Viktor de Kowa
Viktor de Kowa was a German stage and film actor, chanson singer, director, narrator, and comic poet.
Life
He was born the son of a farmer and engineer in Hohkirch near Görlitz, from where his family moved to Seifersdorf near Dippoldiswalde in Saxony in 1908 and to Chemnitz in 1913. De Kowa joined a cadet corps before he began occupational training as a graphic designer. Having attended drama classes with Erich Ponto, he made his acting debut at the Staatstheater Dresden in 1922. After appearances in Lübeck, Frankfurt and Hamburg, de Kowa entered the stages of the Volksbühne and the Deutsches Theater in Berlin, as well as of the Prussian State Theatre under Gustaf Gründgens.He had a first small film appearance in Nils Olaf Chrisander's The Heart Thief in 1927 and subsequently became one of the leading comic actors of the UFA film industry. During the Third Reich he joined the Nazi Party, directing the propaganda movie Kopf hoch, Johannes! in 1941. The film idealized the education of the German youth in National Political Institutes of Education, which earned de Kowa an entry on the Gottbegnadeten list to evade his Wehrmacht conscription, though Minister Goebbels was disillusioned with his directing.
Despite his involvement in Nazi cinema, de Kowa's film and theatre career quickly proceeded after the war. In 1945 he became director of the Berlin Tribüne theatre and an ensemble member of the Vienna Burgtheater from 1956 to 1962. As chairman of the Arts Union, he was also a board director of the Confederation of German Trade Unions.
In 1964 he starred in the TV series Slim Callaghan Intervenes as Peter Cheyney's private detective Slim Callaghan.
Personal life
First married to actress Ursula Grabley in 1926, de Kowa was remarried in 1941 to Japanese singer and actress Michiko Tanaka. Both are buried in Friedhof Heerstraße, in an Ehrengrab donated by the City of Berlin.Selected filmography
Katharina Knie - Lorenz KniePension Schöller - Bernhardy1914 - Großfürst Michael' - Victor RonaiThe True Jacob - JamesThe Other Side - Leutnant HibbertThe Pride of Company Three - Leutnant Fritz GernsbachThe Invisible Front - Junger Mann im SelbstmörderklubTannenberg - Rittmeister Fürst WolgoffDer Diamant des Zaren - Direktor RollerThe Invisible Front The Marathon Runner - Georg CorneliusTyphoon - Charles Renard-BrinskiEs war einmal ein Musikus - HeinzA Song Goes Round the World - RigoTell Me Who You Are - Frank HesseLittle Man, What Now? - HeilbuttZwei im Sonnenschein - PaulThe Castle in the South - MiranoGirls of Today - Peter UddeWhat Am I Without You - Heinrich BergerThe Grand Duke's Finances - GrossherzogPappi - Hans WernerDa stimmt was nicht - Baron Albrecht von WeiningenThe Young Baron Neuhaus - Baron NeuhausDecoy - Schott juniorEin Kind, ein Hund, ein Vagabund - Florian - ein VagabundMy Life for Maria Isabella - Fähnrich MenisLärm um Weidemann - Dr. Hans WeidemannDie große und die kleine Welt - Franz Schuster - TaxichauffeurScandal at the Fledermaus - Viktor KendalGame on Board - Viktor MüllerThe Divine Jetta - Fritz BarschDon't Promise Me Anything - Maler Martin PrattMit versiegelter Order - Willi ReinhardtKleiner Mann - ganz groß! - Peter KolleI Love You - Amerikaner PercyDer Optimist - GustlScheidungsreise - Dr. DeliusWibbel the Tailor The Thing About Styx - Rittmeister StyxWe Make Music - Paul ZimmermannAltes Herz wird wieder jung - Neffe Dr. Paul DehnhardtEin glücklicher Mensch - Philipp, sein SohnDas Leben geht weiter - Hauptmann HoeßlinPeter Voss, Thief of Millions - Peter VossBetween Yesterday and Tomorrow - Michael RottIntimitäten - Peter KorffAnonyme Briefe The Beautiful Galatea - Viktor KolinMelody of Fate Scandal at the Embassy - Fred Corvin & Dr. TamanyoThe Blue Star of the South - IvoThe Prince of Pappenheim - Egon FürstA Love Story - Manfred v. Prittwitz, MajorMarriage Impostor - Professor AngelotDes Teufels General - SS-Gruppenführer Schmidt-LausitzHeaven Is Never Booked Up - Professor BehrensBefore God and Man - MartinMusic in the Blood - Kurt WidmannThe Girl from Flanders - Monsieur le Curé Simon / Dr.Simon- '