Paul Henreid ✝

Paul Henreid (January 10, 1908 – March 29, 1992) was an Austrian actor, director, producer, and writer. He is best remembered for two film roles; Victor Laszlo in Casablanca and Jerry Durrance in Now, Voyager, both released between 1942 and 1943. Born Paul Georg Julius Hernreid in the city of Trieste, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Henreid was the son of Maria-Luise (Lendecke) and Karl Alphons Hernreid, a Viennese banker, born as Carl Hirsch, who had converted in 1904[citation needed] from Judaism to Catholicism, due to anti-semitism. Henreid's father died in April 1916, and the family fortune had dwindled by the time he graduated from the exclusive Theresianische Akademie. Henreid trained for the theatre in Vienna, over his family's objections, and debuted there on the stage under the direction of Max Reinhardt. He began his film career acting in German and Austrian films in the 1930s. During that period, he was strongly anti-Nazi, so much so that he was later designated an "official enemy of the Third Reich" and all his assets were seized. In 1934 Henreid tried to become a member of the NS-Reichsfilmkammer (National Sozialistic Reich Film Chamber). He was declined, after the NS-Regime found out that he was a half jew. In 1937 he tried again to get a member by a special permit. This request was personally rejected by Joseph Goebbels.