Frantisek Lederer was born on November 6th, 1899, in Czechoslovakia.
His father was a leather merchant, and young Frantisek began his
working life as a department store delivery boy in Prague. He fell in
love with acting from a young age, and was soon on stage touring
Moravia and then all over Central Europe with people like Peter Lorre.
Lederer was easily lured into film by German actress
Henny Porten and her producer husband. And
it wasn't long before he was starring in the legendary German silent
movie
Pandora's Box (1929).
Whilst Lederer, who was using the German name of Franz, shifted from
silents to talkies easily and was fast becoming one of Germany's top
stars, he hadn't yet learned to speak any English.
By 1934, Lederer, (now using Francis), had begun working in America.
And he was getting top billing too.
Irving Thalberg had planned to make
Lederer "the biggest star in Hollywood" but Thalberg's untimely death
put a stop to that. But Lederer continued successfully in film and TV
for many years.
After two brief marriages his third lasted 59 years. He invested in
property well and made a fortune in the Canoga Park, California area.
He founded the National Academy of Performing Arts on which his close
friend
Joan Crawford was on the
Advisory Board. He loved to teach.
Lederer was still teaching the week before he died in 2000, aged 100
years.
77 Sunset Strip(1958)
Night Gallery(1969)
It Takes a Thief(1968)as Hoffman
That Girl(1966)as Vittorio Barrini
Mission: Impossible(1966)as Senko Brobin
Blue Light(1966)as Kurt Hausman
The Best of Hollywood(1999)
One Rainy Afternoon(1936)
Romance in Manhattan(1934)
The Many Faces of Dracula(2000)as Archival
Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu(1998)as Self
100 Years of Horror(1996)as Self, Self - Actor & Friend of Conrad Veidt, Self - Actor 'Return of Drcula'
100 Years of Horror: The Count and Company(1996)as Self
Die Moldau: Smetanas Welterfolg(2022)as Self
Compression(1995)as Self
From Caligari to Hitler: German Cinema in the Age of the Masses(2014)as Self
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year(2009)as Self
