Georg Alexander

Georg Alexander (1888-1945) was a German actor, director and producer. He belonged to the busiest actors of his time and his career continued smoothly till his death.


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 5157. Photo: Hegewald Film / Lux Film-Verleih.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5969/1, 1930-1931. Photo: H. Gärner / Eichberg-Film / SF. Marta Eggerth and Georg Alexander in Die Bräutigamswitwe/The widow of the groom (Richard Eichberg, 1931).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 6482/1, 1931-1932. Photo: Splendid-Film. Georg Alexander in Durchlaucht amüsiert sich (Conrad Wiene, 1932).


German postcard by Ross-Verlag, no. A 3368/1, 1941-1944. Photo: FDF / Herzog Verleiher-kreiz.


German postcard by Das Programm von Heute, Zeitschrift für Film und Theater G.m.b.H., Berlin. Licensed by Ross Verlag, Berlin. Photo: Bavaria.

Aud Egede Nissen

Georg (alternate name George) Alexander was born Werner Louis Georg Lueddeckens in Hannover, Germany in 1888. He made his theatrical debut in Halberstadt and then acted at various theatres in Hamburg, Hannover and from 1914 Berlin.

On stage and later in the film, his speciality was playing genteel bon vivants, fops and philistines. He made his film debut in 1915 in Der Schwiegervater seines Leutnants/The Father-in-law of His Lieutenant, followed by Sonne und Schatten/Sun and Shadow (Paul von Woringen, 1915).

In 1917 he married the Norwegian actress Aud Egede Nissen. Their son Georg Richter later also became a well-known actor in Norway.

With Aud Egede Nissen, he founded their own production company, the Egede-Nissen-Film Comp. mbH in Berlin in 1917. Their first film project was Die Geburt der Venus/The Birth of Venus (Georg Alexander, 1917).

Till 1919, Georg Alexander directed and produced circa 30 silent films.


German postcard by Photochemie, no. K. 1965. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin.


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-Sterne series, no. 553/1. Photo: ENF (Egede-Nissen-Film). Aud Egede Nissen and Georg Alexander in the German silent film Die lachende Seele/The Laughing Soul (Georg Alexander, 1919).


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film Sterne series, no. 554/1. Photo: ENF (Egede-Nissen-Film). Gerd Egede-Nissen and Georg Alexander in the German silent film Die Rachegöttin (Georg Alexander, 1918).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 362/2, 1919-1924. Photo: Becker & Maass.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 382/1, 1919-1924. Photo: Becker & Maass.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no, 636/2. Photo: Messter Film. Henny Porten and Georg Alexander in the German silent comedy Die Fahrt ins Blaue (Rudolf Biebrach, 1919). The film was scripted by Hanns Kräly and cinematographed by Willy Gaebel.

Detective films

In 1919, Georg Alexander founded his own company Alexander-Film-GmbH with which he made sports films showing outstanding sporting performances. 

He himself was also active as a racing driver and jockey. He even set up a new record with a horse jump over the height of 1.85 meters.

in 1919 he also started to concentrate on acting again. Alexander often played in detective films like the adventure serial Der Mann ohne Namen/The Man Without a Name (Georg Jacoby, 1921). He played the comic role of detective Bobby Dodd alongside Harry Liedtke's master thief Peter Voss.

He also starred in such entertainment films and salon comedies as Lady Hamilton (Richard Oswald, 1921), Eifersucht/Jealousy (Karl Grune, 1925) starring Lya de Putti and Die Frau ohne Namen/The Woman Without a Name (Georg Jacoby, 1927).

Then he appeared in Venus im Frack/Venus in Tails (Robert Land, 1927), and Schwarzwaldmädel/Girl from the Black Woods (Victor Janson, 1929) with Liane Haid.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K.1966. Photo: A. Binder, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1373/1, 1927-1928. Photo: A. Binder, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1759/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Matador-Film.


German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin, no. 5074. Photo: Atelier B.J.G.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 5320/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Allianz-Film / Ufa. Georg Alexander and Brigitte Helm in Die singende Stadt/The Singing City (Carmine Gallone, 1930).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5368/1, 1930-1931. Photo: AAFA Film. Georg Alexander in Leutnant warst Du einst bei deinen Husaren/Love Comes But Once (Manfred Noa, 1930).

Distinguished bon vivant

In the 1930s Georg Alexander often appeared as a distinguished Bon Vivant or a snobbish nobleman in such comedies as Wie sag ich's meinem Mann/How Shall I Tell My Husband? (Reinhold Schünzel, 1932) with Liane Haid, and Die englische Heirat/The English Marriage (Reinhold Schünzel, 1934), in which he starred with Adele Sandrock.

