Reinhold Schünzel

Despite his ancestry, Schünzel was allowed by the Nazis to continue making films for several years until he left in 1937 to live abroad.

Reinhold Schünzel (or Schuenzel) started his career as an actor in 1915 with a role in the film Werner Krafft. He directed his first film in 1918's Mary Magdalene and in 1920 directed The Girl from Acker Street and Catherine the Great. He was one of Germany's best-known silent film stars after World War I, a period during which films were significantly influenced by the consequences of the war. Schünzel performed in both comedies and dramas, often appearing as a villain or a powerful and corrupt man. He was influenced by filmmakers such as his mentor Richard Oswald and Ernst Lubitsch, for whom he worked as an actor in the film Madame Dubarry in 1919. Schünzel's work was very popular in Germany and the Nazi regime gave him the title of Ehrenarier or Honorary Aryan, allowing him to continue to direct and act despite his Jewish heritage (his mother was Jewish). He found that the government, first under Kaiser Wilhelm II and later under Adolf Hitler, interfered with his film projects, compelling him to leave in 1937. Schünzel described both the Kaiser and Hitler "persons of recognized authority and the worst possible dramatic taste."

Schünzel came to the United States in 1937, and began his American career in Hollywood at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Among the films he directed were Rich Man, Poor Girl (1938), Ice Follies (1939), Balalaika (1939), and New Wine (1941). He also acted in films like The Hitler Gang (1944), Dragonwyck (1946), and The Vicious Circle (1948), among others. His most memorable performance was as Dr. Anderson, a Nazi conspirator, in the film Notorious released in 1946. Schünzel went to New York in 1945 to make a debut on Broadway. He acted in Temper the Wind in 1946, and both appeared in Montserrat and starred in the Clifford Odets Broadway play The Big Knife in 1949. Among the prizes he received was the Federal West German Film prize for the best supporting role in the movie My Father's Horses. He became a U.S citizen in 1943 and he returned to Germany in 1949.

Schünzel died of a heart attack in Munich, Germany. His daughter Marianne Stewart was born in Berlin, and followed her father by becoming an actress. She appeared in Broadway plays and was known for The Facts of Life (1960), Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964), and Time Table (1956).

Rich Man, Poor Girl (1938, director) The Ice Follies of 1939 (1939, director) Balalaika (1939, director) The Great Awakening (1941, director) Hangmen Also Die! (1943) as Gestapo Insp. Ritter First Comes Courage (1943) as Col. Kurt von Elser Hostages (1943) as Kurt Daluege The Hitler Gang (1944) as Gen. Ludendorff The Man in Half Moon Street (1945) as Dr. Kurt van Bruecken Dragonwyck (1946) as Count De Grenier (uncredited) Notorious (1946) as Dr. Anderson Plainsman and the Lady (1946) as Michael H. Arnesen Golden Earrings (1947) as Prof. Otto Krosigk Berlin Express (1948) as Walther The Vicious Circle (1948) as Baron Arady Washington Story (1952) as Peter Kralik

The Dubarry (1951, director) Meines Vaters Pferde I. Teil Lena und Nicoline (1954) as Konsul Rittinghaus Meines Vaters Pferde, 2. Teil: Seine dritte Frau (1954) as Konsul Rittinghaus A Love Story (1954) as Schlumberger, Schauspieldirektor (final film role)