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Biography

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.

Known For

6.4

Professor Bulwer - ein Paracelsianer

Radiohead X Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror

2025

5.8

Beamter des Mechanischen Museums

The Living Dead

1932

0.0

Sanitarium Doctor

The Twelfth Hour

1930

0.0

Bediensteter

The Flight in the Night

1926

6.4

Owner of the Waxworks

Waxworks

1924

🎬

0.0

Der schwarze Stern

1922

7.7

Professor Bulwer

Nosferatu

1922

🎬

0.0

Wladislaus

Brennendes Land

1921

🎬

0.0

Buckliger Narr

The Night of Queen Isabeau

1920

6.3

Algol

Algol: Tragedy of Power

1920

Credits

Radiohead X Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror

as Professor Bulwer - ein Paracelsianer

2025

6.4

The Living Dead

as Beamter des Mechanischen Museums

1932

5.8

The Twelfth Hour

as Sanitarium Doctor

1930

0.0

The Flight in the Night

as Bediensteter

1926

0.0

Waxworks

as Owner of the Waxworks

1924

6.4

🎬

Der schwarze Stern

1922

0.0

Nosferatu

as Professor Bulwer

1922

7.7

🎬

Brennendes Land

as Wladislaus

1921

0.0

🎬

The Night of Queen Isabeau

as Buckliger Narr

1920

0.0

Algol: Tragedy of Power

as Algol

1920

6.3

Genuine: The Tragedy of a Vampire

as Guyard

1920

5.5

The Hunchback and the Dancer

as James Wilton

1920

0.0

🎬

Der rote Henker

as L'Angely

1920

0.0

🎬

Peer Gynt - 1. Teil: Peer Gynts Jugend

1919

0.0

Morphium

1919

0.0

Die Prinzessin von Neutralien

as The billionaire Vandergold

1917

0.0

Das schwarze Los

as Brighella

1913

0.0

The Student of Prague

as Scapinelli - An Old Adventurer

1913

6.0