Gustav von Seyffertitz
Gustav von Seyffertitz was a German film actor and director. He settled in the United States. He was born in Haimhausen, Bavaria, and died in Los Angeles, California, aged 81.
Biography
Gustav von Seyffertitz was born into an aristocratic family as the son of Guido Freiherr von Seyffertitz and his wife Anna Gräfin von Butler Clonebough zu Haimhausen. His family expected him to start a military career, but was shocked when he said that he wanted to be an actor. He was a member of the Meiningen Court Theatre and also appeared in operas. He emigrated to the United States in 1896, after being asked by the Austrian-American theatre director Heinrich Conried. Despite his thick German accent, he was successful on Broadway where he worked as a stage actor and director during the 1900s and 1910s. He appeared as an actor in such lavish productions as The Brass Bottle in 1910. This play was turned into several films and was the idea for the television show I Dream of Jeannie in the 1960s. He made his film debut in 1917, appearing with Douglas Fairbanks in Down to Earth.
In his films, the dignified-looking Seyffertitz often played the "very embodiment of the Hideous Hun - America's notion of the merciless, atrocity-happy German military officer". One of his most successful film roles was Professor Moriarty in 1922's Sherlock Holmes with John Barrymore. He also played the antagonist to Mary Pickford in Sparrows and appeared as Ramon Novarro's uncle, the king of a small German state, in Ernst Lubitsch's The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg. He continued his career into the sound film and portrayed supporting roles in the Josef von Sternberg-Marlene Dietrich films Dishonored and Shanghai Express. Among his later film roles was a parody on Sigmund Freud in Frank Capra's film classic Mr. Deeds Goes to Town. He appeared in 118 films between 1917 and 1939.
Seyffertitz was married five times and had numerous children.
Filmography
As actor
Down to Earth as Dr. JollyemThe Countess Charming as Jacob VandergraftThe Little Princess as Mr. CarrisfordThe Devil-Stone as Stephen DensmoreStella Maris as The Surgeon Rimrock Jones as StoddardThe Widow's Might as Horace HammerThe Hidden Pearls as Senator Joseph BentonAmarilly of Clothes-Line Alley as Surgeon The Whispering Chorus as Mocking faceHis Majesty, Bunker Bean as Professor BalthasarMr. Fix-It as Doctor Old Wives for New as Melville BladenTo Hell with the Kaiser! Less Than Kin as Endicott LeeTill I Come Back to You as Karl von DrutzThe Source as EkstromSic 'Em, Sam Swat the Kaiser as The KaiserThe Roaring Road as Minor Role The Dark Star as German SpyThe Vengeance of Durand as Henri DurandEven as Eve as Amasu MunnSlaves of Pride as John ReynoldsThe Sporting Duchess as Major Roland MostynMadonnas and Men as Grimaldo / John GrimmDead Men Tell No Tales as Señor JoaquinSherlock Holmes as Professor MoriartyWhen Knighthood Was in Flower as GrammontThe Face in the Fog as MichaelThe Inner Man as Jud BensonMark of the Beast as John HunterUnseeing Eyes as Father PaquetteUnder the Red Robe as ClomYolanda as Oliver de DaimThe Lone Wolf as WetheimerThe Bandolero as Marques de BazanThe Hooded Falcon Grounds for Divorce as LabellThe Goose Woman as Mr. VogelA Regular Fellow as Prime MinisterFlower of Night as Vigilante leaderThe Eagle as Court Servant at Dinner The Danger Girl as JamesRed Dice as Andrew NorthSparrows as Mr. GrimesThe Dice Woman as Datto of MandatThe Bells as Jerome FrantzDon Juan as Neri the alchemist The Lone Wolf Returns as MorphewUnknown Treasures as SimmonsDiplomacy as Baron BallinMy Official Wife as Grand DukePrivate Izzy Murphy as CohanniganGoing Crooked as MordauntAnything Once! as Chancellor GherkinThe Price of Honor as Peter FieldingBirds of Prey as FoxyBarbed Wire as Pierre CorletThe Magic Flame as The ChancellorThe Student Prince in Old Heidelberg as King Karl VIIRose of the Golden West as GomezThe Gaucho as Ruiz the usurperThe Wizard as Prof. Paul CoriolosThe Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come as Nathan CherryVamping Venus as JupiterYellow Lily as KinkelinThe Mysterious Lady as General Boris AlexandroffThe Red Mark as De NouThe Docks of New York as "Hymn Book" HarryThe Woman Disputed as Otto KruegerMe, Gangster as Factory OwnerThe Case of Lena Smith as Herr HofratThe Canary Murder Case as Dr. Ambrose LindquistCome Across as Pop HansonChasing Through Europe as Phineas MerrillHis Glorious Night as KrehlSeven Faces as M. PratouchyDangerous Paradise as Mr. JonesThe Case of Sergeant Grischa as General SchieffenzahnThe Bat Whispers as Dr VenreesAre You There? as BarberDishonored as Austrian Secret Service ChiefThe Front Page as Professor Max J. Engelhoffer Ambassador Bill as Prince de PolikoffSafe in Hell as LarsonShanghai Express as Eric BaumThe Roadhouse Murder as Charles SpenglerDoomed Battalion as Austrian GeneralAlmost Married as Pringle's DoctorAfraid to Talk as Attorney Harry BergerThe Penguin Pool Murder as Von Donnen / Dr Max BloomRasputin and the Empress as Dr. Franz Wolfe The Silver Cord as German Doctor When Strangers Marry as Van WyckCaptured! as German Military Judge Queen Christina as GeneralMystery Liner as Inspector Von KesslingAll Men Are Enemies as Baron Change of Heart as Dr. Nathan KurtzmanMurder on the Blackboard as Dr. Max Von ImmenThe Moonstone as Carl von LuckerLittle Men as Schoolmaster Page The Night Is Young as Ambassador She as Billali Remember Last Night? as Professor Karl JonesMr. Deeds Goes to Town as Doctor Emile von Haller Murder on a Bridle Path as Doctor BloomMad Holiday as Hendrick Van MierIn Old Chicago as DutchParadise for Three as Lawyer Swiss Miss as Gardener Marie Antoinette as King's Confessor King of Alcatraz as Bill Lustig Cipher Bureau as Albert GroodSon of Frankenstein as A burgher #1Hotel Imperial as Priest Never Say Die as Chemist Nurse Edith Cavell as President of CourtThe Mad Empress as Ambassador Metternich
As director
The Secret Garden Princess Jones Closed Doors