John Gottowt

Acting

John Gottowt

Born 1881-06-15 · Lemberg, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Lviv, Ukraine]

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.

Acting credits

Nosferatu poster
7.7

The mysterious Count Orlok summons a happily married real estate agent to his castle, located up in the Transylvanian mountains, to finalise a terrifying deal.

Nosferatu

1922

Parisian Women poster
10.0

Parisian Women (German: *Pariserinnen*) is a 1921 German silent film directed by Léo Lasko. Ressel Orla, Xenia Desni, and Ralph Arthur Roberts starred in the film. The film premiered at the Marmorhaus cinema in Berlin.

Parisian Women

1921

The Student of Prague poster
6.1

Prague, Bohemia, 1820. Balduin, a penniless student, falls in love with Countess Margit, a wealthy noblewoman whom he has saved from drowning.

The Student of Prague

1913

Algol: Tragedy of Power poster
6.5

An alien from the planet Algol gives a man a device that creates enough energy to power the entire world.

Algol: Tragedy of Power

1920

Waxworks poster
6.4

A poet is hired by the owner of a wax museum in a circus to write tales about Harun al Raschid, Ivan the Terrible and Jack the Ripper. While writing, the poet and the daughter of the owner, Eva, fantasize the fantastic stories and fall in love for each other.

Waxworks

1924

The Living Dead poster
6.6

A crazed scientist murders his wife, walls her up, then flees. A reporter sets out to track him down. Remake of Unheimliche Geschichten (Richard Oswald, 1919).

The Living Dead

1932

Genuine: The Tragedy of a Vampire poster
5.5

Since completing a portrait of Genuine, a high priestess, Percy becomes irritable and withdrawn. He loses interest in painting and refuses to see his friends, preferring to spend his time alone with the portrait in his study. After turning down a wealthy patron's offer to buy the picture, Percy falls asleep while reading stories of Genuine's life. Genuine comes to life from the painting and escapes.

Genuine: The Tragedy of a Vampire

1920

The Hunchback and the Dancer poster
7.0

Wilton, a hunchback, who was always scorned and ridiculed by women, returns from Java a rich man after having discovered a diamond mine. He romances Gina, who is on the rebound from a broken affair, and showers her with expensive gifts. After Gina reconciles with her boyfriend, she continues to see Wilton because of what he gives her. After he discovers her perfidy, Wilton develops a poison and mixes it into her lipstick, which will kill any man who kisses her.

The Hunchback and the Dancer

1920

Das schwarze Los poster
10.0

About members of a Commedia dell'arte troupe . Initially cheerful, later tragic events in a triangular relationship consisting of the classic Commedia triumvirate Pierrot, Colombina and Arlecchino.

Das schwarze Los

1913

Radiohead X Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror poster
6.4

This special presentation of Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (1922) pairs the original silent film with Radiohead’s “KID A (2000) / Amnesiac (2001) as its score, courtesy of Silents Synced. Silents Synced pairs classic silent movies with epic rock music, partnering with independent cinemas to create memorable, new silent film experiences. "Nosferatu x Radiohead: A Silents Synced Film" is directed and remixed by Josh Frank.

Radiohead X Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror

2025

The Flight in the Night poster
NR

Based on the play Henry IV by Luigi Pirandello. Conrad Veidt plays Count di Nolli, a nobleman who, after a head injury, imagines he is the medieval emperor. His friends and relatives choose to play along, dressing up as medieval courtiers, but is di Nolli truly mad, or just pretending? The art direction was by Hermann Warm. It was shot on location in Italy. 6 acts, 1856 meters.

The Flight in the Night

1926

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Brennendes Land

1921

No artwork available
8.0

The film depicts the marriage between the mad Charles VI of France and his wife Queen Isabeau.

The Night of Queen Isabeau

1920

No artwork available
NR

Based on Henrik Ibsen's play.

Peer Gynt - 1. Teil: Peer Gynts Jugend

1919

No artwork available
NR

Crime movie about a mysterious underground cult culminating in a prison revolt.

Der schwarze Stern

1922

Morphium poster
9.0

No synopsis available yet.

Morphium

1919

The Twelfth Hour poster
NR

A version of Nosferatu to which sound was added. Some scenes were left out and new ones were added including a different ending. Additionally all the characters names were changed.

The Twelfth Hour

1930

No artwork available
NR

France in the first half of the 17th century, at the time of the Duke and all-powerful Cardinal Richelieu. The courtesan Marion Delorme falls in love with the nobleman Didier de Lassigny, although she is still with another nobleman at the time, the Marquis de Saverny. Marion then leaves the Marquis. This leads to a duel between the two aristocratic gentlemen, although duels were strictly forbidden in these circles by Richelieu. When this becomes known, Didier is put in chains and sentenced to death. Marion sacrifices herself for the sake of her new love, but the sacrifice is in vain. Didier, who refused to flee, is finally beheaded by order of the "red executioner" Richelieu.

Der rote Henker

1920

Die Prinzessin von Neutralien poster
8.0

Billionaire's daughter Ethel Vandergolt has rejected so many lovers that they set up a club to get revenge on her.

Die Prinzessin von Neutralien

1917

Behind the camera