Harry Baur

Acting Apr 12, 1880 Apr 8, 1943 (aged 63) Montrouge, Seine [now Hauts-de-Seine], Île-de-France, France

Harry Baur (12 April 1880 – 8 April 1943) was a French actor.

Initially a stage actor, Baur appeared in about 80 films between 1909 and 1942. He gave an acclaimed performance as the composer Ludwig van Beethoven in the biopic Beethoven's Great Love (Un grand amour de Beethoven, 1936), directed by Abel Gance, and as Jean Valjean in Raymond Bernard's version of Les Misérables (1934). He also acted in Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset's silent film, Beethoven (1909), and in La voyante (1923), Sarah Bernhardt's last film.

In 1942, while in Berlin, to star in his last film Symphone eines Lebens, Baur's wife was arrested by the Gestapo and charged with espionage. His effort to secure her release led to his own arrest and torture. He was being falsely labelled as a Jew but confirmed freemason. He was released in April 1943, but died in Paris shortly after in mysterious circumstances.

Academy Award-winning American actor Rod Steiger cited Baur as one of his favorite actors who had exerted a major influence on his craft and career.

48 Acting Credits

Harry Baur

Acting

Les Misérables

Life Dances On

A Man's Head

Who Killed Santa Claus?

The Red Head

David Golder

The Golem

The Life and Loves of Beethoven

Volpone

Hatred

L'Assommoir

Golgotha

Sins of Youth

Rasputin

Crime and Punishment

African Diary

Sarati the Terrible

The Old Devil

The New Men

Moscow Nights

Samson

Moon over Morocco

Moscow Nights

The Three Musketeers