1. Francis Lederer was an Austro-Hungarian Empire-born American film and stage actor with a successful career, first in Europe, then in the United States.
20 Facts About Francis Lederer
1. 2.
Frantisek Lederer was born in Karlin, a working-class suburb of Prague, to a Jewish family.
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Francis Lederer's mother was Rosa nee Ornstein from Trebic, his father Josef Lederer was a leather merchant.
4.
Francis Lederer's parents separated when he was nine years old, and his brother Pavel died in World War I Francis Lederer's mother and younger brother Rudolf later moved to Los Angeles.
5.
Francis Lederer lost that role when he drew attention away from the stars to himself.
6.
Francis Lederer started acting when he was young and was trained at the Academy of Music and Academy of Dramatic Art in Prague.
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Francis Lederer toured Moravia and central Europe, making a name for himself as a matinee idol in theaters in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Austria and Germany.
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Francis Lederer was in The Wonderful Lies of Nina Petrovna in the same year.
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Francis Lederer, billed as "Franz" at this time, made the transition from silent films to sound films.
10.
Francis Lederer played Count Dracula in The Return of Dracula, in 1958.
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Francis Lederer appeared in stage productions of Golden Boy ; Seventh Heaven ; No Time for Comedy, in which he replaced Laurence Olivier; The Play's the Thing ; A Doll's House ; Arms and the Man ; The Sleeping Prince ; and The Diary of Anne Frank.
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Francis Lederer returned to the silver screen in 1944, appearing in Voice in the Wind and The Bridge of San Luis Rey, and went on to play in films such as Jean Renoir's The Diary of a Chambermaid and Million Dollar Weekend.
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Francis Lederer took another break from Hollywood in 1950, after making Surrender, and returned in 1956 with Lisbon and the light comedy The Ambassador's Daughter, with Olivia de Havilland.
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Francis Lederer's final film appearance was in Terror Is a Man in 1959.
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Francis Lederer has appeared on television over the next 10 years in such shows as Sally, The Untouchables, Ben Casey, Blue Light, Mission: Impossible and That Girl.
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Francis Lederer, who became very wealthy, invested in real estate, especially in the Canoga Park community.
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Francis Lederer was active in local and Los Angeles civic affairs, philanthropy and politics.
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Francis Lederer served as Recreation and Parks Commissioner for the city of Los Angeles and received awards for his efforts to beautify the city.
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Francis Lederer became involved with peace movements, taught acting, and was one of the founders of the American National Academy of Performing Arts in Los Angeles, and the International Academy of Performing Arts in Washington, DC In 2000, the Austrian government honored him with the Cross of Honor for Science and Arts, First Class.
20.
In 1934, with the help of artisan builder John R Litke, Lederer began the design and construction of his landmark residence and stables on the hilltop of a large rancho in the Simi Hills in Owensmouth, renamed Canoga Park, then West Hills.