Ferdinand Bonn
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. 2775. Photo: Franz Grainer, München. Grainer was a court photographer.
Ferdinand Bonn (1861-1933) was a German actor, playwright and theatre director. Between 1914 and 1932 he had a career in German and Austrian silent and early sound cinema.
Ferdinand Franz Josef Bonn, pseudonyms Florian Endli and Franz Baier, was born in 1861 in Donauwörth. He was the son of Franz and Bertha Bonn, née Promoli. Franz already wrote his own plays while still at school, in which he himself took part. In 1880 he graduated from the Wilhelmsgymnasium in Munich and began studying law at the University of Munich. He turned first to painting and then to acting. Bonn took acting lessons with Ernst Possart and made his debut in 1885 at the Nuremberg City Theatre as the Dervish in 'Nathan the Wise'. In the same year, he played at the Deutsches Theater in Moscow and stayed there for one season. Later he acted in Munich and at the Burgtheater in Vienna, where he became known as Hamlet, Franz Moor in 'Die Räuber', and Raskolnikov in 'Schuld und Sühne'.
In 1905 Ferdinand Bonn founded Ferdinand Bonn's Berliner Theater in Berlin. Numerous stage plays written by Bonn were premiered here. Bonn "professed an aesthetic style that deliberately employed an exuberant set and all kinds of stage effects." His directorship of the Berlin theatre lasted only two years and was, according to theatre historian Peter W. Marx, "artistically and economically a failure." Nevertheless, Bonn "made himself and his theatre the talk of the town," among other things by using live animals on stage. He adapted tales by Arthur Conan Doyle about the master detective Sherlock Holmes with himself as Holmes, namely 'Sherlock Holmes' in 1906, and 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' and 'The Dancing Men' in 1907. His patriotic stage drama 'Der junge Fritz' was banned by Kaiser Wilhelm II, who had attended another of the Sherlock Holmes performances, to which Bonn reacted strongly. In 1911, Bonn staged Shakespeare's drama 'Richard III' at the Circus Busch, taking the lead role himself. The spectacular performance, which was largely rejected by critics, was particularly marked by the use of numerous live horses, which earned Bonn the derisive name of "Pferdinand". He was forced to declare bankruptcy before the First World War and then went back to touring the theatre.
In the film Ferdinand Bonn started in some Danish productions, first as the scriptwriter of the Sherlock Holmes adaptation Millionobligationen (Nordisk, 1911), starring Alwin Neuss, but soon after acting as father figures in four Nordisk films directed by August Blom: Historien om en moder/The Tragedy of a Mother (1912) with Ragna Wettergreen, Hjærternes Kamp/ A High Stake (1912) also with Robert Dinesen and Else Fröhlich, Elskovs Magt/Man's Great Adversary (1913) with Valdemar Psilander, and Hans vanskeligste Rolle/His Most Difficult Part (1913) with again Dinesen and Fröhlich. He became famous in 1913 with Ludwig II. von Bayern/ Ludwig II of Bavaria, in which he not only played the title role but he also produced the film. He performed this film in a private screening for the King of Bavaria. It was highly acclaimed (but IMDB doesn't mention it). After four more films produced by his own company, Bon started to act in films by Richard Oswald: Lache, Bajazzo (1914), Die Geschichte der stillen Mühle (1914), and Hampels Abenteuer (1914), after which he acted in Max Mack's Der Katzensteg (1915). In Mack's film Robert und Bertram, die lustigen Vagabunden (1915), Ernst Lubitsch starred alongside him. During the First World War Bonn acted with various firms such as Berliner Film Manufaktur, Oliver, Deuko, and Frankfurter Film Co. With the latter, he starred as a famous elderly stage actor in Don Juans letztes Abenteuer (Heinz Carl Heiland, 1918). In the late 1910s, he did various films with Carl Heinz Wolff for the Kowo company, such as Die rätselhafte Sphinx (1919). and with Friedrich Zelnik and Karl Grüne for Zelnik's company Berliner Film-Manufaktur, such as Hölle der Jungfrauen (Zelnik, 1919), Menschen in Ketten (Grüne, 1919), and Manon (Zelnik 1920) with Lya Mara.
In 1920 Ferdinand Bonn once again portrayed the fairytale king Ludwig II in Das Schweigen am Starnberger See (Rolf Raffé, released 1921). Bonn played again under the direction of Richard Oswald. He preferred to play detectives and in 1919 he impersonated both Kaiser Wilhelm II and der Hauptmann von Köpenick in Kaiser Wilhelm's Glück und Ende (Willy Achsel, released 1920). In 1920 Bonn made one film in Hungary: Végszó by Miklós Pásztory. Between 1920 and 1924 he appeared in Austrian films (including two German-Austrian coproductions by Oswald, and the Jewish themed Der Fluch by Robert Land, 1924). From 1924 Bonn acted in German cinema again, but by now he got mostly only smaller roles, even if he still had two major supporting parts in Oswald's comedy Eine tolle Nacht (1926-27) with Ossi Oswalda and Harry Liedtke, and Victor Janson's comedy Donauwalzer (1929), Bonn's last silent film. In the sound era, Bonn still did a handful of films, but apart from So lang' noch ein Walzer von Strauß erklingt (Conrad Wiene, 1931), his roles were bit parts, even uncredited. He continued to act until his death in 1933, lastly in Friederike (Fritz Friedmann-Frederich, 1932). In his first marriage, Bonn was married to a sister of the opera singer Emma Moerdes.
