined a famous acting group in Berlin. This group was led by Max Reinhardt. Many actors from Reinhardt's group later became important in movies.
His Acting Career
Between 1919 and 1922, Max Schreck worked at the Munich Kammerspiele theatre. He acted in a play called Trommeln in der Nacht (Drums in the Night). This play was written by Bertolt Brecht. Schreck played a character named Glubb.
Becoming Count Orlok
During this time, he also started working in movies. His first film was Der Richter von Zalamea. In 1921, a film company called Prana Film hired him. They wanted him for their first and only movie, Nosferatu. In this film, Schreck played the main character, Count Orlok. This character was very much like Count Dracula from Bram Stoker's famous book.
After Nosferatu was released, Prana Film went bankrupt. They had to close down. This happened because they did not want to pay money for using ideas from Bram Stoker's Dracula without permission.
Other Film Roles
In 1923, Schreck was still in Munich. He appeared in a short, funny movie called Mysterien eines Friseursalons (Mysteries of a Barbershop). This film was also written by Bertolt Brecht. In the same year, Schreck played a blind man in the movie Die Straße (The Street).
He worked again with the director of Nosferatu, F. W. Murnau, in 1924. They made a comedy film called Die Finanzen des Grossherzogs (The Grand Duke's Finances).
Later Years and Passing
In 1926, Schreck went back to the Kammerspiele theatre in Munich. He kept acting in movies, even as films changed. He successfully moved from silent movies to "talkies," which were films with sound.
Max Schreck passed away in Munich in 1936. He had a heart attack. The night before, on February 19, 1936, he had just finished acting in a play called Don Carlos. He felt unwell that evening. A doctor sent him to the hospital, where he died early the next morning. His obituary (a notice about his death) praised his acting in a play by Molière, where he played a character called The Miser. He was buried on March 14, 1936, in Berlin.
Max Schreck's Personal Life
Max Schreck was married to an actress named Fanny Normann. She also appeared in some movies. She was often known as Fanny Schreck.
The word schreck in German means fright or terror. Because of this, some people thought that Max Schreck might not be a real person. They thought it was a made-up name for an actor in Nosferatu. However, pictures of Max Schreck show that he was a real person.
People who knew Schreck said he was a quiet person. He had a unique sense of humor. He was very good at playing strange or unusual characters. Some said he seemed to live in "a remote and strange world." He was also known for taking walks in dark forests.
Images for kids
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Max Schreck in Nosferatu (1922)
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Schreck in Die Straße (1923)
See also
In Spanish: Max Schreck para niños
