Torben Meyer
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Torben Meyer | |
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![]() Meyer in 1950 | |
Born | Torben Emil Meyer 1 December 1884 Copenhagen, Denmark |
Died | 22 May 1975 Hollywood, California, U.S. | (aged 90)
Resting place | Chapel of the Pines Crematory |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1912–1966 |
Torben Emil Meyer (1 December 1884 – 22 May 1975) was a Danish-American character actor who appeared in more than 190 films in a 55-year career.
Early career[]
Meyer was born in Aarhus, Denmark and began his career as a stage actor in Denmark. His first silent movie, Vor tids dame (1912) was followed by twenty more before Don Quixote (1926). This movie achieved considerable international stature, and Meyer followed the migration of leading European actors to Hollywood the following year. His first American role was as a spy in the silent movie The Man Who Laughs (1928) starring Conrad Veidt. Meyer arrived just when the transition to sound was in progress. Unlike many European-born actors, his thick accent became an asset for him. He appeared uncredited in numerous movies throughout the 1930s and 1940s, almost always cast as a German.
Meyer received a small part in a Michael Curtiz film A Soldier's Plaything (1930), and appeared in two Swedish language American films, Trådlöst och kärleksfullt and Halvvägs till Himlen (both 1932). He had a small part in Murders in the Rue Morgue (also 1932), based on the Edgar Allan Poe short story starring Bela Lugosi. Meyer had small parts as waiters in five different movies released during 1932; in Ernst Lubitsch's film Broken Lullaby starring Lionel Barrymore, in George Cukor's What Price Hollywood?, where he plays a waiter in the Hollywood restaurant The Brown Derby, in Downstairs starring Paul Lukas, in Mervyn LeRoy's Big City Blues starring Joan Blondell and in The Match King. Also that year, he had a small part in The Animal Kingdom starring Leslie Howard.
Next Meyer went from waiter to butler in a number of films in the 1930s; The Crime of the Century (1933), John Ford's The World Moves On (1934), Preview Murder Mystery starring Reginald Denny, Piccadilly Jim (1936)and The First Hundred Years (1938) both starring Robert Montgomery, and The King and the Chorus Girl (1937) starring Joan Blondell. However, he was again cast as a waiter in Reunion in Vienna starring John Barrymore, in The Good Fairy (1935) starring Margaret Sullavan, in Break of Hearts (also 1935) starring Katharine Hepburn and Charles Boyer (in this film, Meyer was headwaiter at The Ritz), in Two for Tonight starring Bing Crosby, in The Gay Deception as a butler and in To Beat the Band.
In James Whale's Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Meyer was strangled by Boris Karloff's Frankenstein's monster. Meyer's bit parts in 1937 film releases were as a servant in Tovarich starring Claudette Colbert, Charles Boyer and Basil Rathbone, as Raymond Massey's servant in The Prisoner of Zenda starring Ronald Colman in the title role and as Tyrone Power's chauffeur in Sonja Henie's Thin Ice. Meyer played a German Police Prefect in a Simon Templar movie, The Saint in New York (1938), and played a doorman in Topper Takes a Trip (also 1938) starring Roland Young and Billie Burke. He had a bit part in Warner Bros. anti-Nazi movie Nurse Edith Cavell (1939) starring Anna Neagle.
Middle years[]
In 1940, Meyer had a small role in Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet starring Edward G. Robinson, Ruth Gordon and Otto Kruger, and later that year, featured in the Charlie Chaplin movie, The Great Dictator. He also appeared that year in Four Sons, starring Don Ameche. He is seen in the beginning of the movie as a farmer driving a hay wagon from Nazi Germany into Czechoslovakia and then gives Don Ameche's character a ride home. Later that year, he got to play 'Mr. Schmidt' in Preston Sturges' Christmas in July, his second film with the writer-director. Meyer become part of Sturges' unofficial "stock company" of character actors, appearing in every American film written and directed by Sturges with the exception of The Great McGinty.[1] Evidently as a private joke, Sturges nearly always cast Meyer as a character named "Schultz", with conspicuous exceptions as playing Dr. Kluck in The Palm Beach Story in 1942.
