Frank Reicher
Frank Reicher was a German-born American actor, director and producer. He is best known for playing Captain Englehorn in the 1933 film King Kong.
Early life
Reicher was born in Munich, Germany, the son of actor Emanuel Reichert. Reicher's parents divorced in 1881 and his mother died two years later while at Trieste. His half-sister, Hedwiga Reicher, would also become a Hollywood actor. His half-brother Ernst Reicher was popular as gentleman detective Stuart Webbs in the early German cinema of the 1910s. Frank Reicher immigrated to the States in 1899 and became a naturalized American citizen some twelve years later.
File:He-Who-Gets-Slapped-1922-3.jpg|thumb| Margalo Gillmore, Frank Reicher and Richard Bennett in the Broadway production of He Who Gets Slapped
Career
Reicher made his Broadway debut the year he came to America playing Lord Tarquin in Harrison Fiske's production of Becky Sharp, a comedy by Langdon Mitchell based on William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair. His early career was spent in legitimate theater on and off Broadway. He was head of the Brooklyn Stock Company when Jacob P. Adler performed The Merchant of Venice in Yiddish while the rest of the cast remained in English. Reicher was for a number of years affiliated with the Little Theatre on West Forty-Fourth Street as an actor and manager and would remain active on Broadway as actor, director or producer well into the 1920s. On stage, Reicher starred in such plays as the first Broadway production of Georg Kaiser's From Morning to Midnight, the original production of Percy MacKaye's The Scarecrow, and the United States premiere of Leonid Andreyev's He Who Gets Slapped.
Frank Reicher is probably more familiar to modern audiences as a supporting character actor in films. He began his cinema career with an uncredited role in the 1915 film The Case for Becky and would go on to work in over two hundred motion pictures. He is probably best remembered for playing the character of Captain Englehorn in King Kong and The Son of Kong, and for his work in such films as The [Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947 film)|The Secret Life of Walter Mitty] and Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye. His last Hollywood role was in the very first theatrical Superman movie, Superman and the Mole Men, in 1951.
Marriage
Frank Reicher married his wife Ella sometime around 1899 prior to his coming to America. Ella Reicher, a native of Oldenburg, joined him there the following year. The couple remained together until her death in 1948.
Death
Frank Reicher died at a hospital in Inglewood, California, aged 89. He was survived by his sister and a brother. His interment was at Inglewood Park Cemetery.
Filmography
Actor
The Case of Becky as One of Dr. Emerson's Patients Wise Husbands Her Man o' War as Prof. KrantzBeau Sabreur as Gen. de BeaujolaisFour Sons as The SchoolmasterThe Blue Danube as Baron von StatzenThe Masks of the Devil as Count ZellnerNapoleon's Barber as Napoleon's BarberSomeone to Love as SimmonsSins of the Fathers as The Eye SpecialistHis Captive Woman as District AttorneyStrange Cargo as Dr. SteckerBlack Waters as RandallParis Bound Her Private Affair as State's AttorneyMister Antonio as Milton JornyThe Grand Parade Strictly Unconventional as Duke of Brocklehurst Billy the Kid as General Lew Wallace A Lady's Morals as Italian Theater Manager Gentleman's Fate as Papa Francesco TomasuloBeyond Victory as German Military Hospital ChiefThe Sin of Madelon Claudet as Arresting Detective Suicide Fleet as HoltzmannMata