Francis Lederer
Encyclopedia
Francis Lederer was a film and stage actor with a successful career, first in Europe, then in the United States.
, he made his stage debut as an apprentice with the New German Theater, a walk-on in the play Burning Heart. He toured Moravia
and central Europe
, making a name for himself as a matinee idol in theaters in Czechoslovakia
, Hungary
, Austria
and Germany
. Notable among his performances was a turn as Romeo in Max Reinhardt
's staging of Romeo and Juliet
.
In the late 1920s, Lederer was lured into films by the German actress Henny Porten and her producer husband. Because of his good looks, it took some time for the critics to take him seriously, but his association with directors such as G. W. Pabst, for whom he did Pandora's Box
with Louise Brooks
, and Atlantic (both 1929), helped him overcome that problem. He was also notable in The Wonderful Lies of Nina Petrovna in the same year. Lederer, who was billed as "Franz" at this time, easily made the transition from silent film
s to talkies, and was on his way to becoming one of Europe
's top male film stars.
to perform on stage in Volpone
and the next year in Autumn Crocus by Dodie Smith
, which he then performed on Broadway
– using the name "Francis" – where it played for 210 performances in 1932 and 1933. He also performed the play in Los Angeles
. His performances attracted attention and film offers from Hollywood
. With the deteriorating political situation in Europe, Lederer decided to stay in the United States
. He became a U.S. citizen in 1939.
In Lederer's first American movies were fairly light fare in which he played the leading man, in films such as Man of Two Worlds
(1934), Romance in Manhattan
(1934), opposite Ginger Rogers
, The Gay Deception
(1935), opposite Frances Dee
, and One Rainy Afternoon
(1936). He won the lead opposite Katharine Hepburn
in the 1935 film Break of Hearts
, but the producers replaced him with Charles Boyer
. It was Irving Thalberg
's plan to make Lederer "the biggest star in Hollywood" but the death of Thalberg ended that, and Lederer never really caught on as a star in the American mode.
Although he continued to occasionally play leads – notably when he was a playboy in Billy Wilder
's Midnight
with Claudette Colbert
and John Barrymore
in 1939 – in the late 1930s Lederer began to expand his film acting repertoire with offbeat character parts, even playing villains. Edward G. Robinson
praised Lederer's performance as a German American Bundist opposite him in Confessions of a Nazi Spy
in 1939, and he earned plaudits for his portrayal of a Fascist
in The Man I Married
(1940) opposite Joan Bennett
. He also played a vampire
for The Return of Dracula in 1958.
Throughout his career, Lederer, who studied with Elia Kazan
at the Actors Studio
in New York
, continued to take stage acting seriously, and he performed often both in New York and elsewhere. He appeared in productions of Golden Boy
(1937), Seventh Heaven (play) (1939), No Time for Comedy
(1939), in which he replaced Laurence Olivier
, The Play's the Thing (1942), A Doll's House
(1944), Arms and the Man
(1950), The Sleeping Prince
(1956) and The Diary of Anne Frank (1958).
Although he took a break from making films in 1941, in order to concentrate on his stage work, he returned to the silver screen in 1944, appearing in Voice in the Wind
and The Bridge of San Luis Rey
, and in films such as Jean Renoir
's The Diary of a Chambermaid
(1946), Million Dollar Weekend
(1948). He took another break from Hollywood in 1950, after making Surrender (1950), and returned once more in 1956 with Lisbon
and the light comedy The Ambassador's Daughter. His final film appearance was in Terror Is a Man
in 1959.
He would continue to make television appearances for the next ten years in such shows as Sally
, The Untouchables
, Ben Casey
, Mission: Impossible
and That Girl
. His final television appearance occurred in a 1971 episode of Rod Serling
's Night Gallery
.
in 1987). He was active in local and Los Angeles civic affairs, philanthropy and politics. He served as Recreation and Parks Commissioner for the City of Los Angeles, received awards for his efforts to beautify the city and was the honorary mayor of Canoga Park for quite a time. He became involved with peace movements, taught acting, and was one of the founders of the American National Academy of Performing Arts in Los Angeles, and the International Academy of Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
. In 2000, he was honored by the Austrian government with the Cross of Honor for Science and Arts, First Class.
