Ludwig Donath

Ludwig Donath was an Austrian-born actor who worked across stage, film, and television during a career spanning several decades. Born on 6 March 1900 in Vienna, Austria, into a Jewish family, he trained at Vienna's Academy of Dramatic Art and subsequently built a reputation as a stage actor in Berlin. When Hitler rose to power in 1933, Donath left Berlin and returned to Vienna, where he continued working in theater and film until the Anschluss in 1938 forced another departure. He died on 29 September 1967 of leukemia, and his cremains are interred at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York.

Donath launched his American film career with Lady from Chungking in 1942 and went on to accumulate an extensive list of screen credits. Among his most recognized film roles were appearances in Gilda (1946), Sirocco (1951), The Great Caruso (1951), My Pal Gus (1952), and Torn Curtain (1966). He portrayed the father of entertainer Al Jolson, played by Larry Parks, in both The Jolson Story (1946) and Jolson Sings Again (1949), despite being fewer than fifteen years older than Parks himself.

On Broadway, Donath was active from 1951 to 1963, appearing in four productions. He starred in the drama The Deadly Game and also took roles in She Loves Me Not, Only in America, and Abie's Irish Rose. His television work ran concurrently with his stage career and included appearances on Decoy, Ben Casey, Bonanza, The Twilight Zone, Branded, and The Fugitive.