Torben Emil Meyer (1 December 1884 â€" 22 May 1975) was a
Danish-American character actor who appeared in more than 190 films in
a 55-year career.Meyer was born in Aarhus, Denmark and began his
career as a stage actor in Denmark. He appeared in his first silent
movie, Vor tids dame in 1912 and made twenty more before making Don
Quixote in 1926. This movie achieved considerable international
stature, and Meyer followed the migration of leading European actors
to Hollywood the following year. His first American role was as a spy
in the silent movie The Man Who Laughs starring Conrad Veidt in 1928.
Meyer arrived just when the transition to sound was in progress. In
contrast to many other European-born actors, his thick accent became
an asset for him. He appeared uncredited in numerous movies throughout
the 1930s and 1940s, almost always cast as a German.In 1930, Meyer
received a small part in a Michael Curtiz film A Soldier's Plaything,
and in 1932, Meyer appeared in two Swedish language American films,
Trådlöst och kärleksfullt and Halvvägs till Himlen. Later that
year, he had a small part in Murders in the Rue Morgue, based on the
Edgar Allan Poe short story which starring Bela Lugosi.Meyer had small
parts as waiters in five different movies during 1932; in German
émigré director Ernst Lubitsch's film Broken Lullaby starring Lionel
Barrymore, in George Cukor's What Price Hollywood?, where he plays a
waiter in the famous Hollywood restaurant 'The Brown Derby', in
Downstairs starring Paul Lukas, in Mervyn LeRoy's Big City Blues
starring Joan Blondell and in The Match King. Also that year, he had a
small part in The Animal Kingdom starring Leslie Howard.
Danish-American character actor who appeared in more than 190 films in
a 55-year career.Meyer was born in Aarhus, Denmark and began his
career as a stage actor in Denmark. He appeared in his first silent
movie, Vor tids dame in 1912 and made twenty more before making Don
Quixote in 1926. This movie achieved considerable international
stature, and Meyer followed the migration of leading European actors
to Hollywood the following year. His first American role was as a spy
in the silent movie The Man Who Laughs starring Conrad Veidt in 1928.
Meyer arrived just when the transition to sound was in progress. In
contrast to many other European-born actors, his thick accent became
an asset for him. He appeared uncredited in numerous movies throughout
the 1930s and 1940s, almost always cast as a German.In 1930, Meyer
received a small part in a Michael Curtiz film A Soldier's Plaything,
and in 1932, Meyer appeared in two Swedish language American films,
Trådlöst och kärleksfullt and Halvvägs till Himlen. Later that
year, he had a small part in Murders in the Rue Morgue, based on the
Edgar Allan Poe short story which starring Bela Lugosi.Meyer had small
parts as waiters in five different movies during 1932; in German
émigré director Ernst Lubitsch's film Broken Lullaby starring Lionel
Barrymore, in George Cukor's What Price Hollywood?, where he plays a
waiter in the famous Hollywood restaurant 'The Brown Derby', in
Downstairs starring Paul Lukas, in Mervyn LeRoy's Big City Blues
starring Joan Blondell and in The Match King. Also that year, he had a
small part in The Animal Kingdom starring Leslie Howard.
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