Fritz Leiber

Born: 1882-01-29

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.


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Samson and Delilah

as Lord Sharif
Released: 1949-12-21

When strongman Samson rejects the love of the beautiful Philistine woman Delilah, she seeks...

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Phantom of the Opera

as Franz Liszt
Released: 1943-08-12

Following a tragic accident that leaves him disfigured, crazed composer Erique Claudin...

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Scarlet Street

as Evangelist (uncredited)
Released: 1945-12-25

Cashier and part-time starving artist Christopher Cross is absolutely smitten with the beautiful...

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Monsieur Verdoux

as Father Fareaux
Released: 1947-09-26

The film is about an unemployed banker, Henri Verdoux, and his sociopathic methods of attaining...

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame

as Old Nobleman
Released: 1939-12-29

Paris, France, 1482. Frollo, Chief Justice of benevolent King Louis XI, gets infatuated by the...

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A Tale of Two Cities

as Gaspard
Released: 1935-12-25

The exciting story of Dr. Manette, who escapes the horrors of the infamous Bastille prison in...

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The Sea Hawk

as Inquisitor
Released: 1940-08-10

Dashing pirate Geoffrey Thorpe plunders Spanish ships for Queen Elizabeth I and falls in love...

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Humoresque

as Hagerstrom
Released: 1947-01-25

A classical musician from a working class background is sidetracked by his love for a wealthy,...

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The Prince and the Pauper

as Father Andrew
Released: 1937-04-30

Two boys – the prince Edward and the pauper Tom – are born on the same day. Years later, when...

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The Story of Louis Pasteur

as Dr. Charbonnet
Released: 1936-02-22

A true story about Louis Pasteur, who revolutionized medicine by proving that much disease is...

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The Spanish Main

as Bishop
Released: 1945-10-01

Laurent van Horn is the leader of a band of Dutch refugees on a ship seeking freedom in the...

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The Web

as Leopold Kroner
Released: 1947-06-04

A brash young lawyer takes a short-term, high-paying job as bodyguard for a slick business exec...

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A Scandal in Paris

as Painter
Released: 1946-07-19

A smooth-talking French thief wangles his way into an important position as prefect of police.

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All This, and Heaven Too

as Abbe Gallard
Released: 1940-07-05

When lovely and virtuous governess Henriette Deluzy comes to educate the children of the...

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Angel on My Shoulder

as Chemist Who Poisoned Wife (uncredited)
Released: 1946-09-20

The Devil arranges for a deceased gangster to return to Earth as a well-respected judge to make...

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Cobra Woman

as uncredited
Released: 1944-05-12

A man (Jon Hall) tracks his kidnapped bride (Maria Montez) to a jungle island, where her twin is...

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Aloma of the South Seas

as High Priest
Released: 1941-08-27

A young South Seas native boy is sent to the U.S. for his education and returns to his island...

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Devil's Doorway

as Mr. Poole
Released: 1950-09-15

A Native American Civil War hero returns home to fight for his people.

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Inner Sanctum

as Dr. Valonius
Released: 1948-10-15

A killer hides out in a small-town boarding house.

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The Way of All Flesh

as Max
Released: 1940-07-05

Paul Kriza is a cashier of a bank in a small town, and the happy husband of Anna and the father...

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Bagdad

as Emir
Released: 1949-11-23

An Arab sheik's daughter (Maureen O'Hara) avenges his death, blamed on Hassan (Paul Christian)...

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Crossroads

as Foreign Minister Deval (uncredited)
Released: 1942-07-23

A French diplomat who's recovered from amnesia is blackmailed over crimes he can't remember.

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Dangerous Venture

as Chief Xeoli
Released: 1947-05-23

Sue Morgan gets Hoppy and his friends to join their expedition looking for Indian artifacts....

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Pack Up Your Troubles

as Pierre Ferrand
Released: 1939-10-24

Three American soldiers help a young girl deliver a secret message across enemy lines.

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Another Part of the Forest

as Col. Isham
Released: 1948-05-18

This 'prequel' to The Little Foxes tells how the ruthless members of the old-South Hubbard...

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Gateway

as Dr. Weilander
Released: 1938-08-05

Irish immigrant meets returning war correspondent on a liner bound for New York. When she...