In 1942, at age 57, Meyer acted in one scene in the anti-Nazi movie Berlin Correspondent with Dana Andrews, playing a restaurant manager who is harassing Virginia Gilmore for her ration card. Next he had a small part as a Dutch banker in Casablanca who is seated at a baccarat table. His female friend (played by Trude Berliner) wants to have a drink with Rick but is told no by Carl, the headwaiter (S.Z. Sakall). Meyer is annoyed by this rebuff telling Carl, "Perhaps if you told him I ran the second largest banking house in Amsterdam." He is informed that it wouldn't impress Rick, "the leading banker in Amsterdam is now the pastry chef in our kitchen" and "his father is the bellboy!"
In 1943, Meyer played a waiter again in RKO's spy thriller Journey into Fear starring Joseph Cotten, Dolores del Río and Orson Welles. Next, he portrayed a gypsy in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man starring Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney Jr. in the title roles. This was followed with a bit role in Warner Bros.'s war drama Edge of Darkness, starring Errol Flynn and Ann Sheridan, where he plays a clerk for Kaspar Torgerson (Charles Dingle) in a Norwegian cannery. Next he played Gottwald in the spy drama They Came to Blow Up America starring George Sanders and Ward Bond.
The following year, Meyer, wearing a beard and mustache, played a sympathetic Swiss Red Cross representative named Karl Kappel in the 20th Century Fox, The Purple Heart, a war drama of captured US army air force pilots from the Doolittle Raid over Tokyo put on trial in Japan, starring Dana Andrews and Richard Conte. After this, he played Dr. Dahlmeyer in The Great Moment starring Joel McCrea. Next he played Emil Rameau's butler in the musical Greenwich Village starring Carmen Miranda and Don Ameche. Meyer received a bit part as a hotel manager in Once Upon a Time starring Cary Grant. In Hotel Berlin in 1945, which starred Helmut Dantine and Peter Lorre, Meyer plays a barber named Franz. Later that year he was a town official in the Fred Astaire musical Yolanda and the Thief.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/The_Sin_of_Harold_Diddlebock_1.jpg/220px-The_Sin_of_Harold_Diddlebock_1.jpg)
After World War II, Meyer continued to receive roles. In 1946, he played a Count in the Bob Hope comedy Monsieur Beaucaire. The following year, he received a small part in Millie's Daughter. Later that year, Meyer who once played a lowly waiter in the famed Los Angeles restaurant 'The Brown Derby' back in 1932, now gets to play the head waiter there in Variety Girl which had cameos from literally dozens of Hollywood stars. In 1949, he portrayed doctors in two movies; he had a small part as Doctor Shultz in the comedy The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend starring Betty Grable and a larger one as Doctor Hans Heinrich in the Bowery Boys film Hold That Baby! Later that year, Meyer played a captain of an ocean liner in the Bob Hope comedy The Great Lover.
In 1951, Meyer played Donovan in Grounds for Marriage starring Van Johnson. Later that year, he got a part as an auto mechanic in Come Fill the Cup starring James Cagney. The next year, Meyer played the mayor of a small French town during World War I in the John Ford drama What Price Glory?. Later in 1952, Meyer was a station master in The Merry Widow starring Lana Turner. The next year, Meyer appeared in the musical Call Me Madam starring Ethel Merman and Donald O'Connor. Next he portrayed another waiter in the Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis comedy The Caddy, and appeared as a chef in another Martin and Lewis comedy the following year, Living It Up.
Meyer appeared in the Bob Hope comedy Casanova's Big Night which also starred Joan Fontaine and John Carradine in 1954, his fourth Bob Hope movie. Next, he got to play cards again, as he did in Casablanca, in Deep in My Heart starring José Ferrer and Merle Oberon. Meyer was out catching butterflies in the Michael Curtiz comedy We're No Angels starring Humphrey Bogart, Aldo Ray and Peter Ustinov. He played a scribe in the John Wayne film The Conqueror in 1956, and later he played a French waiter in the musical Anything Goes starring Bing Crosby and Donald O'Connor.
