Viktor Schwanneke

Viktor Schwanneke (8 February 1880 – 7 June 1931) was a German stage director and actor, writer and film actor whose acting career began at the turn of the 20th century.

Early life

Viktor Schwanneke was born in the small village of Hedwigsburg in the municipal bounds of Kissenbrück, in the district of Wolfenbüttel, Lower Saxony and began his career as a bank clerk in Hanover, but shortly after the turn of the 20th century he began to pursue a career in acting. His first engagement was at a summer theatre in the fall of 1904, followed by a stint at a theatre in Rudolstadt. This was followed by theater commitments in Frankfurt and Stettin. In Stetten he appeared in a 1907-1908 stage production with Emil Jannings titled Seine Hoheit (English: His Highness), billed as Viktor Schwanneke-Willberg.

In 1908 he went to Munich where he held a position at the Bavarian State Theatre. There, he honed his skills as a comedian, best known for his roles as the theater director Striese in The Rape of the Sabine Women and in a popular production of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. In 1913 he coauthored a book with Paul L. Fuhrmann titled Dr. Fix: Bluff in 3 Aufz and from 1916 until 1918 he wrote a number of booklets celebrating the histories of various German theatres.