John Gottowt
John Gottowt (born Isidor Gesang; 15 June 1881 – 29 August 1942) was an Austrian actor, stage director and film director for theatres and silent movies.
Gottowt was born in Lemberg, Austria-Hungary (present-day Lviv, Ukraine) into a Jewish family. After his education in Vienna, he joined the Deutsches Theater in Berlin in 1905, working for Max Reinhardt as an actor and director. Gottowt was mainly active in different theatres in Berlin as a character actor and director.
His first silent film appearance was in Paul Wegener’s Der Student von Prag ("The Student of Prague") (1913). In 1920 he appeared in Robert Wiene's Genuine and took the main role in the early science fiction film Algol. In 1921 he played Professor Bulwer (Abraham van Helsing) in the classic silent film Nosferatu directed by F.W. Murnau.
Gottowt made also several films with his brother-in-law Henrik Galeen but, as a Jew, was banned in 1933 from working as a professional actor. After a few years in Denmark he moved to Kraków in Poland. He was murdered in 1942 by an SS officer while in hiding in Wieliczka, disguised as a Roman Catholic priest.
Acting
Movie
Nosferatu
as Professor Bulwer
1922
Movie
The Student of Prague
as Scapinelli - An Old Adventurer
1913
Movie
Waxworks
as Owner of the Waxworks
1924
Movie
Genuine: The Tragedy of a Vampire
as Guyard
1920
Movie
Algol: Tragedy of Power
as Algol
1920
Movie
The Living Dead
as Beamter des Mechanischen Museums
1932
Movie
Radiohead X Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror
as Professor Bulwer - ein Paracelsianer
2025
Movie
Morphium
1919
Movie
The Flight in the Night
as Bediensteter
1926
Movie
The Night of Queen Isabeau
as Buckliger Narr
1920
Movie
Das schwarze Los
as Brighella
1913
Movie
The Hunchback and the Dancer
as James Wilton
1920
Movie
Die Prinzessin von Neutralien
as The billionaire Vandergold
1917
Movie
Der schwarze Stern
1922
Movie
Brennendes Land
as Wladislaus
1921
Movie
Der rote Henker
as L'Angely
1920
Movie
The Twelfth Hour
as Sanitarium Doctor
1930
Movie
Peer Gynt - 1. Teil: Peer Gynts Jugend
1919