Hari as The Cook / Spy, ordered by Andriani to commit suicide for his past failuresA Woman Commands as The GeneralThe Crooked Circle as RankinScarlet Dawn as Plotsky Flesh as Warden in Germany Rasputin and the Empress as German-Language Teacher Employees' Entrance as GarfinkleTopaze as Dr. SteggKing Kong as Captain EnglehornA Bedtime Story as AristideJennie Gerhardt as Old Weaver Before Dawn as Joe ValerieCaptured! as Herr Hauptman – the AdjutantAfter Tonight as Major-Medical Officer Ever in My Heart as Dr. Hoffman The Son of Kong as Captain EnglehornEight Girls in a Boat as The Examiner Hi, Nellie! as DannyJournal of a Crime as Herr WintersteinNo Greater Glory as DoctorThe Countess of Monte Cristo as Police CommissionerThe Line-Up as Abraham Schultz Let's Talk It Over as RichardsLittle Man, What Now? as LehmannThe World Moves On as Herr Robess Return of the Terror as Franz ReinhardtThe Fountain as DoctorBritish Agent as Mr. XThe Case of the Howling Dog as Dr. Carl CooperI Am a Thief as Max BolenSecret of the Chateau as AuctioneerMills of the Gods as BarrettLife Returns as Dr. JamesThe Casino Murder Case as Assistant Coroner Straight from the Heart as Coroner A [Dog of Flanders (1935 film)|A Dog of Flanders] as Herr VanderklootThe Florentine Dagger as Von SteinStar of Midnight as Abe Ohlman Charlie Chan in Egypt as Dr. JaipurBorn to Gamble as Defense Attorney Rendezvous as Dr. R.A. JacksonRemember Last Night? as Coroner The Man Who [Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo (film)|The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo] as Second Assistant DirectorThe Fighting Marines as Wheeler – M-70 Kind Lady as Gustave RoubetThe Great Impersonation as Doctor TrenkMagnificent Obsession as Dr. Rochard The Lone Wolf Returns as Coleman The Murder of Dr. Harrigan as Dr. CoateThe Invisible Ray as Professor Meiklejohn The Story of Louis Pasteur as Dr. PfeifferSutter's Gold as Governor Felipe Vega The Country Doctor as Dr. Paul LukeTill We Meet Again as Colonel Von DiegelMurder on a Bridle Path as Dr. Peters Under Two Flags as French GeneralThe Ex-Mrs. Bradford as Henry Strand – Summers' Lawyer Nobody's Fool as Chairman The Devil-Doll as Doctor Anthony Adverse as Coach Driver to ParisGirls' Dormitory as Dr. HoffenreichSecond Wife as HeadmasterStar for a Night as Doctor HeimkinThe Gorgeous Hussy as Commander of U.S.S. Constitution Old Hutch as District Attorney Along Came Love as Planetarium LecturerLaughing at Trouble as Dr. LarsonCamille as Creditor Agent Sinner Take All as Theo Drukker Under Cover of Night as Rudolph BrehmerThe Mighty Treve as Eben McClellandMan of the People as Professor Robinson – Geologist Stolen Holiday as RainerThe Great O'Malley as Dr. LarsonEspionage as Von CramNight Key as CarlKing of Gamblers as Herman The Road Back as Ernst's FatherThe Devil Is Driving as District Attorney The Emperor's Candlesticks as PavloffMidnight Madonna as Vincent Long IIWest Bound Limited as Pop MartinThe Life of Emile Zola as M. Perrenx On Such a Night as Horace DarwinFit for a King as KurtzStage Door as Stage DirectorLancer Spy as AdmiralHeidi as Police Lieutenant 45 Fathers as Prentiss Beg, Borrow or Steal as Monsieur Debillon Prescription for Romance as JozephPrison Nurse as Doctor HartmanRascals as Dr. C.M. GarveyThree Comrades as Major – Young Soldier's Father City Streets as Dr. Ferenc WallerThe Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse as Professor O.J. Ludwig I'll Give a Million as Prefect of PoliceLetter of Introduction as 2nd Doctor – Midtown Hospital Suez as General ChangarnierThe Storm