Although Lederer had been married briefly twice before – the second time to the Mexican American
actress María Marguerita Guadalupe Teresa Estela Bolado, who went by the stage name Margo – his third marriage to Marion Irvine, who served as Los Angeles' Commissioner of Cultural Affairs, lasted 59 years. Francis Lederer worked up until the week before he died, at the age of 100
, in Palm Springs, California
, one of the last surviving World War I veterans of the Austro-Hungarian Army
.
in the Simi Hills
in Owensmouth, renamed Canoga Park
, renamed again to present day West Hills
. It is in the western San Fernando Valley
of Los Angeles, California
. The house is sophisticated example of a distinguished blending of Mediterranean Revival style with Mission Revival Style
architecture in which the interior and exterior integral design, artisan work, and construction details are in a refined landmark quality. The rich building materials were chosen with greatest of care and painstakingly employed to make the finished buildings appear centuries old. The imported original 14th and 15th century Italian Renaissance
and Spanish Renaissance
museum-quality art pieces, decorative arts elements, and furnishings, are of particular rarity, value and interest.
The stables are in pure Mission Revival Style architecture
, also designed by Francis Lederer with John R. Litke in the 1930s. It was built beside Bell Creek
. Marion Lederer, his wife, transformed them into the Canoga Mission Gallery in the 1970s, which continues to present day.
The residence and stables are both protected Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monuments. The 1994 Northridge earthquake damaged the house. It is currently undergoing a major renovation. The estate is next to the very large 1845 Mexican land grant
Rancho El Escorpión
, which was his southern rural viewshed and remained undeveloped open space until 1959. The home and grounds are still in the hands of the Lederer family, and will become a public historical resource center.
Europe
Lederer fell in love with acting when he was young, and was trained at the Academy of Music and Academy of Dramatic Art in Prague. After service in the First World WarWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, he made his stage debut as an apprentice with the New German Theater, a walk-on in the play Burning Heart. He toured Moravia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
and central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
, making a name for himself as a matinee idol in theaters in Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Notable among his performances was a turn as Romeo in Max Reinhardt
Max Reinhardt
----Max Reinhardt was an Austrian theater and film director and actor.-Biography:...
's staging of Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
.
In the late 1920s, Lederer was lured into films by the German actress Henny Porten and her producer husband. Because of his good looks, it took some time for the critics to take him seriously, but his association with directors such as G. W. Pabst, for whom he did Pandora's Box
Pandora's Box (film)
Pandora's Box is a 1929 German silent melodrama film based on Frank Wedekind's plays Erdgeist and Die Büchse der Pandora . Directed by Austrian filmmaker Georg Wilhelm Pabst, the film stars Louise Brooks, Fritz Kortner, and Francis Lederer...
with Louise Brooks
Louise Brooks
Mary Louise Brooks , generally known by her stage name Louise Brooks, was an American dancer, model, showgirl and silent film actress, noted for popularizing the bobbed haircut. Brooks is best known for her three feature roles including two G. W...
, and Atlantic (both 1929), helped him overcome that problem. He was also notable in The Wonderful Lies of Nina Petrovna in the same year. Lederer, who was billed as "Franz" at this time, easily made the transition from silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
s to talkies, and was on his way to becoming one of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
's top male film stars.
America
In 1931, Lederer was in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to perform on stage in Volpone
Volpone
Volpone is a comedy by Ben Jonson first produced in 1606, drawing on elements of city comedy, black comedy and beast fable...
and the next year in Autumn Crocus by Dodie Smith
Dodie Smith
Dorothy Gladys "Dodie" Smith was an English novelist and playwright. Smith is best known for her novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians. Her other works include I Capture the Castle and The Starlight Barking....
, which he then performed on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
– using the name "Francis" – where it played for 210 performances in 1932 and 1933. He also performed the play in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. His performances attracted attention and film offers from Hollywood
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
. With the deteriorating political situation in Europe, Lederer decided to stay in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He became a U.S. citizen in 1939.
In Lederer's first American movies were fairly light fare in which he played the leading man, in films such as Man of Two Worlds
Man of Two Worlds
Man of Two Worlds is a novel written by Brian and Frank Herbert.-Plot summary :On the distant planet Dreenor lives the most powerful species in the Galaxy. All of the Universe is the creation of the Dreens, who possess the power of "idmaging", turning their thoughts into reality. They can create...
(1934), Romance in Manhattan
Romance in Manhattan
Romance in Manhattan is an American comedy/romance film directed by Stephen Roberts, starring Francis Lederer and Ginger Rogers, and released by RKO Radio Pictures.- Plot :...
