Ernst Legal
Ernst Otto Eduard Legal ( born 2 May 1881 in Schlieben, Saxony Province; † June 29, 1955 in Berlin- Zehlendorf ) was a German actor, director and theater manager.
Life
Ernst Legal, who worked on the stage as well as in film, worked in Darmstadt from 1924 to 1927 as a theater director. 1927/28, he was director in Kassel, 1931/32 at the State Theatre in Berlin and later at the Hebbel Theater in Berlin -Kreuzberg. From 1938 to 1944 he was director at Berlin's Schiller Theater. In the film, he was a popular supporting actor, who starred in 1936 in the movie street music for the first time in a leading role thanks to its striking facial features. Another major role was followed by 1937/38, in the film Meier Musketeer III.
1945-1952 Ernst was Legal Director of the Deutsche Staatsoper in Berlin. As a director of the East Berlin Deutsches Theater (1947-1951), a founding member of the League of Culture and with his support of the Berlin Volksbühne movement he exercised an important influence on the cultural life of the young GDR. He had his last major film role 1946/47, in the DEFA film No place for love. 1950 his work conditions were the Stalinization increasingly difficult and in the controversy about Bertolt Brecht opera The Trial of Lucullus, he joined in 1952 worn down from his position back. In a supporting role in Wolfgang Staudtes film of Straw (1951 ) was followed by some movie productions in West Germany, after his 100th film appearance in 1955 ended his legal career in film, however.
Legal was a member of the 1st and 2nd German People's Council.
Ernst Legal is the father of the 1908 born in Berlin, DEFA actress Marga ( Margaret ) Legal, which was because of her Jewish grandfather under National Socialism prohibition of work.
His tomb is located in the cemetery Zehlendorf.