ALBERT BASSERMANN

Albert Bassermann was a German actor from the 1910s to the 1940s. He was a very successful German stage and screen actor from the 1910s on. In 1908, he had married Elisabeth Sara Schiff, an actress who became Elsa Bassermann, and they often appeared together. In 1939, because his wife was Jewish, the Bassermanns went first to Switzerland and then to the United States. In 1940, at the age of 72, Bassermann successfully reinvented himself as a Hollywood character actor, and he appeared in a number of movies until his passing. His wife survived him and passed away in 1961. Some of his American movies include: Rhapsody in Blue, New Wine, and Foreign Correspondent (nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for this film). He passed away in 1952 at the age of 84.