From Shakespeare to Frisch: The Provocative Fritz Kortner
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The book examines the life and career of the Jewish actor and director Fritz Kortner. His specific physiognomy, his often cited »fascinating ugliness « became one of his greatest assets as he rose to stardom in the Weimar Republic. Kortner excelled in both classical and modern repertoires, but above all as a Shakespearean actor. Shylock became Kortner’s signature role in the Weimar Republic. His rendering of Shylock as victim would make Kortner a prime target of the Nazis, who depicted Kortner as the quintessential Jewish villain: aggressive, manipulative, power-hungry, sexually dissolute,...
The book examines the life and career of the Jewish actor and director Fritz Kortner. His specific physiognomy, his often cited »fascinating ugliness « became one of his greatest assets as he rose to stardom in the Weimar Republic. Kortner excelled in both classical and modern repertoires, but above all as a Shakespearean actor. Shylock became Kortner’s signature role in the Weimar Republic. His rendering of Shylock as victim would make Kortner a prime target of the Nazis, who depicted Kortner as the quintessential Jewish villain: aggressive, manipulative, power-hungry, sexually dissolute, a leftist-radical and an agent of cultural bolshevism, but above all, a modern Shylock whose elimination was openly called for in such Nazi journals as Der Stürmer. Fleeing the Nazis in 1933 Kortner embarked on the long years of exile, first in London, later in New York and finally in Hollywood. Kortner’s postwar career in West Germany as actor and director was marked by triumph and scandal. The director Kortner was frequently decried in the West German press as a Jewish tyrant and as the dictator of the German theater. The argument was made that Kortner, similar to Shylock, was eternally angry and had returned to Germany, in fact, to punish the Germans. Through it all the inimitable Kortner was an unforgiving critic of anti-Semitism, and a perennial defender of the underdog.
From the contents:
Vienna: The School of Anti-Semitism and Jewish Self-Hatred - Berlin and the Fascinating Faces of Max Reinhardt’s Deutsches Theater - Kortner as Shylock: Reclaiming Jewish Identity - The Years of Exile: London, New York and Hollywood - Kortner and the West German Theater: Triumph and Scandal - Kortner and the Sixties - Shylock after Auschwitz: Kortner’s Terrifying Jew
From the contents:
Vienna: The School of Anti-Semitism and Jewish Self-Hatred - Berlin and the Fascinating Faces of Max Reinhardt’s Deutsches Theater - Kortner as Shylock: Reclaiming Jewish Identity - The Years of Exile: London, New York and Hollywood - Kortner and the West German Theater: Triumph and Scandal - Kortner and the Sixties - Shylock after Auschwitz: Kortner’s Terrifying Jew
