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.
Nosferatu
as Professor BulwerThe mysterious Count Orlok summons Thomas Hutter to his remote Transylvanian castle in the...
Movie pageNosferatu: The First Vampire
as Professor Bulwer - ein ParacelsianerThe horror classic, Nosferatu, remastered with a soundtrack by Type-O Negative and hosted by...
Movie pageThe Student of Prague
as Scapinelli - An Old AdventurerPrague, Bohemia, 1820. Balduin, a penniless student, falls in love with Countess Margit, a...
Movie pageWaxworks
as Owner of the WaxworksA poet is hired by the owner of a wax museum in a circus to write tales about Harun al Raschid,...
Movie pageGenuine: The Tragedy of a Vampire
as GuyardSince completing a portrait of Genuine, a high priestess, Percy becomes irritable and withdrawn....
Movie pageAlgol: Tragedy of Power
as AlgolAn alien from the planet Algol gives a man a device that creates enough energy to power the...
Movie pageThe Living Dead
as Beamter des Mechanischen MuseumsA crazed scientist murders his wife, walls her up, then flees. A reporter sets out to track him...
Movie pageThe Hunchback and the Dancer
as James WiltonWilton, a hunchback, who was always scorned and ridiculed by women, returns from Java a rich man...
Movie pageThe Flight in the Night
as BediensteterBased on the play Henry IV by Luigi Pirandello. Conrad Veidt plays Count di Nolli, a nobleman...
Movie pageDas schwarze Los
as uncreditedAbout members of a Commedia dell'arte troupe . Initially cheerful, later tragic events in a...
Movie pageThe Twelfth Hour
as Sanitarium DoctorA version of Nosferatu to which sound was added. Some scenes were left out and new ones were...
Movie pageDie Prinzessin von Neutralien
as The billionaire VandergoldBillionaire's daughter Ethel Vandergolt has rejected so many lovers that they set up a club to...
Movie page