as Officer Torchy Gets Her Man as The ProfessorThe Girl Downstairs as Police Sergeant Devil's Island as President of Assize CourtWoman Doctor as Dr. MathewsSociety Smugglers as JonesMystery of the White Room as Dr. Amos ThorntonNever Say Die as Man in Charge of Duel Juarez as Duc de Morny Unexpected Father as Adoption Hearing Referee The Magnificent Fraud as Mendietta GarciaNurse Edith Cavell as Baron Von BissingRio as Paris Banker The Escape as Dr. ShumakerSabotage as George Wallner—Head of Saboteurs Ninotchka as Soviet Lawyer Our Neighbors – The Carters as Dr. ProserSouth of the Border as Don Diego MendozaEverything Happens at Night as PharmacistDr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet as Old Man Dr. Cyclops as Professor KendallTyphoon as DoctorAll This, and Heaven Too as Police Official The Lady in Question as PresidentSouth to Karanga as Dr. GreenleafThe Man I Married as FriehofSky Murder as Dr. CrattanFour Mothers as Festival Committee Member The Face [Behind the Mask (1941 film)|The Face Behind the Mask] as Dr. Ronald Cheever Flight from Destiny as Edvaard KreindlingThey Dare Not Love as German Captain The Nurse's Secret as Mr. HendersonShining Victory as Dr. EsterhazyUnderground as Professor BaumerFather Takes a Wife as Captain of the 'SS Leslie C.' One Foot in Heaven as Board Member Dangerously They Live as JarvisNazi Agent as FritzTo Be or Not to Be as Polish Official The [Mystery of Marie Roget (film)|The Mystery of Marie Roget] as MagistrateBeyond [the Blue Horizon (film)|Beyond the Blue Horizon] as SneathI Married an Angel as Driver The Gay Sisters as Dr. Thomas BigelowSecret Enemies as Henry BremmerNight Monster as Dr. TimmonsThe Mummy's Tomb as Professor Matthew NormanScattergood Survives a Murder as Thaddeus QuentinThe Purple V as Bit Role Hangmen Also Die! as Interpreter Mission to Moscow as General von Koestrich – German ambassador Above Suspicion as Colonel Gerold Yanks Ahoy as German Background to Danger as Rudick – the Assassin Bomber's Moon as Dr. HartmanWatch on the Rhine as Admiral The Song of Bernadette as Dr. St. Cyr Tornado as Old Man Linden Captain America as Lyman In Our Time as Baron Jarski Address Unknown as Professor SchmidtThe Hitler Gang as The Justizminister The [Adventures of Mark Twain (1944 film)|The Adventures of Mark Twain] as Doctor in Elmira Gildersleeve's Ghost as Dr. John WellsThe Mummy's Ghost as Professor Matthew NormanThe Conspirators as Casino Attendant House of Frankenstein as UllmanThe Big Bonanza as Dr. BallouThe Jade Mask as HarperHotel Berlin as Fritz A Medal for Benny as Father Bly Blonde Ransom as JudgeRhapsody in Blue as Guest Voice of the Whistler as Dr. Rose The Tiger Woman as CoronerThe Strange Mr. Gregory as Riker, the ButlerA Guy Could Change as Doctor The Shadow Returns as Michael HasdonSong of Arizona as Doctor My Pal Trigger as Judge J.E. Ellis Sister Kenny as Dr. Chuter Home in Oklahoma as Jason CragmyleMr. District Attorney as Peter Lantz Yankee Fakir as Banker H.W. RandallMonsieur Verdoux as Doctor Violence as PopThe Secret Life of Walter Mitty as Karl MaasdamSong of Love as Mr. Fuerbach Escape Me Never as The MinisterJoe Palooka in Fighting Mad as Dr. MacKenzieCarson City Raiders as Razor the BarberI, Jane Doe as Doctor The Gallant Blade as Major Barbary Pirate as CathcartSamson and Delilah as Village BarberThe Arizona Cowboy as Major SheridanCargo to Capetown as Judge Van Meeger Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye as 'Doc' Darius GreenThe Lady and the Bandit as Count EckhardtSuperman and the Mole Men as Hospital Superintendent