Chronicles Of Reverence: Max Schreck

Born in Berlin-Friedenau, Germany on June 11 1879, Max Schreck enrolled in the Berlin Staatstheater (The Stage Theater of Berlin) for their performing arts programme and touring throughout Germany as an actor with the company for two years before joining Max Reinhardt's eminent performing troupe. Getting his big break in 1919 at the Münchner Kammerspiele playing the role of the landlord Glubb in Trommeln in der Nacht, Schreck went on to perform in a variety of roles ranging from horror to comedy while constantly teaming up with director F.W.Murnau for two films although the comedy Die Finanzen des Grossherzogs was seen as a failure for both parties. Returning to the Kammerspiele for the second time in 1926, Schreck spent the rest of his acting career in the theater before succumbing to cardiac arrest on 26 November 1936. Married to actress Fanny Normann who acted alongside him occasionally, it is not known if the couple had any children although it is known that he had an older brother (Louis, a pilot) and a younger brother (Augustin) who is the father to actress Gisela Uhlen (married to actor Wolfgang Kileling) and grandfather to Gisela's daughter Susanna who is an actress herself.

With a surname that means fright in German, it is only fitting that Max Schreck played horror roles in an era where German film makers were beginning to produce horror films and none more prominent than the Prana Film production of Nosferatu (1922) where he played the titular role of Count Orlok. Created by F.W.Murnau, the film was based on the book Dracula by Bram Stoker with Count Orlok being the vampire in question although his features differ from Dracula as he had rat like features and slept in a coffin filled with soil that carried diseases which was utilised to spread the infamy akin to Black Death. Despite having none of the charm and had a different way to kill, Nosferatu is regarded as one of the most iconic vampire movies that has ever been produced and lauded for Schreck's ability to strike terror into the hearts of the audience as Count Orlok. The movie also inspired the making of The Shadow Of The Vampire (2000) played by Willem Dafoe and the novel Anno Dracula (1992) where Count Orlok is depicted as a member of the German armed forces