Conrad Veidt (January 22, 1893 – April 3, 1943) was a German actor, well known for his roles in such films as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), The Thief of Bagdad (1940), and Casablanca (1942). He also served as the inspiration for the appearance of the comic book supervillain The Joker.
He was born Hans Walter Conrad Weidt in a working-class district of Berlin, Germany. (Some biographies wrongly state that he was born in Potsdam, probably on the basis of an early claim on his part.) From 1916 until his death, he appeared in well over 100 movies. He appeared in two of the most well-known films of the silent era: as a murderous somnambulist in director Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) opposite Werner Krauss and Lil Dagover, and as a disfigured circus performer in The Man Who Laughs (1928). According to the Los Angeles Times, "Conrad Veidt starred in this semi-silent film based on Victor Hugo's novel in which the son of a lord is punished for his father's disrespect to the king by having his face carved into a permanent grin. Stills of Veidt were used as inspiration by the Joker's creators, artist Bob Kane, writer Bill Finger and artist Jerry Robinson -- the creators have long disputed who actually came up with the character." Veidt also appeared in Magnus Hirschfeld's pioneering gay rights film Anders als die Andern ("Different from the Others", 1919), in which he played what is likely the first gay character written for the cinema, and in Das Land ohne Frauen (1929), Germany's first talking picture.
Playing as The Stranger in The Passing Of The Third Floor Back (1935). Veidt (wearing the bow tie) is third from left.
Veidt fervently opposed the Nazi regime, and he emigrated from Germany in 1933 a week after marrying a Jewish woman, Illona Prager. He settled in the United Kingdom and continued making films, notably three with director Michael Powell: The Spy in Black (1939), Contraband (1940) and The Thief of Bagdad (1940).
He later moved to Hollywood, and starred in a few films, such as Nazi Agent - in which he had a dual role as a Nazi and as the Nazi's twin brother. But he is most well known in this period for playing the Nazi Major Heinrich Strasser in Casablanca (1942).
He died of a heart attack a year later, while playing golf in Los Angeles.
Veidt sang the title song "Where the Lighthouse Shines Across the Bay" of the 1933 film F.P.1. It was a flop at the time, but became a hit in the United Kingdom in 1980. Disc-jockey Terry Wogan had played it as a request on his breakfast show and was flooded afterwards with letters asking for a repeat.
