Mathias Wieman
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Mathias Wieman (Carl Heinrich Franz Mathias Wieman) (23 June 1902 - 3 December 1969) was a stage-performer, silent-and-sound motion picture actor.
[edit] Early life and career
Wieman was born in Osnabrück, the only son of Carl Philipp Anton Wieman and his wife Louise. Raised in Osnabrück, Wiesbaden and Berlin, where he studied four terms philosophy, history of art and languages, Wieman wanted to actually become an airplane technical designer and flier. His career began with silent film; he landed supporting roles in Femme, Königin Luise and Das Land ohne Frauen. In 1930, along with Leni Riefenstahl, he appeared in Avalanche (Stürme über dem Mont Blanc)', and in 1932 he played the lead in Riefenstahl's The Blue Light.
At the height of his film career, during the decade of the 1930s, Wieman acted in such productions as The Man Without a Name (Mensch ohne Namen), Queen of Atlantis (Die Herrin von Atlantis), The Countess of Monte Cristo (Die Gräfin von Monte Christo), Fräulein Hoffmanns Erzählungen, The Rider of the White Horse (Der Schimmelreiter), Viktoria, Patriots, and Togger. He also had an international success with his appearance in The Eternal Mask (Die ewige Maske). The movie was awarded with the American National Board of Review Award for Best Foreign Film in the USA, and Wieman himself got the award as best actor. The film was also nominated for an award at the Venice Film Festival.
During the time of the National Socialist regime, Wieman was classed as "persona non grata" by Joseph Goebbels, this greatly reduced his activity. He only took part in few movies in the 1940s like Ich klage an, Das andere Ich, Paracelsus, Träumerei and Wie sagen wir es unseren Kindern.
Only in the 1950s he was able to work more intensive in the film business again, normally in support roles. To his fairly well-known work belongs The Alfred Nobel Story (Herz der Welt), As Long as You're Near Me (Solange du da bist), The Last Summer (Der letzte Sommer), Ripening Youth (Reifende Jugend), The Girl and the Legend (Robinson soll nicht sterben), and opposite Ingrid Berman in Roberto Rossellini's Fear.
On stage, Wieman appeared in a number of productions including, Johan Wolfgang von Goethe's Dr. Faust, George Bernard Shaw, and in the most famous play of Italian playwright Luigi Pirandello, Six Characters in Search of an Author.
[edit] Later life
After World War II, Wieman moved to Switzerland with his wife, stage actress Erika Meingast, there in 1969 he died of cancer. Originally buried at Osnabrück, the burial place moved in 1972 to St. Johannis Cemetery, in Nuremberg.
