German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K 1481. Photo: A. (Alex) Binder, Berlin.
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1601. Photo: A. (Alex) Binder, Berlin.
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K 3036. Photo: Mac Walten, Berlin.
German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-Sterne series, no. 517/4. Photo: Eiko-Film. Hedda Vernon, Paul Westermeier and probably Ferry Sikla in Die Narbe am Knie (Hubert Moest, 1917).
German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden Deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 38, group 43. Photo: Paul Westermeier, Hanne Brinkmann and Hans Albers in Baroneßchen auf Strafurlaub/Little Baroness on Punishment Holiday (Otto Rippert, 1917). Caption: "Paul Westermeier 'hantelt', Hans Albers darf in einer kleinen Nebenrolle Hanne Brinkmann in die Wange kneifen". (Paul Westermeier 'works out', Hans Albers - in a small secondary role - is allowed to pinch Hanne Brinkmann in the cheek.)
Well-known star in operettas and revues
Paul Westermeier was born Paul Ernst Westemeier in 1892 in Berlin. He was the son of the labourer (or civil servant - the sources differ) Engelbert Westemeier and his wife Luise, née Nagora. In his youth, he tried his hand as a clown and fire-eater for the circus Schumann and played in the school theatre club.
He left school before his A-levels and took acting lessons with Moritz Zeisler at the Königliches Schauspielhaus (the Royal Theatre) and Maria Seebach at her acting school. He made his debut at the Königliches Schauspielhaus at the age of 17. In 1909 he received his first engagement as jeune premier in Stralsund.
In the next two years, he worked in Plauen and Magdeburg. In 1911 he moved to Hamburg, and the following year to Bremen, where he appeared as Romeo in 'Romeo and Juliet'. From 1913, he performed on Berlin stages, particularly at the Metropol-Theater, the Theater im Admiralspalast and the Thalia-Theater.
Westermeier also appeared in silent films. He made his film debut in Sondi hat Pech/Sondi has Bad Luck (Ludwig Czerny, Emil Sondermann, 1915) with Emil Sondermann as Sondi. Soon followed more silent films such as the crime film Die Hochzeit im Excentricclub/Wedding in the Eccentric Club (Joe May, 1917) starring Harry Liedtke as detective Joe Deebs, and the comedy Agnes Arnau und ihre drei Freier/Agnes Arnau and Her Three Suitors (Rudolf Biebrach, 1918) starring Henny Porten and Hermann Thimig.
He became a well-known star in operettas and revues during the 1920s. He appeared in operettas such as 'Maske in Blau' (Mask in Blue), 'Die lustige Witwe'(The Merry Widow), 'Hochzeitsnacht im Paradies' (Wedding Night in Paradise) and as Lothar in 'Ein Walzertraum' (A Waltz Dream) as well as Giesecke in 'Im weißen Rößl' (The White Horse Inn). Several times he was Lotte Werkmeister's partner.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 128/1. Photo: Aafa Film. Paul Westermeier in Der Bettelstudent/The Beggar Student (Victor Janson, 1931). It is one of the many film adaptations of the eponymous operetta 'Der Bettelstudent' (1882) by Karl Millöcker. In 1927 there was for instance a silent version with Hans Junkermann as Colonel Ollendorf.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 128/4. Photo: Aafa Film. Jarmila Novotná, Paul Westermeier and Hans Heinz Bollmann in Der Bettelstudent/The Beggar Student (Victor Janson, 1931).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 141/5, 1931-1932. Photo: Ufa. Hans Albers, Paul Hörbiger, Paul Westermeier and Genia Nikolaieva in Quick (Robert Siodmak, 1931).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 7847/1, 1932-1933. Photo: Ufa. Liane Haid and Paul Westermeier in Der Stern von Valencia/The Star of Valencia (Alfred Zeisler, 1933).
The grumpy Berliner
During the 1920s, Paul Westermeier gradually became a comedian. He appeared as an important supporting actor in such films as Der dumme August des Zirkus Romanelli/Circus Romanelli (Georg Jacoby, 1926) starring Reinhold Schünzel, and Eine tolle Nacht/A Crazy Night (Richard Oswald, 1927) starring Ossi Oswalda and Harry Liedtke.
He became a typical bit-part actor in the sound era, appearing in over 200 films. He usually played the somewhat grumpy man next door, often with a Berlin flair, such as the innkeeper Hentschke in Berlin-Alexanderplatz (Phil Jutzi, 1931) starring Heinrich George, and as Clock in the comedy Quick (Robert Siodmak, 1932), starring Lilian Harvey. He also played the radio operator Jaul in the submarine drama Morgenrot/Dawn (Gustav Ucicky, 1933) and had an important part in the (lost) comedy April, April! (Detlef Sierck, 1934).
In the later 1930s he acted in he crime drama Sein bester Freund/His Best Friend (Harry Piel, 1937), and Der grüne Kaiser (Paul Mundorf, 1939). During the war, he appeared in minor roles in several Propaganda films such as Die Rothschilds/The Rotschilds (Erich Waschneck, 1940), Blutsbrüderschaft/Blood Brotherhood (Philipp Lothar Mayring, 1941) and Andreas Schlüter (Herbert Maisch, 1942). In 1944, he was on the Gottbegnadeten-Liste (List of Godsent) by the Reich Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda. That year he had the lead in Die Familie Buchholz/The Buchholz Family (Carl Froehlich, 1944) with Henny Porten.
After the Second World War, he was able to continue his career without any problems. He was even more strongly committed to the permanent role of the grumpy Berliner, for example as the captain and antagonist of Heinz Erhardt as a triplet, in Drillinge an Bord/Triplets on Board (Hans Müller, 1959). Sometimes, he played uncharacteristically quiet roles such as the driver in Sauerbruch - Das war mein Leben/The Life of Surgeon Sauerbruch (Rolf Hansen, 1954) with Ewald Balser and in Des Teufels General/The Devil's General (Helmut Käutner, 1955) starring Curd Jürgens.
Paul Westermeier continued to act on Berlin stages and also worked as a radio play narrator. He was married to former actress and singer Lotte Dobischinsky since 1936. In 1967, he received the Filmband in Gold for many years of outstanding work in German film. In 1972, Westermeier died in Berlin, at the age of 80. His grave is located in the Schöneberg III cemetery in Berlin.
West German postcard by Rüdel Verlag, Hamburg-Bergedorf. Photo: Carltonfilm / Europa. Paul Westermeier in Die verschwundene Miniatur / The Miniature that Disappeared (Carl-Heinz Schroth, 1954).
West German postcard by Rüdel Verlag, Hamburg-Bergedorf, no. 900. Photo: Arion / Deutsche London / Von Mindszenty. Paul Westermeier in Geld aus der Luft / Money from the Air (Géza von Cziffra, 1954).
West German postcard by Ufa/Film-Foto, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. P.W. 2. Photo: Peter Michael Michaelis / UFA.
West German postcard by Ufa/Film-Foto, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. P.W. 3. Photo: Peter Michael Michaelis / Ufa.
Sources: Stephanie D'heil (Steffi-Line - German), Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Wikipedia (German and English) and IMDb.
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