Meyer portrayed Gaston, the night watchman who discovers a murder at the beginning of the sci-fi classic The Fly starring Vincent Price in 1958. Next he played Alex, the headwaiter at the Harmonica Club in The Matchmaker starring Shirley Booth, Anthony Perkins and Shirley MacLaine. The following year, he had the role of Hugo in This Earth Is Mine starring Rock Hudson and Claude Rains, and in 1960 he appeared in the Elvis Presley movie G.I. Blues.
In the 1950s and 60s, Meyer made some guest appearances on TV shows such as I Dream of Jeannie, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and I Love Lucy.
Later career and death[]
In 1961, at the age of 76, he got his best role in the classic Judgment at Nuremberg starring Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich, Maximilian Schell, Judy Garland and Montgomery Clift, playing the guilt-ridden "Werner Lampe", one of the ex-Nazi judges on trial whose inability to explain his actions is one of the most powerful moments.[2] Two years, earlier, he had played the same role in the original television production. Two years later, in 1963, he had a small uncredited role in what would be the last movie of his career, A New Kind of Love.
Meyer died on 22 May 1975 of bronchial pneumonia in Hollywood, California at the age of 90. He was cremated and his ashes are in the Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles.[citation needed]
Filmography[]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1912 | Manegens stjerne | Dumme Peter | |
1913 | Staalkongens Villie | ||
1913 | Kæmpedamens bortførelse | ||
1913 | Ballettens Datter | Delange - Theatre Manager | |
1913 | Atlantis | Willy Snyders - artist | |
1913 | Kärleken rår | Kuno | |
1913 | Fra fyrste til knejpevært | ||
1914 | Under Skæbnens Hjul | ||
1914 | Af elskovs naade | Laege | |
1914 | Helvedesmaskinen | Lerche | |
1914 | Den kulørte slavehandler | ||
1915 | Appetit og kærlighed | Jens | |
1915 | Held i Uheld | Fritz Tummel | |
1915 | Et huskors | Lensgreve Rosenørn | |
1915 | Revolutionsbryllup | ||
1915 | Cigaretpigen | Pedro Delmart - Painter | |
1915 | Cowboymillionæren | ||
1915 | Penge | ||
1916 | En uheldig skygge | ||
1916 | Voksdamen | ||
1916 | En nydelig onkel | ||
1916 | Lotteriseddel No. 22162 | Charles - Apache | |
1916 | Manden uden fremtid | Tobby Spratt | |
1916 | Filmens Datter | ||
1916 | Sønnen | Mr. Grøn | |
1916 | Truet lykke | Simoni | |
1917 | Manden uden Smil | Pianist | |
1918 | Hævneren | Niels | |
1918 | Prøvens Dag | Mr. von Scholten | |
1919 | Hans store Chance | Arthur | |
1919 | Bajadser | Rodolfo | |
1919 | Hvorledes jeg kom til Filmen | Gordon Sidney | |
1919 | Dømmer ikke | Philip Saphir | |
1919 | Prinsens Kærlighed | ||
1919 | En ung mans väg | Agapetus von Dufva | |
1920 | Lykkeper | Walter Crone | |
1921 | Hendes fortid | Moses Volkenthal | |
1921 | Film, flirt og forlovelse | The Baron | |
1922 | Der var engang | Ceremonimesteren | |
1923 | Madsalune | ||
1923 | Republikaneren | Editor | |
1923 | Den sidste dans | Herr von Schneppen | |
1924 | Min ven privatdetektiven | ||
1924 | Little Dorrit | Hauptschließer Chivery | |
1925 | Fra Piazza del Popolo | Benedetto - Servant | |
1926 | Maharadjahens yndlingshustru III | Mohun Singh | |
1926 | Klovnen | Butler | |
1926 | Don Quixote | Sancho Carrasco | |
1928 | The Man Who Laughs | The Spy | Uncredited |
