Ferdinand Marian

Ferdinand Heinrich Johann Haschkowetz, better known as Ferdinand Marian (14 August 1902 – 7 August 1946) was an Austrian theatre and film actor, best known for playing the leading character of Joseph Süß Oppenheimer in the German film Jud Süß.

Life and career[]

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Born in Vienna, the son of an opera singer, Marian turned to the stage early, though he never attended any drama classes. He ran away from home and abandoned his studies as an engineer^[timeframe?] to work as an extra at several Austrian and German theatres. In 1938 he joined the ensemble of the Deutsches Theater in Berlin, where he was acclaimed for his performance as Iago in Shakespeare's Othello.

Marian had also appeared in movies like Curtis Bernhardt's Der Tunnel since 1933, and had his breakthrough starring together with Zarah Leander in 1937's La Habanera directed by Detlef Sierck. His role as Don Pedro added to his image as an adorable but devious womanizer.

Jud Süß[]

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Marian's career was overshadowed by his appearance as the title character in Jud Süß, a notorious antisemitic German movie directed by Veit Harlan. This 1940 film, made under the supervision of Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, is widely considered to be one of the most hateful depictions of Jews in film. Several film stars had rejected the title role;^[how?] Marian, urged by Goebbels and fearing consequences by the Reichsfilmkammer, did not dare to refuse.

His depiction of the title character followed Nazi propaganda stereotypes of Jews as being materialistic, immoral, cunning and untrustworthy. With the exception of Marian's character – who shaved off his beard and wore Gentile attire for most of the story – the actors playing Jewish male characters were made up to look unappealing and alien (non-German). There were also scenes that purported to show Jewish religious services.

Marian also appeared in the 1941 propaganda movie Ohm Krüger, playing Cecil Rhodes side by side with Emil Jannings and Gustaf Gründgens, who both had rejected the role of Jud Süß the year before. In 1943 he starred as Cagliostro in Josef von Báky's fantasy comedy Münchhausen.

Personal life[]

Marian's personal life contradicted his role in the film Jud Süß. He had a daughter from his first marriage to Jewish pianist Irene Saager. His second wife's former husband Julius Gellner was also Jewish and Marian and his wife protected him from reprisals by hiding him in their home.^[1]

Marian died in a road accident in 1946 near the village of Dürneck (today part of Freising) in Bavaria, probably driving under the influence of alcohol. It is said that he was on his way to Munich with a borrowed car to collect denazification papers that with the permission of US film officer Eric Pleskow would allow him to work again, having celebrated this news just beforehand. Other sources suggest that the accident was suicide.^[1]

The 2010 film Jew Suss: Rise and Fall by Oskar Roehler, starring Tobias Moretti, portrayed the production of Jud Süß with Marian as the central character.

Filmography[]

• The Tunnel (1933, dir. Curtis Bernhardt) as The Agitator
• A Wedding Dream (1936, dir. Erich Engel) as Paul Puschkinow
• The Voice of the Heart (1937, dir. Karlheinz Martin) as Prince Konstantin
• Madame Bovary (1937, dir. Gerhard Lamprecht) as Rodolphe Boulanger
• La Habanera (1937, dir. Douglas Sirk) as Don Pedro de Havila
• Nordlicht (1938, dir. Herbert B. Fredersdorf) as Halvard
• Der Vierte kommt nicht (1939, dir. Max W. Kimmich) as Generaldirektor Kolman
• Morgen werde ich verhaftet (1939, dir. Karl Heinz Stroux) as Juan Perez
• Dein Leben gehört mir (1939, dir. Johannes Meyer)
• The Fox of Glenarvon (1940, dir. Max W. Kimmich) as Justice of the peace Grandison
• Aus erster Ehe (1940, dir. Paul Verhoeven) as Professor Walter Helmerding
• Jud Süß (1940, dir. Veit Harlan) as Joseph Süß Oppenheimer
• Ohm Krüger (1941, dir. Hans Steinhoff) as Cecil Rhodes
• Ein Zug fährt ab (1942, dir. Johannes Meyer) as Michael Garden
• Münchhausen (1943, dir. Josef von Báky) as Count Cagliostro
• Romance in a Minor Key (1943, dir. Helmut Käutner) as Michael
• Tonelli (1943, dir. Viktor Tourjansky) as Tonio Torelli / Jaro
• Reise in die Vergangenheit (1943, dir. Hans H. Zerlett) as Carlo Ernst
• In flagranti (1944, dir. Hans Schweikart) as Ing. Alfred Peters
• Freunde (1944, dir. E. W. Emo) as Guido
• Night of the Twelve (1945, dir. Hans Schweikart) as Agent Leopold Lenski
• Dreimal Komödie (1945, dir. Viktor Tourjansky) as Professor Viktor Arnim
•  [de] (1945, dir. Hans Schweikart) as Baron Pistolecran (final film role)

References[]

External links[]

• Ferdinand Marian at IMDb
• Short biography of Ferdinand Marian
• Der Schauspieler Ferdinand Marian (in German)
• Photographs and literature