Reinhold Schünzel
Reinhold Schünzel (7 November 1888 – 11 November 1954) was a German actor and director, active in both Germany and the United States. The son of a German father and a Jewish mother, he was born in St. Pauli, the poorest part of Hamburg.
Reinhold Schünzel

Frieda Riess · Public domain
- Born
- sources differ (1886 and 1888).
- Died
- Reinhold Schünzel died, sources differ on the date (on 11 November 1954 and on 11 September 1954).
- Nationality
- Germany.
- Occupation
- film director, screenwriter, film actor, film producer, director, actor and writer.
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Documentary summary
Reinhold Schünzel (7 November 1888 – 11 November 1954) was a German actor and director, active in both Germany and the United States. The son of a German father and a Jewish mother, he was born in St. Pauli, the poorest part of Hamburg.
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Note VALÉORINE
Reinhold Schünzel (died 1954) was an actor, director and film actor, among other activities, of German nationality. The actor was born in Hamburg and died in Munich. Reinhold Schünzel worked in Germany.
Languages used include German. Honours include German Film Award.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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- Identity
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Authority files
wikidata · Q28998 · wikipedia · Reinhold Schünzel
In this article
Life in Germany
Life in Germany
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."
In the United States
In the United States
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.
Personal life
Personal life
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).
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1954
Reinhold Schünzel died at Munich.
American films
American films
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
West German films
West German films
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)

Reinhold Schünzel by Frieda Riess
Frieda Riess
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q28998: Reinhold Schünzel
Reputable secondary · Wikidata
- “Reinhold Schünzel”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
scholarly publication
- Author, actor, showman: Reinhold Schünzel and Hallo Caesar!, Popular European Cinema, 2013
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2013
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851-2010) Pg. 27
- 2.German Films: Personal Info: Reinhold Schuenzel. www.german-films.de.
- 3.Reinhold Schünzel. IMDb.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
scholarly publication
Author, actor, showman: Reinhold Schünzel and Hallo Caesar!, Popular European Cinema, 2013Crossref registry
Verifiedreference work
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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