Willi Wolff
Willi Wolff ( * April 16, 1883 in Nice (Elbe ); † 6 April 1947, Nice, France ) was a German lyricist, screenwriter, film director and film producer.
Life and work
After training he studied medicine and philosophy and a doctorate in both subjects. After that, he was a dentist in Berlin. For Rudolf Nelson, he wrote songs on the side, who came to the performance in revues at the Admiral Palace and the theater at Nollendorfplatz. When war broke out in 1914 he also wrote patriotic lyrics.
Since 1917 he worked as a title clerk for Paul Davidson's production company PAGU. Soon after, he was active as a writer, but also wrote lyrics continue, among other things, for the revues of Herman Haller.
With the actress Ellen Richter, whom he married in 1923, he made in the 20s a solid team. As a screenwriter, director and producer, he made them the centerpiece of his adventures and sensational films while he preferred exotic venues.
1933 his Jewish wife was busy with drama ban. Wolff went on for some time in the movie business, most recently as a producer for Riton movie. 1935 the couple emigrated to Vienna for three years, where Wolff worked as a dentist again. After the annexation of Austria in 1938, the two managed to escape to France. Again, Wolff was active in his profession studied. After the invasion of the Wehrmacht Wolff and Ellen Richter fled in late 1940 via Lisbon to the U.S. and settled in New York. There, Wolff began to study again to acquire the U.S. doctoral degrees.
Wolff died of a heart attack in early April 1947 in a hotel in Nice at the beginning of a trip to Europe, which he had taken with his wife.