In the spotlight…..

Paul Henreid 1908 – 1992

In the 1940s when a role demanded an actor who was handsome, suave and continental, Jack Warner just said “Call Paul!” Paul Georg Julius Hernried Freiheer von Wassel-Waldinger , an actor with probably the longest name in Hollywood, played a British royal consort, a French aviator, a Polish count and a Dutch resistance leader. He was also a pirate (several times), a neurotic pianist, a jealous cellist and a famous composer. But when he lit two cigarettes with one match and gave one to Bette Davis, Paul Henreid became a household name.

Paul was born on January 10th, 1908 in Trieste, Italy and raised in Vienna, Austria where his parents were members of the Austrian aristocracy. His father, Josef, a banker, had been knighted by Emperor Franz Josef before he died in 1916 when Paul was 8 and his younger brother Robert only 6. He left a sizable estate only to have it mismanaged by his younger brother, Otto, leaving the family penniless. When faced with poverty and two little boys to support, plucky Maria von Hernried went out and got herself a job.

But educating her sons posed another obstacle. So she began calling in favors from those who had profited from her husband’s good graces. Paul (and later Robert) was enrolled in the elite Maria Theresianische Akademie on a special scholarship because his father had been a friend and financial counselor to Emperor Franz Joseph.

Paul's father, Josef	Paul with his mother	Paul and brother Robert

By the time Paul graduated, he had developed a passion for theater and acting. He took a job in a publishing house to support his mother and younger brother while taking acting classes at night. In Austria acting was considered as much an honorable profession as medicine or law. You had to study all facets of theater from set design and make-up techniques to learning the leading parts in 8 plays by heart ( four classic and four modern) two in prose and two in verse, before you were considered fit to be an actor. Paul had a good singing voice so that also included musical theater.
                                                              
 It was about this time that Paul began his love affair with everything French along with a more personal affair with Baroness Clarice Rothschild. Paris excited him but it was Cannes that would ever hold his heart. Romancing Clarice in France also included some “drunken merrymaking” with Britain’s princely brothers, Edward and George, who would both later sit on England’s throne. But affairs of the heart and Cannes were put on hold when his acting career and his love life took an upward turn.

Paul in "Ball at the Savoy" 1934 Scala Theater, Vienna

Paul was appearing in a night school production when he was noticed by Max Reinhardt, one of Europe’s leading producers. Reinhardt put him in “Faust” where his performance was immediately noted by the Viennese critics. The night “Faust” opened (September 4, 1933) Paul was guest of honor at a private party given for him by an old friend of his father. It was there he met Elizabeth (Lisl) Gluck Edthofer, a successful coutourier in Vienna and the ex-wife of one of Reinhardt’s most successful leading men. It would be the love that would last him a lifetime but bring the end to his relationship with Max Reinhardt. Paul had to look elsewhere for work but he didn’t have to look far. Dr. Rudolf Beer was opening the new, modern Scala Theater and gave Paul a small part in his new play. By January, 1934 the critics were raving about him. “Ball at the Savoy”, a musical, opened to great reviews and kept its promise to be a big hit.

But war had come to Austria with a thousand men, women and children slaughtered by a fascist militia and the Nazis were knocking on the door. After a leading role in the film “High School” (1935) a huge European success, Paul was invited to Berlin where he was offered a lucrative contract with UFA. This would have meant Paul could take any role he wanted and his stardom was assured. But there was a clause in that contract that demanded allegiance to Nazism and Paul declined. He was blacklisted making him unemployable in films almost everywhere in Europe.  Paul left his homeland and went to England to do stage plays….but he married Lisl before he left.                            

Paul Henreid as Prince Albert in "Victoria Regina" 1937

His first job in London was a musical “Café Chantai” and, after the final curtain every night, he sang at the Ritz Cabaret (he was still supporting his mother and Robert). The cabaret attracted celebrity guests and one night his past caught up with him. Shortly after his opening, Paul heard that Edward, Prince of Wales was coming to the cabaret that night but was sure the prince had forgotten the events in Cannes. However, as soon as Paul’s performance was over, Edward joined him on the stage. Later after Edward became King, he abolished the English law that forbid portrayals of British royalty on a public stage and Paul was able to play Prince Albert in “Victoria Regina” in a theater.
  

