Curt Bois

Actor
Curt Bois

About

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Birth Place
Berlin, DE
Born
April 05, 1901
Died
December 25, 1991

Biography

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Diminutive character player who specialized in dapper comic roles, often as head waiters or pompous clerks, in his more than 25 German and 40 Hollywood films. Bois began acting at seven and later worked in cabaret and with Max Reinhardt before fleeing Nazi Germany in 1933. He appeared on the New York stage before earning roles in the Hollywood films "Tovarich" (1937), "Casablanca" (1942,...

Filmography

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Wings of Desire (1987)
Homer
Gedaechtnis (1982)
The Boat Is Full (1981)
Lazar Ostrowskij
Nach Meinem Letzten Umzug (1972)
Puntila
Herr Puntila and His Servant Matti (1955)
Herr Puntila
Fortunes of Captain Blood (1950)
King Charles II

Photos & Videos

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0 Photos
Boy Meets Girl (1938) -- (Movie Clip) What Is Our Story?
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That Night In Rio (1941) -- (Movie Clip) Are You Quite Yourself Now?

Family & Companions

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Dagmar Bois
Wife

Notes

Was Recipient of an homage at the Berlin Film Festival in 1983.

Biography

Diminutive character player who specialized in dapper comic roles, often as head waiters or pompous clerks, in his more than 25 German and 40 Hollywood films. Bois began acting at seven and later worked in cabaret and with Max Reinhardt before fleeing Nazi Germany in 1933. He appeared on the New York stage before earning roles in the Hollywood films "Tovarich" (1937), "Casablanca" (1942, as a pickpocket), "Cover Girl" (1944) and "Caught" (1949).

Bois appeared in over 40 Hollywood features by directors including Max Ophuls and Ernst Lubitsch before returning in 1950 to Germany, where he resumed film work and, under the direction of Bertolt Brecht, his stage career. He directed and co-wrote the 1955 film, "Ein Polterabend." More recently Bois gave a memorable performance in Wim Wenders's "Wings of Desire" (1987) as a contemporary Homer, blindly wandering the streets of modern Berlin.

Filmography

 

Cast (Feature Film)

Wings of Desire (1987)
Homer
Gedaechtnis (1982)
The Boat Is Full (1981)
Lazar Ostrowskij
Nach Meinem Letzten Umzug (1972)
Puntila
Herr Puntila and His Servant Matti (1955)
Herr Puntila
Fortunes of Captain Blood (1950)
King Charles II
Joe Palooka Meets Humphrey (1950)
Pierre
Oh, You Beautiful Doll (1949)
Zaltz
The Great Sinner (1949)
Jeweler
A Kiss in the Dark (1949)
Schloss
Caught (1949)
Franzi Kartos
The Lovable Cheat (1949)
Count de la Brive
Let's Live a Little (1948)
Chemist
Arch of Triumph (1948)
Tattooed waiter
The Woman in White (1948)
Louis
The Woman from Tangier (1948)
Parquit
French Leave (1948)
Marcel
Up in Central Park (1948)
Maitre d'
Jungle Flight (1947)
Pepe
Saratoga Trunk (1946)
Augustin Haussy
The Spanish Main (1945)
Paree
Blonde Fever (1945)
Brillon
Cover Girl (1944)
Chem
Gypsy Wildcat (1944)
Valdi
Swing Fever (1944)
Nick Sirocco
Paris After Dark (1943)
Max
Destroyer (1943)
Yasha
Princess O'Rourke (1943)
Count Peter de Chandome
The Desert Song (1943)
François
Pacific Rendezvous (1942)
Kestrin
Blue, White and Perfect (1942)
Nappy
The Tuttles of Tahiti (1942)
Jensen
Casablanca (1942)
Dark European
My Gal Sal (1942)
De Rochemont
That Night in Rio (1941)
[Felicio] Salles
Hold Back the Dawn (1941)
Bonbois
Hullabaloo (1940)
Armand Francois
Bitter Sweet (1940)
Ernst
The Lady in Question (1940)
Henri Lurette
He Stayed for Breakfast (1940)
Comrade Tronavich
Boom Town (1940)
Ferdie
Hotel Imperial (1939)
Anton
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)
Student
The Amazing Doctor Clitterhouse (1938)
Rabbit
Gold Diggers in Paris (1938)
Padrinsky
Garden of the Moon (1938)
Maharajah of Sund
The Great Waltz (1938)
Kienzl
Romance in the Dark (1938)
Von Hemisch
Hollywood Hotel (1938)
Dress designer
Boy Meets Girl (1938)
Dance director
Tovarich (1937)
Alfonse
Der Schlemiel (1931)
Der Goldene Schmetterling (1926)
Die Austernprinzessin (1919)
Klebolin klebt alles (1909)

Life Events

1909

Film acting debut, "Klebolin klebt alles"

1933

After fleeing Nazi Germany, traveled to Vienna, Prague, Paris and London before going to US, where he performed on the NY stage and later went to Hollywood

