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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
January 29, 1882
Died
October 14, 1949
Place of Birth
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Also Known As
- Fritz Lieber
- Fritz Reuter Leiber Sr.
Fritz Leiber
0.5 Popularity
Biography
Fritz Reuter Leiber Sr. was an American actor. A Shakespearean actor on stage, he also had a successful career in film. He was the father of science fiction and fantasy writer Fritz Leiber Jr., who was also an actor for a time. Leiber and his wife spent much of their time touring in a Shakespearean acting company, known by the 1930s as Fritz Leiber & Co. Leiber made his film bow in 1916, playing Mercutio in the Francis X. Bushman version of “Romeo and Juliet.” With his piercing eyes and shock of white hair, Leiber seemed every inch the priests, professors, musical professors, and religious fanatics that he was frequently called upon to play in films. His many silent-era portrayals included Caesar in Theda Bara's 1917 “Cleopatra” and Solomon in the mammoth 1921 Betty Blythe vehicle “The Queen of Sheba.” He thrived as a character actor in sound films, usually in historical roles. In the film “Champagne Waltz” he portrayed an orchestra maestro; the role required him to play classical music on a violin and jazz on a clarinet. One of Leiber's larger assignments of the 1940s, and his most notable musical role, was as Franz Liszt in the Claude Rains' remake of “Phantom of the Opera” (1943). Leiber appears together with his son Fritz Leiber Jr. in the wedding-feast scene of Greta Garbo's film “Camille” (1936) and in Warner Bros.' “The Great Garrick” (1937). Leiber also appeared with his son Fritz Leiber Jr. in “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1939), but Fritz Leiber Jr. was not credited for his small speaking part. Late in his career, Leiber performed briefly opposite Charles Chaplin as the priest who visits Monsieur Verdoux in his prison cell.
Known For
6.9
Mr. Poole
Devil's Doorway
1950
6.5
Lord Sharif
Samson and Delilah
1949
5.6
Emir
Bagdad
1949
4.5
Filippo
Bride of Vengeance
1949
4.0
Nanaram
Song of India
1949
5.0
Dr. Valonius
Inner Sanctum
1948
7.6
Col. Isham
Another Part of the Forest
1948
5.0
D'Anneci
Adventures of Casanova
1948
5.7
Binda Sha
To the Ends of the Earth
1948
7.7
Father Fareaux
Monsieur Verdoux
1947
Credits
Devil's Doorway
as Mr. Poole
1950
6.9
Samson and Delilah
as Lord Sharif
1949
6.5
Bagdad
as Emir
1949
5.6
Bride of Vengeance
as Filippo
1949
4.5
Song of India
as Nanaram
1949
4.0
Inner Sanctum
as Dr. Valonius
1948
5.0
Another Part of the Forest
as Col. Isham
1948
7.6
Adventures of Casanova
as D'Anneci
1948
5.0
To the Ends of the Earth
as Binda Sha
1948
5.7
Monsieur Verdoux
as Father Fareaux
1947
7.7
High Conquest
as Priest
1947
0.0
The Web
as Leopold Kroner
1947
7.0
Dangerous Venture
as Chief Xeoli
1947
4.0
Bells of San Angelo
as Padre
1947
4.1
Humoresque
as Hagerstrom
1947
7.0
Strange Journey
as Prof. Jenner
1946
6.0
Angel on My Shoulder
as Chemist Who Poisoned Wife (uncredited)
1946
6.4
A Scandal in Paris
as Painter
1946
6.4
Scarlet Street
as Evangelist (uncredited)
1945
7.6
This Love of Ours
as Dr. Bailey
1945
5.7
The Spanish Main
as Bishop
1945
6.3
The Cisco Kid Returns
as The Padre
1945
7.0
Youth Runs Wild
as Judge (uncredited)
1944
4.2
Cry of the Werewolf
as Dr. Charles Morris (uncredited)
1944
4.6
Cobra Woman
1944
5.2
Phantom of the Opera
as Franz Liszt
1943
6.2
First Comes Courage
as Dr. Aanrud
1943
6.6
Crossroads
as Foreign Minister Deval (uncredited)
1942
5.8
Aloma of the South Seas
as High Priest
1941
6.2
Lady with Red Hair
as Mr. Foster
1940
6.5
The Sea Hawk
as Inquisitor
1940
7.2
All This, and Heaven Too
as Abbe Gallard
1940
7.2
The Way of All Flesh
as Max
1940
4.1
Pack Up Your Troubles
as Pierre Ferrand
1939
6.2
Nurse Edith Cavell
as Sadi Kirschen
1939
6.4
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
as Old Nobleman
1939
7.3
They Made Her a Spy
as Dr. Krull
1939
5.7
Gateway
as Dr. Weilander
1938
6.5
Flight Into Nowhere
as Ti-Ana
1938
4.0
The Jury's Secret
as John Morrow
1938
4.0
The Great Garrick
as Horatio in 'Hamlet'
1937
5.9
The Prince and the Pauper
as Father Andrew
1937
6.8
🎬
Under Southern Stars
as Stonewall Jackson
1937
0.0
Champagne Waltz
as Franz Strauss
1937
0.0
Anthony Adverse
as Ouvrard
1936
5.7
Sins of Man
as Father Prior
1936
0.0
🎬
Down to the Sea
as Gregory Pappas
1936
4.5
Hearts in Bondage
as Capt. John Ericsson
1936
4.4
The Story of Louis Pasteur
as Dr. Charbonnet
1936
6.8
A Tale of Two Cities
as Gaspard
1935
6.8
The Queen of Sheba
as King Solomon
1921
0.0
The Song of the Soul
as Jerry Wendover
1920
0.0
If I Were King
as Louis XI
1920
0.0
Cleopatra
as Caesar
1917
4.2
Romeo and Juliet
as Mercutio
1916
0.0