(1934), opposite Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer, and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio, and television throughout much of the 20th century....
, The Gay Deception
The Gay Deception
The Gay Deception is a 1935 romantic comedy film starring Francis Lederer and Frances Dee. Writers Stephen Morehouse Avery and Don Hartman were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Story.-Plot:...
(1935), opposite Frances Dee
Frances Dee
Frances Marion Dee was an American actress. She starred opposite Maurice Chevalier in the early talkie musical, The Playboy of Paris...
, and One Rainy Afternoon
One Rainy Afternoon
One Rainy Afternoon is a 1936 romantic comedy film directed by Rowland V. Lee, starring Francis Lederer and Ida Lupino and featuring Hugh Herbert, Roland Young and Erik Rhodes...
(1936). He won the lead opposite Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress of film, stage, and television. In a career that spanned 62 years as a leading lady, she was best known for playing strong-willed, sophisticated women in both dramas and comedies...
in the 1935 film Break of Hearts
Break of Hearts
Break of Hearts is a 1935 RKO film starring Katharine Hepburn and Charles Boyer. The screenplay was written by the team of Sarah Y. Mason and Victor Heerman, with Anthony Veiller, from a story by Lester Cohen, specifically for Hepburn....
, but the producers replaced him with Charles Boyer
Charles Boyer
Charles Boyer was a French actor who appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. After receiving an education in drama, Boyer started on the stage, but he found success in movies during the 1930s. His memorable performances were among the era's most highly praised romantic dramas,...
. It was Irving Thalberg
Irving Thalberg
Irving Grant Thalberg was an American film producer during the early years of motion pictures. He was called "The Boy Wonder" for his youth and his extraordinary ability to select the right scripts, choose the right actors, gather the best production staff and make very profitable films.-Life and...
's plan to make Lederer "the biggest star in Hollywood" but the death of Thalberg ended that, and Lederer never really caught on as a star in the American mode.
Although he continued to occasionally play leads – notably when he was a playboy in Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder was an Austro-Hungarian born American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, artist, and journalist, whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. He is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Hollywood's golden age...
's Midnight
Midnight (1939 film)
Midnight is a 1939 romantic comedy directed by Mitchell Leisen and written by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder based on a story by Edwin Justus Mayer and Franz Schulz. It starred Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche and John Barrymore.-Plot:Eve Peabody is an out-of-work American showgirl...
with Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert was a French-born American-based actress of stage and film.Born in Paris, France and raised in New York City, Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the 1920s, progressing to film with the advent of talking pictures...
and John Barrymore
John Barrymore
John Sidney Blyth , better known as John Barrymore, was an acclaimed American actor. He first gained fame as a handsome stage actor in light comedy, then high drama and culminating in groundbreaking portrayals in Shakespearean plays Hamlet and Richard III...
in 1939 – in the late 1930s Lederer began to expand his film acting repertoire with offbeat character parts, even playing villains. Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson was a Romanian-born American actor. A popular star during Hollywood's Golden Age, he is best remembered for his roles as gangsters, such as Rico in his star-making film Little Caesar and as Rocco in Key Largo...
praised Lederer's performance as a German American Bundist opposite him in Confessions of a Nazi Spy
Confessions of a Nazi Spy
Confessions of a Nazi Spy is a 1939 American spy thriller film and the first blatantly anti-Nazi film produced by a major Hollywood studio prior to World War II. The film stars Edward G. Robinson, Francis Lederer, George Sanders, and a large cast of German actors, including some who had emigrated...
in 1939, and he earned plaudits for his portrayal of a Fascist
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
in The Man I Married
The Man I Married
The Man I Married is a 1940 drama film starring Joan Bennett and Francis Lederer. An American woman marries a German, only to lose him to the Nazi Party when the couple travel to Germany.-Cast:...
(1940) opposite Joan Bennett
Joan Bennett
Joan Geraldine Bennett was an American stage, film and television actress. Besides acting on the stage, Bennett appeared in more than 70 motion pictures from the era of silent movies well into the sound era...
. He also played a vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
for The Return of Dracula in 1958.
