Sig Ruman (born Siegfried Albon Rumann) (October 11, 1884 – February 14, 1967) was a German-American actor known for his comic portrayals of pompous villains.
Born in Hamburg, he studied electrical engineering before serving with the Imperial German army during the First World War. After moving to the United States in 1924, his acting career blossomed. Befriending playwright George S. Kaufman and theater critic Alexander Woollcott, he enjoyed success in many Broadway productions.
With the advent of talkies, Ruman became a favorite of the Marx Brothers, appearing in A Night at the Opera, A Day at the Races, and A Night in Casablanca. His German accent and large stature kept him busy during World War II, playing sinister Nazi characters in a series of wartime thrillers. During this period, he also appeared in several films by Ernst Lubitsch, a fellow German immigrant. In 1941, he played the role of Professor Herman Von Reiter in Shining Victory, an adaptation of an A. J. Cronin play.
According to Leonard Maltin in the DVD commentary for A Night at the Opera, Ruman had modified his screen name to make it a little less German-sounding, to lessen potential anti-German prejudice against him.
Despite poor health during the 1950s and 1960s, Ruman continued to find work, making many guest appearances on television, including an appearance on "The Addams Family." In 1953, he played what is perhaps his most famous role — that of "Schultz", the two-faced POW camp guard in Stalag 17. He died of a heart attack on February 14, 1967 in Julian, California.
Partial filmography
The World Moves On (1934)
Servants' Entrance (1934)
A Night at the Opera (1935)
The Princess Comes Across (1936)
On the Avenue (1937)
Seventh Heaven (1937)
A Day at the Races (1937)
Think Fast, Mr. Moto (1937)
Thin Ice (1937)
Nothing Sacred (1937)
Thank You, Mr. Moto (1937)
Paradise for Three (1938)
The Saint in New York (1938)
Suez (1938)
Honolulu (1939)
Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939)
Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
Ninotchka (1939)
The Magic Bullet (1940)
That Uncertain Feeling (1941)
The Wagons Roll at Night (1941)
Love Crazy (1941)
Shining Victory (1941)
To Be or Not to Be (1942)
Crossroads (1942)
Desperate Journey (1942)
China Girl (1942)
Tarzan Triumphs (1943)
Sweet Rosie O'Grady (1943)
The Song of Bernadette (1943)
It Happened Tomorrow (1944)
House of Frankenstein (1944)
A Royal Scandal (1945)
The Dolly Sisters (1945)
A Night in Casablanca (1946)
Night and Day (1946)
Mother Wore Tights (1947)
The Emperor Waltz (1948)
Border Incident (1949)
Father Is a Bachelor (1950)
On the Riviera (1951)
The World in His Arms (1952)
Stalag 17 (1953)
The Glenn Miller Story (1953)
Living It Up (1954)
3 Ring Circus (1954)
Carolina Cannonball (1955)
Spy Chasers (1955)
The Wings of Eagles (1957)
The Errand Boy (1961)
36 Hours (1965)
Way...Way Out (1966)
External links
Sig Ruman at the Internet Movie Database
Persondata
NAME
Ruman, Sig
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
Rumann, Siegfried; Rumann, Sieg
SHORT DESCRIPTION
German-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH
1884
PLACE OF BIRTH
Hamburg, Germany
DATE OF DEATH
1967
PLACE OF DEATH
Julian, California
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Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sig_Ruman"
Categories: German film actors | American film actors | German immigrants to the United States | German-American actors | 1884 births | 1967 deaths | Deaths by myocardial infarction
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This page was last modified on 19 August 2008, at 07:05.
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