1928 | Jazz Mad | Kline | |
1928 | Noah's Ark | Man on Train | Uncredited |
1928 | The Viking | Odd | |
1928 | The Last Warning | Gene | |
1929 | Behind Closed Doors | Captain von Gilden | |
1930 | Behind the Make-Up | Waiter | |
1930 | Lummox | Silly Willie | |
1930 | Mamba | German Soldier | Uncredited |
1930 | The Bad One | Uncredited | |
1930 | Just Like Heaven | Pierre | |
1930 | The Lottery Bride | Miner | Uncredited |
1930 | A Soldier's Plaything | German Actor in Horse | Uncredited |
1931 | Trådlöst och kärleksfullt | ||
1931 | Just a Gigolo | Waiter | Uncredited |
1931 | Halvvägs till himlen | Director | |
1932 | Broken Lullaby | Waiter at Inn | Uncredited |
1932 | Murders in the Rue Morgue | The Dane | Uncredited |
1932 | What Price Hollywood? | Nick - Brown Derby Headwaiter | Uncredited |
1932 | Downstairs | Cafe Waiter | Uncredited |
1932 | Big City Blues | Second Waiter | Uncredited |
1932 | Six Hours to Live | Sturges - Butler | Uncredited |
1932 | Le bluffeur | Col. Ginsberg | |
1932 | The Animal Kingdom | Meyer - Idealistic Printer | Uncredited |
1932 | The Match King | Hans, Headwaiter | Uncredited |
1933 | The Crime of the Century | Eric Ericson - Butler | |
1933 | Reunion in Vienna | Headwaiter Strumpf | Uncredited |
1933 | Ladies Must Love | Beermaster | Uncredited |
1933 | Cradle Song | Papa | Uncredited |
1933 | The Worst Woman in Paris? | Taxi Driver | Uncredited |
1934 | Mandalay | Mr. Van Brinken | Uncredited |
1934 | All Men Are Enemies | Clerk | Uncredited |
1934 | Little Man, What Now? | Headwaiter | Uncredited |
1934 | The World Moves On | Head Butler | Uncredited |
1934 | Pursued | Hansen | Uncredited |
1934 | By Your Leave | Costume Company Fitter | Uncredited |
1934 | Music in the Air | Pharmacist | Uncredited |
1935 | Enter Madame | Carlson | |
1935 | The Night Is Young | Adjutant | Uncredited |
1935 | The Good Fairy | Head Waiter | Uncredited |
1935 | Roberta | Albert | |
1935 | Bride of Frankenstein | Victim in Flashback | Uncredited |
1935 | Mark of the Vampire | Card Player | Uncredited |
1935 | Break of Hearts | The Ritz Headwaiter | Uncredited |
1935 | The Girl Who Came Back | Zarabella | |
1935 | Front Page Woman | Janitor | Uncredited |
1935 | The Black Room | Peter | |
1935 | Two for Tonight | Waiter | Uncredited |
1935 | The Gay Deception | Waiter | Uncredited |
1935 | Thunder in the Night | Cafe Owner | Uncredited |
1935 | Charlie Chan in Shanghai | French Diplomat | Uncredited |
1935 | The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo | Minor Role | Uncredited |
1935 | Splendor | Baron Von Hoffstatter | |
1935 | To Beat the Band | Headwaiter | Uncredited |
1935 | East of Java | Derelict | Uncredited |
1935 | A Tale of Two Cities | Lackey #1 | Uncredited |
1935 | If You Could Only Cook | Swedish Servant | Uncredited |
1936 | King of Burlesque | Leopold the Valet | Uncredited |
1936 | It Had to Happen | Sign Painter | Uncredited |
1936 | The Preview Murder Mystery | Smith's Butler | Uncredited |
1936 | The Farmer in the Dell | Party Guest | Uncredited |
1936 | Till We Meet Again | Kraus | |
1936 | Champagne Charlie | Minor Role | Uncredited |
1936 | Piccadilly Jim | Pett's Butler | Uncredited |
1936 | Star for a Night | Saddle Maker | Uncredited |
1936 | In His Steps | Uncredited | |
1936 | Wedding Present | Winternitz | Uncredited |
1936 | The Accusing Finger | Proprietor | Uncredited |