Elia Kazan
Elia Kazan was an American director and actor, described by the New York Times as "one of the most honored and influential directors in Broadway and Hollywood history". Born in Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, to Greek parents originally from Kayseri in Anatolia, the family emigrated...
at the Actors Studio
Actors Studio
The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights at 432 West 44th Street in the Clinton neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded October 5, 1947, by Elia Kazan, Cheryl Crawford, Robert Lewis and Anna Sokolow who provided...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, continued to take stage acting seriously, and he performed often both in New York and elsewhere. He appeared in productions of Golden Boy
Golden Boy
Golden Boy is a drama by Clifford Odets. The play was initially produced on Broadway by The Group Theatre in 1937. Odets' biggest hit was made into a 1939 film of the same name, starring William Holden in his breakthrough role, and also served as the basis for a 1964 musical.-Plot:It focuses on Joe...
(1937), Seventh Heaven (play) (1939), No Time for Comedy
No Time for Comedy
No Time for Comedy is a 1940 comedy-drama film based on the play of the same name by S. N. Behrman, starring James Stewart, Rosalind Russell, Genevieve Tobin and Charles Ruggles.-Plot summary:...
(1939), in which he replaced Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
, The Play's the Thing (1942), A Doll's House
A Doll's House
A Doll's House is a three-act play in prose by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premièred at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 December 1879, having been published earlier that month....
(1944), Arms and the Man
Arms and the Man
Arms and the Man is a comedy by George Bernard Shaw, whose title comes from the opening words of Virgil's Aeneid in Latin:"Arma virumque cano" ....
(1950), The Sleeping Prince
The Sleeping Prince
The Sleeping Prince is a 1953 play by Terence Rattigan. Set in London, England in 1911, it tells the story of a young actress who meets and ultimately captivates a Prince....
(1956) and The Diary of Anne Frank (1958).
Although he took a break from making films in 1941, in order to concentrate on his stage work, he returned to the silver screen in 1944, appearing in Voice in the Wind
Voice in the Wind
Voice in the Wind is a 1944 American film noir directed by Arthur Ripley and written by Friedrich Torberg, based on a story written by Arthur Ripley. The drama features Francis Lederer, Sigrid Gurie, J...
and The Bridge of San Luis Rey
The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1944 film)
The Bridge of San Luis Rey is a 1944 drama film made by Benedict Bogeaus Productions and released by United Artists. It was produced and directed by Rowland V. Lee with Benedict Bogeaus as co-producer. The screenplay by Howard Estabrook and Herman Weissman was adapted from the novel The Bridge of...
, and in films such as Jean Renoir
Jean Renoir
Jean Renoir was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent era to the end of the 1960s...
's The Diary of a Chambermaid
The Diary of a Chambermaid (1946 film)
The Diary of a Chambermaid is a drama film about a newly-hired servant who severely disrupts a wealthy family. The film was based on the novel of the same name by Octave Mirbeau and the play Le journal d'une femme de Chambre by André Heuse, André de Lorde, and Thielly Nores, was directed by Jean...
(1946), Million Dollar Weekend
Million Dollar Weekend
Million Dollar Weekend is a 1948 American film directed by, and starring, Gene Raymond.- Cast :*Gene Raymond as Nicholas Lawrence*Osa Massen as Cynthia Strong*Francis Lederer as Alan Marker*Robert Warwick as Dave Dietrich*Patricia Shay as Sally...
(1948). He took another break from Hollywood in 1950, after making Surrender (1950), and returned once more in 1956 with Lisbon
Lisbon (film)
Lisbon is a 1956 American crime film produced and directed by Ray Milland and starring Milland, Maureen O'Hara, Claude Rains, Edward Chapman, and Jay Novello. An American smuggler based in Lisbon is hired to rescue a wealthy industrialist from behind the Iron Curtain.The film was shot on location...
and the light comedy The Ambassador's Daughter. His final film appearance was in Terror Is a Man
Terror Is a Man
Terror Is a Man is a 1959 Philippine / American film directed by Gerardo de Leon.The film is also known as Blood Creature .- Cast :*Francis Lederer as Dr...
in 1959.
He would continue to make television appearances for the next ten years in such shows as Sally
Sally (1957 TV series)
Sally is an American situation comedy which aired on NBC from September 15, 1957 to March 30, 1958. The series is the first filmed television series produced by Paramount Studios.-Synopsis:...
, The Untouchables
The Untouchables (1959 TV series)
The Untouchables is an American crime drama that ran from 1959 to 1963 on ABC. Based on the memoir of the same name by Eliot Ness and Oscar Fraley, it fictionalized the experiences of Eliot Ness, a real-life Prohibition agent, as he fought crime in Chicago during the 1930s with the help of a...
