Max Schreck

Friedrich Gustav Maximilian "Max" Schreck (6 September 1879 – 20 February 1936) was a German actor. He is most often remembered for his lead role as Count Orlok in the film Nosferatu (1922).

Early life

Max Schreck was born in Berlin-Friedenau, on 6 September 1879. Six years later his father bought a house in the independent rural community of Friedenau, then part of the district of Teltow.

His father saw Schreck's ever-growing enthusiasm for theater and did not approve. His mother provided the boy with money, which he used to secretly take acting lessons. Only after the death of his father did he attend drama school. After graduating, he travelled briefly across the country with Demetrius Schrutz.

Schreck had engagements in Mulhouse, Meseritz, Speyer, Rudolstadt, Erfurt and Weissenfels, and his first extended stay at the Gera Theater. Greater engagements followed, especially in Frankfurt am Main. From there he went to Berlin for Max Reinhardt and the Munich Chamber Games for Otto Falkenberg. From then on he began to work in films.