1935

Broadway debut

1937

Hollywood film debut, "Tovarich"

1950

Returned to Germany

1952

Created one of the title roles in Bertolt Brecht's "Herr Puntila and His Valet Matti" under the author's direction at the Berliner Ensemble; starred in the 1957 film version of the play under the direction of Alberto Cavalcanti

1981

Was subject of a profile on German TV

Videos

Movie Clip

Boy Meets Girl (1938) -- (Movie Clip) What Is Our Story? Actor Larry (Dick Foran) and his agent (Frank McHugh) discover the elaborate diversion by screenwriters Benson & Law (Pat O'Brien, James Cagney), who are up to other studio mischief, in Warner Bros.' back-lot comedy Boy Meets Girl, 1938.
That Night In Rio (1941) -- (Movie Clip) Are You Quite Yourself Now? Brazilians Penna and Salles (S.Z. Sakall, Curt Bois) can't let Baroness Cecilia (Alice Faye) tell American Larry (Don Ameche) that she knows they've hired him to impersonate her husband, their boss, the less charming Baron Manuel, for business reasons, in That Night In Rio, 1941.
Woman in White, The (1948) -- (Movie Clip) Indescribable Torture Drawing teacher Hartright (Gig Young) meets the fussy, widowed master of the house Frederick Fairlie (John Abbott), in an early scene from director Peter Godfrey's The Woman in White, 1948.
Boom Town (1940) -- (Movie Clip) Smells A Little Gamey Nutty long-time Investor Luther (Frank Morgan), tailor Ferdie (Curt Bois) and especially alluring Karen (Hedy Lamarr) are witness to the spectacle of partners-turned-rivals now big-timers Big John (Clark Gable) and Square John (Spencer Tracy) teaming up again, in Boom Town, 1940.
Blonde Fever (1945) -- (Movie Clip) Decorative, Isn't She? Nevada restauranteur Donay (Philip Dorn) and wife Delilah (Mary Astor) greeting friend Mrs. Talford (Elizabeth Risdon), who comments on the hot new cigarette girl Sally (Gloria Grahame), early in Blonde Fever, 1945
Caught (1949) -- (Movie Clip) The Wall In Wall Street Charm school grad Leonora (Barbara Bel Geddes) modeling mink at the department store, with pal Maxine (Ruth Brady), gets an offer from wormy Kartos (Curt Bois), early in Max Ophuls' Caught, 1949.
Princess O'Rourke -- (Movie Clip) Is That Hereditary? Princess Maria (Olivia de Havilland) seems rightly concerned at tics demonstrated by the Count (Curt Bois), discussing affairs with "Uncle" (Charles Coburn) in Norman Krasna's Princess O'Rourke, 1943.

Trailer

Wings of Desire - (Original Trailer) An angel of death (Bruno Ganz) gives up his wings for love. Co-starring Peter Falk and directed by Wim Wenders.
Garden of the Moon - (Original Trailer) A nightclub owner and a band leader compete for the heart of the lead singer at the Garden Of The Moon (1938) directed by Busby Berkeley.
Boy Meets Girl - (Original Trailer) Two wacky Hollywood writers drive their boss crazy while trying to help a pregnant waitress in Boy Meets Girl (1938) with James Cagney and Pat O'Brien.
Destroyer - (Re-issueTrailer) The crew of a torpedoed ship fights to take out an enemy sub in Destroyer (1943) starring Edward G. Robinson and Glenn Ford.
Blonde Fever - (Original Trailer) A woman fights to save her husband after he gets Blonde Fever (1945) with a young Gloria Grahame as the Blonde.
Saratoga Trunk - (Re-issue Trailer) A woman with a past returns to 19th-Century New Orleans for revenge in Saratoga Trunk (1945) starring Ingrid Bergman and Gary Cooper.
Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse, The - (Original Trailer) A doctor (Edward G. Robinson) plots crimes so he can study criminal psychology in The Amazing Doctor Clitterhouse (1938), directed by Anatole Litvak.
Gold Diggers In Paris - (Original Trailer) In the last "gold diggers" musical, three chorus girls head to France in Gold Diggers In Paris (1938).
Tuttles of Tahiti, The - (Original Trailer) Charles Laughton heads The Tuttles of Tahiti (1942), a family in the South Seas that goes to any lengths to escape work.
Hullabaloo - (Original Trailer) MGM parodies Orson Welles' War of the Worlds radio scare in the Frank Morgan comedy Hullabaloo (1940).
Swing Fever - (Original Trailer) A bandleader with hypnotic powers tries to train a boxer in Swing Fever (1943) starring Kay Kyser and Marilyn Maxwell.
Pacific Rendezvous - (Original Trailer) An expert at deciphering codes (Lee Bowman) takes on an enemy spy ring in Pacific Rendezvous (1942).

Companions

Dagmar Bois
Wife

Bibliography

Notes

Was Recipient of an homage at the Berlin Film Festival in 1983.

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