Mischa Auer
Mischa Auer, actually Russian Михаил Унсковский / Mikhail Unskowski, also Ounskowsky; * ( 4 Novemberjul / 17 November 1905greg in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire, .. † 5 March 1967 in Rome, Italy) was an American film and theater actor of Russian origin.
Life
Mischa Auer comes from a distinguished Russian family: His grandfather was the Austria -Hungarian violinist Leopold Auer, whose family name Mikhail Unskowski accepted after he had established himself in the 1920s in the United States. His father, a Russian naval officer who fell in the autumn of 1905 in the Russo- Japanese War, which the family had financial problems. As a result of the October Revolution, the family lost in November 1917 their possessions; they became homeless. Thus, the twelve year-old boy for a short time had to live with other homeless boy on the streets until he was reunited with his mother after she found work as a nurse. But Lenin's dream of a " better future" did not apply to the family so that they emigrated to Turkey in early 1918. In Constantinople Opel ill Auer mother of typhus and died a short time later. The boy should even have even dug her grave by its own account.
Auer now went on tour and met in Italy on his grandfather Leopold Auer, who took his grandson to New York City. He encouraged him to try it as a musician, so he attended a specialized school in New York and over time mastered many instruments including violin and piano. The mid-1920s came Auer also with acting in touch and stood in February 1925 for the first time on Broadway on stage. Mischa Auer was so far a remarkable actor, as he in addition to his native Russian five languages fluently, including German, Italian and Spanish. Only three years after its Broadway debut, in 1928, he made his film debut in Something Always Happens by director Frank Tuttle.
In 1936, he stood in front of the camera My husband Godfrey and in 1937 was nominated in the category Best Supporting Actor for the Oscar. In the same year he played under Henry Koster in the musical comedy 100 men and a girl, and in 1938, directed by Frank Capra in the art of living with. In the 1940s and 1950s, Auer was in many film comedies front of the camera. His Russian appearance helped him always to Russian character roles. The mid- 1950s, when Paramount Pictures decided to produce Hollywood films in cheaper European studios, Auer moved with his family to Salzburg, Austria, where he lived for several years and participated in mostly French films. His most famous film from this period is the twisted thriller Mr. Arkadin in 1955 by director Orson Welles.
In 1957 Auer suffered a mild heart attack, from which he quickly recovered, however. He continued his career further, and stood still as an actor before the camera. Ten years later, in March 1967, followed by a second infarction, died at the Auer at the age of 61 years in Rome. His body was transferred to New York, where he was buried in Gloversville ( Fulton County). Mischa Auer was married four times. His first marriage, he led from 1931 to 1940 with Norma Tillman. The couple had two children, son Anthony and daughter Zoe. Between 1941 and 1950, Auer was married to Joyce Hunter, and in the 1950s with Susan Kalish, with whom he had his third child. Last time was from 1965 until his death Elise Souls Lee his wife.