He also played Archduke Peter Ferdinand in Liebeswalzer/The Love Waltz (Wilhelm Thiele, 1932) opposite Lilian Harvey and Willy Fritsch and Mamsell Nitouche/Miss Nitouche(Carl Lamac, 1932) with Anny Ondra.

Alexander also acted in such dramas as Der alte und der junge König/The Making of a King (Hans Steinhoff, 1935), Heimat/Magda (Carl Froelich, 1938) starring Zarah Leander and Der Kleinstadtpoet/The Poet of a Small Town (Josef von Baky, 1940).

During the war, he appeared in Frau Luna/Mistress Moon (Theo Lingen, 1942) with Lizzi Waldmüller. His last film was the very funny musical Die Frau meiner Träume/The Woman of My Dreams (Georg Jacoby, 1944) starring Marika Rökk. In total, Georg Alexander worked on more than 160 films.

Immediately after the end of the war, he became the artistic director of the Potsdam Schauspielhaus, which had been largely destroyed. Georg Alexander died in Berlin in 1945. In 1928 he was married in his third marriage to the film agent Ilse Brach. His gravesite at the Wilmersdorf cemetery in Berlin-Wilmersdorf was closed in 1960.


French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, no. 826. Georg Alexander in the German late silent film Ehestreik/Marriage Strike (Carl Boese, 1930).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 165/1. Photo: Ufa. Georg Alexander and Renate Müller in Wie sag ich's meinem Mann/How Shall I Tell My Husband? (Reinhold Schünzel, 1932).


Dutch postcard by Filma, no. 448. Georg Alexander and Liane Haid in Eine Frau wie Du/A Woman Like You (Carl Boese, 1933).


Dutch postcard by Filma, no. 461. Photo: publicity still of Liane Haid and Georg Alexander in the comedy Het meisje met de 4 verloofden/Eine Frau wie Du/A Woman Like You (Carl Boese, 1933).


Dutch postcard by City Film, no. 277. Lien Deyers and Georg Alexander in Ist mein Mann nicht fabelhaft?/Isn't My Husband Wonderful? (Georg Jacoby, 1933). Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 6148/1, 1931-1932.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 7312/1, 1932-1933. Photo: Renaissance Film. George Alexander in the German comedy crime film Flucht nach Nizza/The Escape to Nizza (James Bauer, 1933).

Sources: Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Filmportal, Wikipedia (German), and IMDb.

Die lachende Seele (1918)

Norwegian film actress Aud Egede Nissen and her husband, German actor Georg Alexander were the stars of the German silent film Die lachende Seele/The Laughing Soul (1918). The film was directed by Alexander and produced by his wife's company, ENF (Egede-Nissen-Film). Rotophot published a series of six postcards for the film in its popular series 'Film Sterne' (Film Stars).


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film Sterne series, no. 553/1. Photo: ENF (Egede-Nissen-Film). Aud Egede Nissen and Georg Alexander (in the middle) in Die lachende Seele/The Laughing Soul (Georg Alexander, 1918).


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film Sterne series, no. 553/2. Photo: ENF (Egede-Nissen-Film). Aud Egede Nissen and Georg Alexander in Die lachende Seele/The Laughing Soul (Georg Alexander, 1918).


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film Sterne series, no. 553/3. Photo: ENF (Egede-Nissen-Film). Aud Egede Nissen and Georg Alexander in Die lachende Seele/The Laughing Soul (Georg Alexander, 1918).

A husband between two women

During the 1910s and 1920s, Aud Egede-Nissen and her sisters Gerd and Ada made a name for themselves in the Nordic and German film industries as actors, producers, and directors. In 1916, Aud met actor and director Georg Alexander. Alexander directed her in Wer wirft den ersten Stein auf Sie? in 1916, and in the same year they married.

Gunnar Iversen writes at Women Film Pioneers Project: "Together with her husband and sisters, Aud Egede-Nissen established a production company in Berlin. Egede-Nissen-Film Company GmbH produced ten features in 1917, the first of which was the comedy Ich heirate meine Puppe (Georg Alexander, 1917) starring Aud in a comic role.

Most of the thirty feature films the company produced were divided into three series, each with one of the three sisters as leading actor and star. The Egede-Nissen series, built around Aud, came in two waves, the first in 1917–1918 and the second in 1918–1919, with a total of eleven features. Some of these were dramatic tragedies, like Die Geburt der Venus (Georg Alexander 1917); others were detective films."

