Oskar Homolka
From Alfred Hitchcock Wiki
 |
- born: 12/Aug/1898 (Vienna, Austria)
- died: 27/Jan/1978 (Sussex, England, UK) - pneumonia
Biography
Oscar Homolka was an Austrian Jewish film and theatre actor. Holmoka's strong European accent, stocky appearance, bushy eyebrows and rather Slavic-sounding name led many to believe he was Eastern European or Russian, but he was born in Vienna.
Homolka started his career on the Austrian stage, and success there led to work in the much more prestigious German theatrical community in Munich and Berlin. His first movies were the German productions "Die Abenteuer eines Zehnmarkscheins" (The Adventures of a Ten Mark Note, 1926) and "Hokuspokus" (Hocuspocus, 1930). After the Nazi rise to power, he emigrated to Britain and later was one of many Jewish actors and theatrical people who fled Europe for the U.S.
In 1936 he acted in Alfred Hitchcock's "Sabotage". Although he often played villainous roles – Communist spies, Soviet-bloc military officers or scientists and the like – he was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of the crusty uncle in "I Remember Mama" (1948). Homolka also acted with Marilyn Monroe in "The Seven Year Itch", with Ronald Reagan in "Prisoner of War" and with Katharine Hepburn in "The Madwoman of Chaillot". He returned to England in the mid-1960s, chalking up two eye-catching turns as the Russian heavy in "Funeral in Berlin" (1967) and "The Billion Dollar Brain" (1968). His last film was the Blake Edwards romantic drama "The Tamarind Seed" in 1974.
Filmography
With Hitchcock...
- Sabotage (1936) - cast: Karl Anton Verloc
- Alfred Hitchcock Presents - Reward to Finder (10/Nov/1957) - cast: Carl Kaminsky
- Alfred Hitchcock Presents - The Ikon of Elijah (10/Jan/1960) - cast: Carpius
- Alfred Hitchcock Presents - The Hero (01/May/1960) - cast: Jan Vander Klaue
Links
Articles
Image Gallery
Images from the Hitchcock Gallery (click to view larger versions or search for all relevant images)...