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Fritz Leiber
Acting
Biography
Fritz Reuter Leiber Sr. was an American actor. A Shakespearean actor on stage, he also had a successful career in film. He was the father of science fiction and fantasy writer Fritz Leiber Jr., who was also an actor for a time. Leiber and his wife spent much of their time touring in a Shakespearean acting company, known by the 1930s as Fritz Leiber & Co. Leiber made his film bow in 1916, playing Mercutio in the Francis X. Bushman version of “Romeo and Juliet.” With his piercing eyes and shock of white hair, Leiber seemed every inch the priests, professors, musical professors, and religious fanatics that he was frequently called upon to play in films. His many silent-era portrayals included C…
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Fritz Reuter Leiber Sr. was an American actor. A Shakespearean actor on stage, he also had a successful career in film. He was the father of science fiction and fantasy writer Fritz Leiber Jr., who was also an actor for a time. Leiber and his wife spent much of their time touring in a Shakespearean acting company, known by the 1930s as Fritz Leiber & Co. Leiber made his film bow in 1916, playing Mercutio in the Francis X. Bushman version of “Romeo and Juliet.” With his piercing eyes and shock of white hair, Leiber seemed every inch the priests, professors, musical professors, and religious fanatics that he was frequently called upon to play in films. His many silent-era portrayals included Caesar in Theda Bara's 1917 “Cleopatra” and Solomon in the mammoth 1921 Betty Blythe vehicle “The Queen of Sheba.” He thrived as a character actor in sound films, usually in historical roles. In the film “Champagne Waltz” he portrayed an orchestra maestro; the role required him to play classical music on a violin and jazz on a clarinet. One of Leiber's larger assignments of the 1940s, and his most notable musical role, was as Franz Liszt in the Claude Rains' remake of “Phantom of the Opera” (1943). Leiber appears together with his son Fritz Leiber Jr. in the wedding-feast scene of Greta Garbo's film “Camille” (1936) and in Warner Bros.' “The Great Garrick” (1937). Leiber also appeared with his son Fritz Leiber Jr. in “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1939), but Fritz Leiber Jr. was not credited for his small speaking part. Late in his career, Leiber performed briefly opposite Charles Chaplin as the priest who visits Monsieur Verdoux in his prison cell.
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BODY OF WORK
Fritz Leiber's Filmography
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Devil's Doorway
as Mr. Poole
Samson and Delilah
as Lord Sharif
Bagdad
as Emir
Bride of Vengeance
as Filippo
Song of India
as Nanaram
Inner Sanctum
as Dr. Valonius
Another Part of the Forest
as Col. Isham
To the Ends of the Earth
as Binda Sha
Adventures of Casanova
as D'Anneci
Monsieur Verdoux
as Father Fareaux
High Conquest
as Priest
The Web
as Leopold Kroner
Dangerous Venture
as Chief Xeoli
Bells of San Angelo
as Padre
Humoresque
as Hagerstrom
Strange Journey
as Prof. Jenner
Angel on My Shoulder
as Chemist Who Poisoned Wife (uncredited)
A Scandal in Paris
as Painter
Scarlet Street
as Evangelist (uncredited)
This Love of Ours
as Dr. Bailey
The Spanish Main
as Bishop
The Cisco Kid Returns
as The Padre
Youth Runs Wild
as Judge (uncredited)
Cry of the Werewolf
as Dr. Charles Morris
Cobra Woman
Phantom of the Opera
as Franz Liszt
First Comes Courage
as Dr. Aanrud
Crossroads
as Foreign Minister Deval (uncredited)
Aloma of the South Seas
as High Priest
Lady with Red Hair
as Mr. Foster
The Sea Hawk
as Inquisitor
All This, and Heaven Too
as Abbe Gallard
The Way of All Flesh
as Max
Pack Up Your Troubles
as Pierre Ferrand
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
as Old Nobleman
Nurse Edith Cavell
as Sadi Kirschen
They Made Her a Spy
as Dr. Krull
Gateway
as Dr. Weilander
Flight Into Nowhere
as Ti-Ana
The Jury's Secret
as John Morrow
The Great Garrick
as Horatio in 'Hamlet'
The Prince and the Pauper
as Father Andrew
No Poster
Under Southern Stars
as Stonewall Jackson
Champagne Waltz
as Franz Strauss
Anthony Adverse
as Ouvrard
Sins of Man
as Father Prior
No Poster
Down to the Sea
as Gregory Pappas
Hearts in Bondage
as Capt. John Ericsson
The Story of Louis Pasteur
as Dr. Charbonnet
A Tale of Two Cities
as Gaspard
The Queen of Sheba
as King Solomon
The Song of the Soul
as Jerry Wendover
If I Were King
as Louis XI
Cleopatra
as Caesar
Romeo and Juliet
as Mercutio