1936 | Espionage | Police Inspector | Uncredited |
1936 | The King and the Chorus Girl | Eric - the Butler | Uncredited |
1937 | Thin Ice | Chauffeur | |
1937 | The Good Old Soak | Headwaiter | Uncredited |
1937 | Shall We Dance | Show Producer | Uncredited |
1937 | The Emperor's Candlesticks | Train Announcer | Uncredited |
1937 | She's No Lady | Swedish Waiter | Uncredited |
1937 | The Prisoner of Zenda | Max - Butler | |
1937 | Wife, Doctor and Nurse | Second Tailor | Uncredited |
1937 | Madame X | Peridcord | Uncredited |
1937 | Fight for Your Lady | Hungarian Police Officer | Uncredited |
1937 | Prescription for Romance | Hotel Desk Clerk | Uncredited |
1937 | Tovarich | Servant | Uncredited |
1938 | The First Hundred Years | Karl | |
1938 | Bulldog Drummond's Peril | Hoffman | Uncredited |
1938 | Romance in the Dark | Prof. Jacobsen | |
1938 | Romance in the Dark | Art Critic | Uncredited |
1938 | The Saint in New York | German Police Prefect | Uncredited |
1938 | I'll Give a Million | Doorman | Uncredited |
1938 | The Great Waltz | Ticket Taker at Dommayer's | Uncredited |
1938 | Topper Takes a Trip | Hotel Doorman | Uncredited |
1939 | Island of Lost Men | Cafe Manager | Uncredited |
1939 | Nurse Edith Cavell | German Officer | Uncredited |
1939 | Everything Happens at Night | Station Master | Uncredited |
1940 | Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet | Kadereit | Uncredited |
1940 | The Way of All Flesh | Sandor Nemzeti | |
1940 | Four Sons | Gustav | |
1940 | The Great Dictator | Bald Barbershop Customer | Uncredited |
1940 | Christmas in July | Mr. Schmidt | |
1940 | No, No, Nanette | Furtlemertle | Uncredited |
1941 | The Lady Eve | Mr. Clink - Purser | Uncredited |
1941 | Sunny | Jean (head waiter) | |
1941 | Sullivan's Travels | The Doctor | |
1941 | Bedtime Story | Dinglehoff | Uncredited |
1942 | The Adventures of Martin Eden | Jacob | Uncredited |
1942 | Crossroads | Old Man | Uncredited |
1942 | Berlin Correspondent | Manager | |
1942 | The Palm Beach Story | Dr. Kluck | |
1942 | Casablanca | Dutch Banker at Cafe Table | Uncredited |
1943 | Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man | Gypsy | Uncredited |
1943 | Edge of Darkness | Cannery Clerk | Uncredited |
1943 | They Came to Blow Up America | Graumark Hotel Desk Clerk | Uncredited |
1943 | Jack London | Literary Guest | Uncredited |
1943 | The Miracle of Morgan's Creek | Dr. Meyer | Uncredited |
1944 | The Purple Heart | Karl Kappel | Uncredited |
1944 | Once Upon a Time | Hotel Manager | Uncredited |
1944 | The Great Moment | Dr. Dahlmeyer | |
1944 | Hail the Conquering Hero | Mr. Schultz | Uncredited |
1944 | Greenwich Village | Kavosky's Butler | Uncredited |
1945 | Hotel Berlin | Franz, the Barber | Uncredited |
1945 | A Royal Scandal | Stooge | Uncredited |
1945 | Yolanda and the Thief | Town Official | Uncredited |
1946 | The Kid from Brooklyn | Garden Party Guest | Uncredited |
1946 | Heartbeat | Thief at Ball | Uncredited |
1946 | Monsieur Beaucaire | Count | Uncredited |
1946 | Alias Mr. Twilight | Starling | |
1947 | The Mighty McGurk | Second Brewer | |
1947 | The Sin of Harold Diddlebock | Barber with Mustache | |
1947 | The Beginning or the End | Milkman | Uncredited |
1947 | Millie's Daughter | Mr. Johnson | Uncredited |
1947 | Variety Girl | Andre - Brown Derby Headwaiter | |