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First Comes Courage

as Dr. Aanrud
Released: 1943-07-29

Merle Oberon plays a Norwegian resistance figure in a small town, married to a Nazi commandant....

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Flight Into Nowhere

as Ti-Ana
Released: 1938-04-19

When headstrong pilot Bill Kellogg disobeys orders and takes a plane to photograph potential...

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Youth Runs Wild

as Judge (uncredited)
Released: 1944-09-01

The teens of a defense-plant town hop on the road to juvenile delinquency while their parents...

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Bells of San Angelo

as Padre
Released: 1947-04-15

Gridley is mining silver from an old Mexican mine and bringing it into the USA thru a passage...

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Cry of the Werewolf

as Dr. Charles Morris (uncredited)
Released: 1944-08-17

A young gypsy girl turns into a wolf to destroy her enemies.

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They Made Her a Spy

as Dr. Krull
Released: 1939-04-14

When her brother is killed by sabotage, Irene Eaton (Sally Eilers) joins the secret service and...

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To the Ends of the Earth

as Binda Sha
Released: 1948-02-07

A treasury agent becomes obsessed with exposing an international drug ring.

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Anthony Adverse

as Ouvrard
Released: 1936-08-26

Based on the novel by Hervey Allen, this expansive drama follows the many adventures of the...

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Cleopatra

as Caesar
Released: 1917-10-14

The story of Cleopatra, the fabulous queen of Egypt, and the epic romances between her and the...

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The Jury's Secret

as John Morrow
Released: 1938-01-16

A reporter covering a murder trial guesses that the murderer of a ruthless businessman is her...

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Adventures of Casanova

as D'Anneci
Released: 1948-02-07

Casanova, a young patriot in 18th-century Sicily, upon learning that his father and sister have...

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Romeo and Juliet

as Mercutio
Released: 1916-10-19

Shakespeare's tragedy of two young people who fall desperately in love despite the ancient feud...

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If I Were King

as Louis XI
Released: 1920-08-09

J. Gordon Edwards silent adventure melodrama about a famous poet who is allowed to rule France...

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The Great Garrick

as Horatio in 'Hamlet'
Released: 1937-10-30

A British actor insults a French acting group only to fall victim to a prank that might destroy...

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This Love of Ours

as Dr. Bailey
Released: 1945-11-02

At a convention, medical researcher Michel Touzac goes with colleagues to see stage caricaturist...

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Strange Journey

as Prof. Jenner
Released: 1946-10-03

Reformed racketeer "Lucky" Leeds flees from the police when he thinks they are about to arrest...

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Bride of Vengeance

as Filippo
Released: 1949-04-07

The tiny independent duchy of Ferrara is located between Casare Borgia's Rome and Venice, and...

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Song of India

as Nanaram
Released: 1949-02-28

Jungle adventure drama about a young man and his wild animal friends attempting to thwart a...

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Nurse Edith Cavell

as Sadi Kirschen
Released: 1939-08-31

British nurse Edith Cavell is stationed at a hospital in Brussels during World War I. When the...

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Sins of Man

as Father Prior
Released: 1936-06-19

Austrian church bell ringer Freyman loves music and wants his two sons (both played by Ameche)...

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Hearts in Bondage

as Capt. John Ericsson
Released: 1936-05-26

Best friends Kenneth Reynolds and Raymond Jordan are U.S. Navy officers, and Kenneth is engaged...

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Lady with Red Hair

as Mr. Foster
Released: 1940-11-30

An actress hopes to regain her lost son by making it to the top.

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The Queen of Sheba

as King Solomon
Released: 1921-04-10

The story of the ill-fated romance between Solomon, king of Israel, and the Queen of Sheba.

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The Cisco Kid Returns

as The Padre
Released: 1945-02-16

After several years' dormancy, the "Cisco Kid" western-film series returned to the screen with...

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High Conquest

as Priest
Released: 1947-06-21

Love and adventure on the Matterhorn mountain.

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The Song of the Soul

as Jerry Wendover
Released: 1920-10-05

Jerry Wendover, disfigured since childhood after his act of heroism in saving a little girl from...

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Champagne Waltz

as Franz Strauss
Released: 1937-02-05

In Vienna, a new jazz club featuring American trumpeter Buzzy Bellew threatens the existence of...

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