Sources: Wikipedia (German), IMDb, and Filmdatabasen.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Ferdinand Bonn
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. 2775. Photo: Franz Grainer, München. Grainer was a court photographer.
Ferdinand Bonn (1861-1933) was a German actor, playwright and theatre director. Between 1914 and 1932 he had a career in German and Austrian silent and early sound cinema.
Ferdinand Franz Josef Bonn, pseudonyms Florian Endli and Franz Baier, was born in 1861 in Donauwörth. He was the son of Franz and Bertha Bonn, née Promoli. Franz already wrote his own plays while still at school, in which he himself took part. In 1880 he graduated from the Wilhelmsgymnasium in Munich and began studying law at the University of Munich. He turned first to painting and then to acting. Bonn took acting lessons with Ernst Possart and made his debut in 1885 at the Nuremberg City Theatre as the Dervish in 'Nathan the Wise'. In the same year, he played at the Deutsches Theater in Moscow and stayed there for one season. Later he acted in Munich and at the Burgtheater in Vienna, where he became known as Hamlet, Franz Moor in 'Die Räuber', and Raskolnikov in 'Schuld und Sühne'.
In 1905 Ferdinand Bonn founded Ferdinand Bonn's Berliner Theater in Berlin. Numerous stage plays written by Bonn were premiered here. Bonn "professed an aesthetic style that deliberately employed an exuberant set and all kinds of stage effects." His directorship of the Berlin theatre lasted only two years and was, according to theatre historian Peter W. Marx, "artistically and economically a failure." Nevertheless, Bonn "made himself and his theatre the talk of the town," among other things by using live animals on stage. He adapted tales by Arthur Conan Doyle about the master detective Sherlock Holmes with himself as Holmes, namely 'Sherlock Holmes' in 1906, and 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' and 'The Dancing Men' in 1907. His patriotic stage drama 'Der junge Fritz' was banned by Kaiser Wilhelm II, who had attended another of the Sherlock Holmes performances, to which Bonn reacted strongly. In 1911, Bonn staged Shakespeare's drama 'Richard III' at the Circus Busch, taking the lead role himself. The spectacular performance, which was largely rejected by critics, was particularly marked by the use of numerous live horses, which earned Bonn the derisive name of "Pferdinand". He was forced to declare bankruptcy before the First World War and then went back to touring the theatre.
In the film Ferdinand Bonn started in some Danish productions, first as the scriptwriter of the Sherlock Holmes adaptation Millionobligationen (Nordisk, 1911), starring Alwin Neuss, but soon after acting as father figures in four Nordisk films directed by August Blom: Historien om en moder/The Tragedy of a Mother (1912) with Ragna Wettergreen, Hjærternes Kamp/ A High Stake (1912) also with Robert Dinesen and Else Fröhlich, Elskovs Magt/Man's Great Adversary (1913) with Valdemar Psilander, and Hans vanskeligste Rolle/His Most Difficult Part (1913) with again Dinesen and Fröhlich. He became famous in 1913 with Ludwig II. von Bayern/ Ludwig II of Bavaria, in which he not only played the title role but he also produced the film. He performed this film in a private screening for the King of Bavaria. It was highly acclaimed (but IMDB doesn't mention it). After four more films produced by his own company, Bon started to act in films by Richard Oswald: Lache, Bajazzo (1914), Die Geschichte der stillen Mühle (1914), and Hampels Abenteuer (1914), after which he acted in Max Mack's Der Katzensteg (1915). In Mack's film Robert und Bertram, die lustigen Vagabunden (1915), Ernst Lubitsch starred alongside him. During the First World War Bonn acted with various firms such as Berliner Film Manufaktur, Oliver, Deuko, and Frankfurter Film Co. With the latter, he starred as a famous elderly stage actor in Don Juans letztes Abenteuer (Heinz Carl Heiland, 1918). In the late 1910s, he did various films with Carl Heinz Wolff for the Kowo company, such as Die rätselhafte Sphinx (1919). and with Friedrich Zelnik and Karl Grüne for Zelnik's company Berliner Film-Manufaktur, such as Hölle der Jungfrauen (Zelnik, 1919), Menschen in Ketten (Grüne, 1919), and Manon (Zelnik 1920) with Lya Mara.
In 1920 Ferdinand Bonn once again portrayed the fairytale king Ludwig II in Das Schweigen am Starnberger See (Rolf Raffé, released 1921). Bonn played again under the direction of Richard Oswald. He preferred to play detectives and in 1919 he impersonated both Kaiser Wilhelm II and der Hauptmann von Köpenick in Kaiser Wilhelm's Glück und Ende (Willy Achsel, released 1920). In 1920 Bonn made one film in Hungary: Végszó by Miklós Pásztory. Between 1920 and 1924 he appeared in Austrian films (including two German-Austrian coproductions by Oswald, and the Jewish themed Der Fluch by Robert Land, 1924). From 1924 Bonn acted in German cinema again, but by now he got mostly only smaller roles, even if he still had two major supporting parts in Oswald's comedy Eine tolle Nacht (1926-27) with Ossi Oswalda and Harry Liedtke, and Victor Janson's comedy Donauwalzer (1929), Bonn's last silent film. In the sound era, Bonn still did a handful of films, but apart from So lang' noch ein Walzer von Strauß erklingt (Conrad Wiene, 1931), his roles were bit parts, even uncredited. He continued to act until his death in 1933, lastly in Friederike (Fritz Friedmann-Frederich, 1932). In his first marriage, Bonn was married to a sister of the opera singer Emma Moerdes.
Sources: Wikipedia (German), IMDb, and Filmdatabasen.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.