1947 | Song of Love | Stage Manager | Uncredited |
1947 | The Exile | Sea Captain | |
1948 | To the Victor | Elderly Frenchman | Uncredited |
1948 | Letter from an Unknown Woman | Carriage Driver | Uncredited |
1948 | Julia Misbehaves | Commissar | Uncredited |
1948 | Sealed Verdict | Courtroom interpreter | |
1948 | Unfaithfully Yours | Dr. Schultz | |
1949 | The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend | Dr. Shultz | |
1949 | Hold That Baby! | Dr. Hans Heinrich | |
1949 | The Great Lover | Ship's Captain | Uncredited |
1949 | And Baby Makes Three | Waiter | Uncredited |
1950 | The Great Rupert | Mr. Petrushka - the Baker | Uncredited |
1951 | Grounds for Marriage | Donovan | |
1951 | The Company She Keeps | Maitre'd in French Restaurant | Uncredited |
1951 | That's My Boy | Photographer | Uncredited |
1951 | Night into Morning | Butcher | Uncredited |
1951 | Come Fill the Cup | Delmar - Ives' Auto Mechanic | Uncredited |
1951 | The Blue Veil | Photographer | Uncredited |
1951 | My Favorite Spy | Headwaiter | Uncredited |
1952 | What Price Glory | Mayor | Uncredited |
1952 | The Merry Widow | Station Master | Uncredited |
1953 | Call Me Madam | Rudolph | Uncredited |
1953 | The Story of Three Loves | Man in Saloon | (segment "Equilibrium"), Uncredited |
1953 | Ma and Pa Kettle on Vacation | Doorman at Hotel Louis | Uncredited |
1953 | Houdini | Headwaiter | Uncredited |
1954 | Casanova's Big Night | Attendant | Uncredited |
1954 | About Mrs. Leslie | Maitre D' | Uncredited |
1954 | Living It Up | Chef | Uncredited |
1954 | Deep in My Heart | Card Player | Uncredited |
1955 | We're No Angels | Butterfly Man | Uncredited |
1956 | The Conqueror | Scribe | Uncredited |
1956 | Anything Goes | French Waiter | Uncredited |
1956 | Hollywood or Bust | Waiter | Last Martin & Lewis comedy; waiter, Uncredited |
1957 | Public Pigeon No. 1 | Waiter | Uncredited |
1957 | The Helen Morgan Story | Manager | Uncredited |
1958 | The Fly | Gaston | Uncredited |
1958 | The Matchmaker | Alex, Headwaiter, Harmonica Club | |
1959 | This Earth Is Mine | Hugo | Uncredited |
1959 | Li'l Abner | Butler | Uncredited |
1960 | G.I. Blues | Headwaiter | Uncredited |
1961 | Judgment at Nuremberg | Werner Lampe | |
1963 | A New Kind of Love | Hotel Clerk | Uncredited |
References[]
- ^ Meyer appeared in Christmas in July, The Lady Eve, Sullivan's Travels, The Palm Beach Story, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, Hail the Conquering Hero, The Great Moment, The Sin of Harold Diddlebock, Unfaithfully Yours and The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend, Sturges' last American film. Earlier, he had also appeared in The Good Fairy, which was written by Sturges.
- ^ Erickson, Hal Biography (Allmovie)
External links[]
![]() |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Torben Meyer. |
- Torben Meyer at IMDb
- Torben Meyer at AllMovie
- Torben Meyer at the TCM Movie Database
- Torben Meyer at the British Film Institute
- 1884 births
- 1975 deaths
- American male film actors
- American male silent film actors
- Danish male film actors
- Danish male silent film actors
- 20th-century Danish male actors
- Deaths from bronchopneumonia
- Infectious disease deaths in California
- 20th-century American male actors
- Burials at Chapel of the Pines Crematory
- Danish emigrants to the United States
- Male actors from Copenhagen