, Ben Casey
Ben Casey
Ben Casey is an American medical drama series which ran on ABC from 1961 to 1966. The show was known for its opening titles, which consisted of a hand drawing the symbols "♂, ♀, *, †, ∞" on a chalkboard, as cast member Sam Jaffe intoned, "Man, woman, birth, death, infinity." Neurosurgeon Joseph...
, Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible is an American television series which was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicled the missions of a team of secret American government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force . The leader of the team was Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves, except in...
and That Girl
That Girl
That Girl is an American television situation comedy that ran on ABC from 1966 to 1971. It stars Marlo Thomas as the title character, Ann Marie, an aspiring actress, who had moved from her hometown of Brewster, New York to make it big in New York City...
. His final television appearance occurred in a 1971 episode of Rod Serling
Rod Serling
Rodman Edward "Rod" Serling was an American screenwriter, novelist, television producer, and narrator best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his science fiction anthology TV series, The Twilight Zone. Serling was active in politics, both on and off the screen and helped form...
's Night Gallery
Night Gallery
Night Gallery is an American anthology series that aired on NBC from 1970 to 1973, featuring stories of horror and the macabre. Rod Serling, who had gained fame from an earlier series, The Twilight Zone, served both as the on-air host of Night Gallery and as a major contributor of scripts, although...
.
Later life and death
In his later life, Lederer, who had become very wealthy by investing in real estate, especially in the Canoga Park community (renamed West HillsWest Hills, Los Angeles, California
West Hills is an affluent community and district in the western San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California, United States.West Hills is bordered by Chatsworth and the Chatsworth Reservoir to the north, Canoga Park to the east, Woodland Hills to the south, Hidden Hills to the southwest,...
in 1987). He was active in local and Los Angeles civic affairs, philanthropy and politics. He served as Recreation and Parks Commissioner for the City of Los Angeles, received awards for his efforts to beautify the city and was the honorary mayor of Canoga Park for quite a time. He became involved with peace movements, taught acting, and was one of the founders of the American National Academy of Performing Arts in Los Angeles, and the International Academy of Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. In 2000, he was honored by the Austrian government with the Cross of Honor for Science and Arts, First Class.
Although Lederer had been married briefly twice before – the second time to the Mexican American
Mexican American
Mexican Americans are Americans of Mexican descent. As of July 2009, Mexican Americans make up 10.3% of the United States' population with over 31,689,000 Americans listed as of Mexican ancestry. Mexican Americans comprise 66% of all Hispanics and Latinos in the United States...
actress María Marguerita Guadalupe Teresa Estela Bolado, who went by the stage name Margo – his third marriage to Marion Irvine, who served as Los Angeles' Commissioner of Cultural Affairs, lasted 59 years. Francis Lederer worked up until the week before he died, at the age of 100
Centenarian
A centenarian is a person who is or lives beyond the age of 100 years. Because current average life expectancies across the world are less than 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. Much rarer, a supercentenarian is a person who has lived to the age of 110 or more, something only...
, in Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...
, one of the last surviving World War I veterans of the Austro-Hungarian Army
Austro-Hungarian Army
The Austro-Hungarian Army was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint army , the Austrian Landwehr , and the Hungarian Honvédség .In the wake of fighting between the...
.
Lederer estate and residence
In 1934, Francis Lederer began design and construction, with the help of artisan builder John R. Litke, of his landmark residence and stables on the hilltop of a large ranchoRancho
Rancho may refer to:*Alta California land grants in the 19th century; see Ranchos of California*Rancho High School, a North Las Vegas high school*Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center**Rancho Los Amigos Scale...
in the Simi Hills
Simi Hills
The Simi Hills are a low rocky mountain range of the Transverse Ranges, located in eastern Ventura County and western Los Angeles County, of southern California, United States.-Geography:...
in Owensmouth, renamed Canoga Park
Canoga Park, Los Angeles, California
Canoga Park is a district in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California, United States about 25 miles northwest of Downtown Los Angeles....
, renamed again to present day West Hills
West Hills, Los Angeles, California
West Hills is an affluent community and district in the western San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California, United States.West Hills is bordered by Chatsworth and the Chatsworth Reservoir to the north, Canoga Park to the east, Woodland Hills to the south, Hidden Hills to the southwest,...