But there would be no going home. On March 14, 1938 Austria became part of Germany’s Third Reich. With war clouds gathering around Britain, Paul’s Austrian lineage was coming under scrutiny. Lisl also found herself in hot water when she returned to Vienna to tie up loose ends in her business affairs and retrieve their furniture and 3 dogs.  Detained there by the Gestapo, it was only her fashion celebrity and ability to call on clients in high places that got her back safely to London. And, in England, if it had not been the intercession of renowned German actor-director Conrad Veidt , a fervent anti-Nazi, Paul and Lisl may have been deported as  enemy aliens.

Paul as Max in "Goodbye, Mr. Chips". 1939

A small role in “Goodbye, Mr. Chips” brought Paul notice again and led to other roles including “Night Train to Munich”. But it was a play with Katharine Cornell that never happened that took him first to New York and then to Hollywood. But he had to travel with an Italian visa…there were too many Austrians and German-born people trying to go to the USA!
                    

When the Cornell play “Jersey Lily” was sidelined in New York Paul reprised his role as Prince Albert in “Victoria Regina” with Helen Hayes on the radio to critical acclaim. At the same time “Night Train to Munich” was a sleeper hit in Britain. Then Paul had another Broadway hit with Elmer Rice’s “Flight to the West”. Ironically that is exactly where it took him as Hollywood beckoned and for the next 10 years his star rose in films….until his moral code got him in trouble again. 

...with Michele Morgan in "Joan of Paris" 1942

RKO had the perfect role for Paul….but of course he would have to make some changes. There was the problem with his name. Paul von Hernried was, well, too German (actually his ancestral name was Swedish). The studio felt “Henreid” would be easier to pronounce (without the “von”, of course). Paul finally agreed but Lisl wasn’t happy about it. But the studio’s next request was even more outrageous…they wanted Paul to be “not married”! According to RKO it would make the job of grooming him for stardom much easier. He could be “seen out in public with all the leading female stars”. Before Paul could refuse, Lisl said “I understand completely and, of course, I’m all for Paul being a star, but since I will be living without Paul, I’ll need some money myself. After all, without Paul, I’ll have to pay different men to take me out. I should have exactly what Paul is getting. You see, I spend more than he does. He is rather tight.” The next day the Los Angeles Times announced the arrival of “Mr. and Mrs. Paul Henreid”!

Publicity shot for "Casablanca"

Between 1942 and 1952 Paul made 20 of his 48 feature films. Two of them, “Casablanca” and “Now, Voyager” in 1942 became timeless classics. On the screen he had Hollywood’s top leading ladies at his beck and call and was considered one of Tinseltown’s top leading men. Off the screen, Paul and Lisl adopted two little girls, Monika Elizabeth in 1943 and Mimi Maria in 1945. While Paul was working non-stop and wasn’t home much of the week,  he devoted every Sunday to his “girls”.
    

Paul and all his girls!

In 1947 Paul joined a group of stars that flew to Washington, D.C. as part of the Committee for the First Amendment to protest the House Unamerican Activities Committee’s hearing on Communist activities in the movie industry. Among them the founders screenwriter Philip Dunne, directors John Huston and William Wyler and stars Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Gene Kelly, John Garfield, Katharine Hepburn, Danny Kaye, Edward G. Robinson and Frederic March. But unlike most of the others, Paul was a naturalized citizen and not under the protective custody of a major studio. He was silently blacklisted and his acting career came to almost a complete halt.

The protest rally in Washington, DC  1947

While he worked during those years it was mostly for independent companies at a reduced salary or as a director in films and television. One of the highlights of his directorial career was the popular television anthology “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” where he directed more than 28 episodes. And, in 1964, Paul had the chance to direct Bette Davis (if that was possible) in the film “Dead Ringer” while daughter Monika was featured in a small role. He would later get two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame… one for films and one for television. He left a legacy of 48 films and 39 television shows he directed and/or played a role. Most of them are still available today.
                           

Paul directs Ray Charles in "Blues For Lovers" 1964

Paul Henreid died of pneumonia on March 29, 1992 at the age of 87. Lisl outlived him by one year. He was buried with a fan letter he received in 1937 from a Mildred Jacobs, his first, and he regarded it as more precious than any award he was ever given.  
                   

The Henreid grave...  Woodlawn Cemetery, Santa Monica, CA.

More on Paul Henreid at Arabella's Notes

Filmography

By Moonmaiden