Fritz Rasp
Fritz Heinrich Rasp was a German film actor who appeared in more than 100 films between 1916 and 1976. His obituary in Der Spiegel described Rasp as "the German film villain in service, for over 60 years."
Life and career
Fritz Heinrich Rasp was the thirteenth child of a county surveyor. He was educated from 1908–1909 at the Theaterschule Otto Königin in Munich. He made his stage debut in 1909, after he successfully overcame a speech impediment. During his long career, the character actor appeared in some of the most famous theatres in Germany, working with acclaimed directors such as Bertolt Brecht and Max Reinhardt and famous actors such as Albert Bassermann, Joseph Schildkraut and Werner Krauss. Rasp made an early film debut in 1916 and appeared in some early films by his friend, director Ernst Lubitsch. With his "gaunt, ascetic looks", Rasp played numerous scoundrels or shady characters during the Golden Age of German cinema in the 1920s. He is considered to be one of the most successful film villains in German film history.Some of Rasp's more notable film roles were "J. J. Peachum" in The Threepenny Opera, as the reckless seducer Meinert in Diary of a Lost Girl, as Mr. Brocklehurst in Orphan of Lowood, an early German adaptation of Jane Eyre, and as the bank robber Grundeis in Emil and the Detectives. He also portrayed the mysterious "Der Schmale" in Fritz Lang's Metropolis. Many of the scenes in the latter film in which he appears are part of the Metropolis footage long believed lost until their recovery in 2008. In the 1960s, Rasp also appeared in numerous Edgar Wallace criminal films. In one of his last films, Bernhard Sinkel's comedy-drama Lina Braake, Rasp starred against-type as a likable pensioner who steals money from an unscrupulous bank.
Fritz Rasp was awarded with the Filmband in Gold in 1963 for his outstanding work for the German film industry.
Personal life
Fritz Rasp died of cancer at age 85 in Gräfelfing, where he is also buried. His son Andreas Rasp was a Gymnasium teacher and poet, his daughter Renate Rasp a notable writer associated with the Group 47.Selected filmography
Shoe Palace Pinkus Hans Trutz in the Land of Plenty The Lost House Youth - AmandusMan by the Wayside - FarmhandTime Is Money - FrançoisBetween Evening and Morning Warning Shadows - DienerArabella Comedians - Jugendlicher LiebhaberWood Love - Tom SnoutThe Doll of Luna Park Goetz von Berlichingen of the Iron Hand People of the Sea The House of Lies - Kandidat MolwikTorments of the Night - KellnerLove's Joys and Woes Superfluous People - ChirikovOrphan of Lowood - BrocklehurstMetropolis - Der Schmale / The Thin ManChildren's Souls Accuse You - Heinrich Voss - Enzenbergs SekretärThe Last Waltz - Linnsky, HofmarschallThe Love of Jeanne Ney - KhalibievThe Prince of Rogues - Heinrich BenzelThe Mysterious Mirror - reicher MannSpione - Col. Jellusic - Ivan Stepanov, English versionDocks of Hamburg - The doctorThe Hound of the Baskervilles - StapletonDiary of a Lost Girl - MeinertWoman in the Moon - Der Mann, der sich Walter Turner nenntThree Around Edith - PistolSpring Awakening - Lehrer HabebaldThe Dreyfus Case - Maj. DuPatay de ClamThe Great Longing - HimselfThe Murderer Dimitri Karamazov - SmerdjakoffThe Threepenny Opera - PeachumTropical Nights - JonesThe Squeaker - Frank SuttonThe Paw - Dr. Ing. RappisEmil and the Detectives - GrundeisDie Vier vom Bob 13 - SchmidtThe Cruel Mistress - Professor BockThe Ringer - Maurice MeisterDer sündige Hof - Veit, der SchäferThe Judas of Tyrol - RafflGrenzfeuer - Nothaas - GrenzhofbauerSchuß am Nebelhorn - Sebastian Geyer, ForstgehilfeCharley's Aunt - Lord BabberleyLittle Dorrit - FlintwinchDecoy - de Groot, ihr VormundAsew - Lockspitzel AsewThe Emperor's Candlesticks - StanislausUncle Bräsig - Slusohr, ein GaunerThe Hound of the Baskervilles - BarrymoreTogger - DublancEinmal werd' ich Dir gefallen - Theo - HaushofmeisterSo You Don't Know Korff Yet? - KelleyThe Life and Loves of Tschaikovsky - Porphyr Philippowitsch Kruglikow, KritikerWoman in the River - WendelinPassion - BoddinAlarm - Feinmechaniker StülkenParacelsus - Der MagisterSomewhere in Berlin - Waldemar HunkeScandal at the Embassy - Inspector KickHouse of Life - Der Verführer Hocuspocus - DienerThe Mill in the Black Forest The Cornet - GroßwesirMagic Fire - PfistermeisterDer Frosch mit der Maske - Ezra MaitlandThe Crimson Circle - FroyantThe Terrible People - Lord Godley LongThe Black Sheep - Lord KingsleyThe Strange Countess - Lawyer ShaddleThe Puzzle of the Red Orchid - Tanner' - Pfarrer / Parson- '