Paul Wegener (11 December 1874 â€" 13 September 1948) was a German
actor, writer, and film director known for his pioneering role in
German expressionist cinema.At the age of 20, Wegener decided to end
his law studies and concentrate on acting, touring the provinces
before joining Max Reinhardt's acting troupe in 1906. In 1912, he
turned to the new medium of motion pictures and appeared in the 1913
version of The Student of Prague. It was while making this film that
he first heard the old Jewish legend of the Golem and proceeded to
adapt the story to film, co-directing and co-writing the script with
Henrik Galeen. His first version of the tale The Golem (1915, now
lost) was a success and firmly established Wegener's reputation. In
1917, he made a parody of the story called Der Golem und die
Tänzerin, but it was his reworking of the tale, The Golem: How He
Came into the World (1920) which stands as one of the classics of
German cinema and helped to cement Wegener's place in cinematic
history.Another of his early films was Der Yoghi (1916), in which he
played the role of a yogi and young inventor, and which provided him
with the opportunity to accommodate three of his interests, trick
photography (it was one of the first films to feature invisibility),
the supernatural and Eastern mysticism.
actor, writer, and film director known for his pioneering role in
German expressionist cinema.At the age of 20, Wegener decided to end
his law studies and concentrate on acting, touring the provinces
before joining Max Reinhardt's acting troupe in 1906. In 1912, he
turned to the new medium of motion pictures and appeared in the 1913
version of The Student of Prague. It was while making this film that
he first heard the old Jewish legend of the Golem and proceeded to
adapt the story to film, co-directing and co-writing the script with
Henrik Galeen. His first version of the tale The Golem (1915, now
lost) was a success and firmly established Wegener's reputation. In
1917, he made a parody of the story called Der Golem und die
Tänzerin, but it was his reworking of the tale, The Golem: How He
Came into the World (1920) which stands as one of the classics of
German cinema and helped to cement Wegener's place in cinematic
history.Another of his early films was Der Yoghi (1916), in which he
played the role of a yogi and young inventor, and which provided him
with the opportunity to accommodate three of his interests, trick
photography (it was one of the first films to feature invisibility),
the supernatural and Eastern mysticism.
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