Henry Victor(1892-1945)
- Actor
Henry Victor was born on October 2, 1892 in England, but was raised in
Germany. He began his film career in 1914, eventually playing leads in
literary adaptations of The Picture of Dorian Gray (1916) and H. Rider Haggard's She (1916), both in 1916. When talkies appeared in the late 1920's,
Victor's thick Teutonic accent was a detriment as a leading man in
Hollywood, but he enjoyed a substantial career as a character actor in
American and British films, specializing in brutish Nazis during World
War II.
He is probably best remembered for his portrayal of the sadistic strongman Hercules in Tod Browning's Freaks (1932), a role that was originally considered for Victor McLaglen, whom Browning had worked with previously, along with Harry Earles, in The Unholy Three (1925). He also excelled as the beleaguered Nazi Captain Schultz in the Ernst Lubitsch classic To Be or Not to Be (1942) with Jack Benny and Carole Lombard. From 1914 to 1945, he appeared in over 100 films.
Henry Victor prematurely died of a brain tumor on March 15, 1945 at the age of 52. He is buried at Oakwood Memorial Cemetery in Chatsworth, CA.
He is probably best remembered for his portrayal of the sadistic strongman Hercules in Tod Browning's Freaks (1932), a role that was originally considered for Victor McLaglen, whom Browning had worked with previously, along with Harry Earles, in The Unholy Three (1925). He also excelled as the beleaguered Nazi Captain Schultz in the Ernst Lubitsch classic To Be or Not to Be (1942) with Jack Benny and Carole Lombard. From 1914 to 1945, he appeared in over 100 films.
Henry Victor prematurely died of a brain tumor on March 15, 1945 at the age of 52. He is buried at Oakwood Memorial Cemetery in Chatsworth, CA.
