Harry Liedtke


Harry Liedtke was a German film actor.

Early life

Liedtke was born in Königsberg, East Prussia as the seventh out of 12 children of a merchant. After his father's death in 1896, he grew up in an orphanage and began a qualification in retail business. By the chance acquaintance of Hans Oberländer, a stage director at Berlin, he started to take stage classes and was first engaged at the municipal Theater of Freiberg, Saxony. In 1908 Liedtke worked at the New German Theatre in New York City and in 1909 at the Deutsches Theater Berlin.

Career

In 1912 Liedtke appeared for the first time in the silent movie Zu spät and from then onwards usually as a young "Charming Boy" and gentleman. With Ernst Lubitsch he made movies like Das fidele Gefängnis, Die Augen der Mumie Ma, Carmen, Die Austernprinzessin, Madame Dubarry, Sumurun and Das Weib des Pharao. He also appeared in several crime stories as Stuart Webbs or Joe Deebs written by Joe May. Liedtke was a popular actor in the 1920s and partner of Marlene Dietrich in I Kiss Your Hand, Madame. Liedtke met with less success in sound films, probably due to his advancing age.
Liedtke's first marriage was to Ernestine Emaline Johanne Proft, also known as Hanne Schutt. The two had one child together before divorcing in 1916. From 1920 to 1928, Liedtke was married to the actress Käthe Dorsch. Shortly after their divorce, he married actress Christa Tordy on 27 March 1928.

Death

On 28 April 1945 Liedtke was murdered by Red Army soldiers in his house at Bad Saarow-Pieskow east of Berlin together with his wife Christa Tordy. While attempting to save Tordy from being raped and murdered, he died after either being smashed on the head with a beer bottle, or after being clubbed to death. Prior to their murder, the couple had attempted suicide.
Tordy and Liedtke's bodies were exhumed in October 1948 and buried at Waldfriedhof Saarow-Pieskow Cemetery. Upon Liedtke's ex-wife Käthe Dorsch's death in 1957, she was buried alongside the two.

Filmography

Zu spät