Aud Egede-Nissen was the producer for all thirty features. Sadly, all but two of the films are lost, and the only existing Egede-Nissen-Film Company title with a users’ copy available for screening is Erblich belastet (Georg Alexander, 1919), a film rediscovered in the Desmet Collection of the Eye Filmmuseum in Amsterdam.

Die lachende Seele/The Laughing Soul was scripted by Rudolf Baron and Else Cressin, while Georg Alexander both directed and played the male lead as a husband, Reimar Gellert, who vacillates between two women, his wife and Ingeborg Jensen (Aud Egede Nissen).

While exteriors for Die lachende Seele/The Laughing Soul seem to have been shot in the Alps, interiors were shot at the Fern-Andra-Film studios in Berlin. IMDb and The German Early Cinema Database both date the film as of 1919, but The German Early Cinema Database also mentions the first screening that took place in November 1918 at the Passagetheater in Berlin. So we date the film as of 1918.


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-Sterne series, no. 553/4. Photo: ENF (Egede-Nissen-Film). Aud Egede Nissen and Georg Alexander in Die lachende Seele/The Laughing Soul (Georg Alexander, 1918).


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-Sterne series, no. 553/5. Photo: ENF (Egede-Nissen-Film). Aud Egede Nissen and Max Ruhbeck in Die lachende Seele/The Laughing Soul (Georg Alexander, 1918).


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-Sterne series, no. 553/6. Photo: ENF (Egede-Nissen-Film). Aud Egede Nissen in Die lachende Seele/The Laughing Soul (Georg Alexander, 1919).

Sources: Gunnar Iversen (Women Film Pioneers Project), The German Early Cinema Database, and IMDb.

Die Fahrt ins Blaue (1919)

Henny Porten starred in the German silent comedy Die Fahrt ins Blaue/The drive into the blue (Rudolf Biebrach, 1919). Her co-star was Georg Alexander. The film was produced by Messter-film and Projektions-AG Union (PAGU) and was scripted by Hanns Kräly and cinematographed by Willy Gaebel.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 636/1. Photo: Messter Film. Henny Porten and Georg Alexander in Die Fahrt ins Blaue (Rudolf Biebrach, 1919).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 636/2. Photo: Messter Film. Henny Porten and Georg Alexander in Die Fahrt ins Blaue (Rudolf Biebrach, 1919).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 636/3. Photo: Messter Film. Henny Porten in Die Fahrt ins Blaue (Rudolf Biebrach, 1919).

An alarm clock for her birthday

In the silent German comedy Die Fahrt ins Blaue (Rudolf Biebrach, 1919), Henny Porten plays Cashier Wanda Lossen, who gets an alarm clock and a lottery ticket for her birthday. The lottery's main award is a fancy touring car and 20,000 Marks.

At the same time writer Dr. Erich Fuld (Georg Alexander) visits his new possession, an old castle. The next morning Wanda's new alarm doesn't go off, so in haste Wanda bumps onto Fuld on a street corner, who likes her and follows her.

Wanda bursts into tears when her boss at the store, herr Paetz (Jakob Tiedtke), reprimands her, but Paetz then falls in love with her, promising her a life of luxury. Offended she waves the lottery ticket, telling him that soon she'll manage on her own.

During a visit to Erich's castle with her friends, Erich jokingly manages to tie Wanda up to some old folter instrument. She offers her lottery ticket as ransom, but instead he steals her a kiss. Once freed she gives him a mighty slap in return.

One day she hears she has won the lottery and that the car is just outside, but she gets the car only on the condition that she also overtakes a chauffeur for three months, until the car is ready. Of course Erich is the driver. After a party in an inn with her friends, Erich pretends a breakdown on the road back and goes for help.

While he is away, masked bandits - Erich's servants, in fact - assault Wanda. Erich saves her and leads her with his car 'ins Blaue' (into the blue, meaning where chance will lead them).

Die Fahrt ins Blaue/The drive into the blue (Rudolf Biebrach, 1919) premiered on 21 November 1919 in the Mozartsaal Berlin. The film was distributed in Germany by Hansa Film Verleih and Universum Film (UFA).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 636/4. Photo: Messter Film. Henny Porten in Die Fahrt ins Blaue (Rudolf Biebrach, 1919).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 636/5. Photo: Messter Film. Henny Porten and Georg Alexander in Die Fahrt ins Blaue (Rudolf Biebrach, 1919).

Sources: Murnau-stiftung, IMDb and Wikipedia (Italian).