Francis Lederer
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| Francis Lederer | |||||||
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 Francis Lederer in 1932 |
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| Born | František Lederer November 6, 1899 Prague, Bohemia, Austria – Hungary (now in the Czech Republic) |
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| Died | May 25, 2000 (aged 100) Palm Springs, California, United States |
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| Spouse(s) | Marion Irvine (1941-2000) (his death) Margo (1937-1940) (divorced) Ada Nejedly (192?) (divorced) |
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Francis Lederer (November 6, 1899 – May 25, 2000) was an American actor. He was born František Lederer to a Jewish family near Prague (then part of Austria-Hungary), raised bilingually (Czech and German), and, accordingly, also used the German form of his name, Franz Lederer.
Lederer first worked on the stage, but in the late 1920s started his movie career in silent films such as G. W. Pabst's Pandora's Box (1929). When the political situation deteriorated in Germany in the early 1930s, Lederer decided to stay in the United States. His Hollywood films include Romance in Manhattan (1935), Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939) and Million Dollar Weekend (1948). Lederer's final film appearance was in Terror Is a Man (1959).
He would continue to make television appearances the next ten years in such shows as The Untouchables, Ben Casey, Mission: Impossible and That Girl. His final TV appearance occurred in a 1971 episode of Night Gallery.
Lederer became very wealthy by investing in real estate. He worked until one week before his death at his self-founded American National Academy of Performing Arts in Los Angeles. He died at age 100 in Palm Springs, California. He was one of the last surviving World War I veterans of the Austro-Hungarian army.
[edit] Partial filmography
- Pandora's Box (1929)
- Romance in Manhattan (1935)
- Midnight (1939)
- Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939)
- The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1944)
- The Diary of a Chambermaid (1946)
- Million Dollar Weekend (1948)
- Terror Is a Man (1959)
