WALBROOK, ANTON

WALBROOK, ANTON (1896–1967), Austrian actor. Born Adolf Wilhelm Anton Wohlbruck in Vienna, Walbrook was the son of a Jewish mother and a non-Jewish circus clown whose family had been actors since the 18th century. He was educated at Catholic schools and was an officer in the German army during World War I, held as a prisoner of war by the French for several years. He began his career under max reinhardt and later starred in German films. He settled in England in 1937 and won acclaim for his stage performances in Design for Living (1939) and Watch on the Rhine (1942). His film career, spanning three decades, included roles as Prince Albert in Victoria The Great (1937); Sixty Glorious Years (1938); Dangerous Moonlight (1941), where he gave the first performance (through an offstage pianist) of the famous Warsaw Concerto; The 49th Parallel (1941); Colonel Blimp (1943); The Queen of Spades (1948); The Red Shoes (1948); and I Accuse\! (1958), based on the dreyfus Case. Walbrook gave part of his earnings from each film to help Jewish refugees. He became a British subject in 1947 but then went frequently to Germany for film and television roles, dying in Bavaria. -ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: ODNB online.