John Decker (b. Leopold von der Decken, November 8, 1895 in Berlin Germany – June 8, 1947 in Hollywood) was a painter, set designer and caricaturist in Hollywood during the 1930s and 1940s.
As a teenager, Decker lived in London, painting scenery in theatres; this was interrupted by the advent of the First World War, when he was arrested as an enemy alien and interned on the Isle of Man. In 1921, he changed his name to John Decker and emigrated to America,[1] where he worked as a cartoonist for the New York Evening World until 1928,[1] when he moved to Hollywood and took up fine art. Many film stars, including Anthony Quinn, Errol Flynn, Charlie Chaplin, Greta Garbo, and the Marx Brothers, commissioned Decker to paint their portraits,[1] and many of his works were used in films: the paintings of the frustrated artist protagonist in Fritz Lang's 1945 film Scarlet Street were actually by Decker. One of his most famous portraits, depicting his friend and drinking companion W.C. Fields as Queen Victoria, hung for many years at Chasen's Restaurant in West Hollywood, California. Decker died on June 8, 1947.[2]
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John's mother Maria Anna Avenarius 1865-1918[3] was an opera singer in Berlin. She performed Wagner operas in Berlin and Bayreuth.[1] Her father, Ferdinand Avenarius, was an actor.[3]
John's father, Graf Ernst August von der Decken (1867–1934), grew up on the castle Ringelheim in Salzgitter Germany and became a reporter for British and German Newspapers.[3][1]
The parents met in the opera of Berlin and Bayreuth. Two years after John's birth they moved to London in 1897[1] and married 1898 in Greenwich.[4]
John's grandfather Graf Georg von der Decken was a member of German Reichstag and he was an artist too like his grandson John. Georg created huge oil paintings of his castle and paintings for the neighbouring church. He also carved wooden sculptures.
The castle Ringelheim near Braunschweig and Hanover was a family estate. John's great-great-grandfather Johann Friedrich von der Decken bought the castle, three farms and a big forest in 1817. The German title Graf was given to Johann Friedrich von der Decken in 1833 for his services in the King's German Legion against Napoleon by William IV of the United Kingdom. The German Graf is the equivalent to the British Earl.