. It is in the western San Fernando Valley
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...
of Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. The house is sophisticated example of a distinguished blending of Mediterranean Revival style with Mission Revival Style
Mission Revival Style architecture
The Mission Revival Style was an architectural movement that began in the late 19th century for a colonial style's revivalism and reinterpretation, which drew inspiration from the late 18th and early 19th century Spanish missions in California....
architecture in which the interior and exterior integral design, artisan work, and construction details are in a refined landmark quality. The rich building materials were chosen with greatest of care and painstakingly employed to make the finished buildings appear centuries old. The imported original 14th and 15th century Italian Renaissance
Italian Renaissance
The Italian Renaissance began the opening phase of the Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement in Europe that spanned the period from the end of the 13th century to about 1600, marking the transition between Medieval and Early Modern Europe...
and Spanish Renaissance
Spanish Renaissance
The Spanish Renaissance refers to a movement in Spain, emerging from the Italian Renaissance in Italy during the 14th century, that spread to Spain during the 15th and 16th centuries...
museum-quality art pieces, decorative arts elements, and furnishings, are of particular rarity, value and interest.
The stables are in pure Mission Revival Style architecture
Mission Revival Style architecture
The Mission Revival Style was an architectural movement that began in the late 19th century for a colonial style's revivalism and reinterpretation, which drew inspiration from the late 18th and early 19th century Spanish missions in California....
, also designed by Francis Lederer with John R. Litke in the 1930s. It was built beside Bell Creek
Bell Creek (Southern California)
Bell Creek is a tributary of the Los Angeles River, in the Simi Hills of Ventura County and the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles County and City, in Southern California.-Route:...
. Marion Lederer, his wife, transformed them into the Canoga Mission Gallery in the 1970s, which continues to present day.
The residence and stables are both protected Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monuments. The 1994 Northridge earthquake damaged the house. It is currently undergoing a major renovation. The estate is next to the very large 1845 Mexican land grant
Land grant
A land grant is a gift of real estate – land or its privileges – made by a government or other authority as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service...
Rancho El Escorpión
Rancho El Escorpión
Rancho El Escorpión was a Mexican land grant in present day Los Angeles County, California given in 1845 by Governor Pío Pico to three Chumash Native Americans - Odón Eusebia, Urbano, and Mañuel....
, which was his southern rural viewshed and remained undeveloped open space until 1959. The home and grounds are still in the hands of the Lederer family, and will become a public historical resource center.
Europe
- Zuflucht (1928)
- Pandora's BoxPandora's Box (film)Pandora's Box is a 1929 German silent melodrama film based on Frank Wedekind's plays Erdgeist and Die Büchse der Pandora . Directed by Austrian filmmaker Georg Wilhelm Pabst, the film stars Louise Brooks, Fritz Kortner, and Francis Lederer...
(1929) - AtlantikAtlantikAtlantik may refer to:*Atlantik , a soca-music band based in Trinidad and Tobago*Hamburg Atlantic Line , a shipping company later known as Deutsche Atlantik Linie...
(1929) - The Wonderful Lies of Nina Petrovna (1929)
- Maman Colibri (1929)
- Man of Two WorldsMan of Two WorldsMan of Two Worlds is a novel written by Brian and Frank Herbert.-Plot summary :On the distant planet Dreenor lives the most powerful species in the Galaxy. All of the Universe is the creation of the Dreens, who possess the power of "idmaging", turning their thoughts into reality. They can create...
(1934) - Abenteuer in Wien (1952)
- Stolen Identity (1953)
United States
- Romance in ManhattanRomance in ManhattanRomance in Manhattan is an American comedy/romance film directed by Stephen Roberts, starring Francis Lederer and Ginger Rogers, and released by RKO Radio Pictures.- Plot :...
(1935) - The Gay DeceptionThe Gay DeceptionThe Gay Deception is a 1935 romantic comedy film starring Francis Lederer and Frances Dee. Writers Stephen Morehouse Avery and Don Hartman were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Story.-Plot:...
(1935) - One Rainy AfternoonOne Rainy AfternoonOne Rainy Afternoon is a 1936 romantic comedy film directed by Rowland V. Lee, starring Francis Lederer and Ida Lupino and featuring Hugh Herbert, Roland Young and Erik Rhodes...
(1936) - My American WifeMy American WifeMy American Wife is a 1922 silent drama film directed by Sam Wood and starring Gloria Swanson. The film is considered to be lost, since no prints seem to have survived.-Cast:* Gloria Swanson - Natalie Chester* Antonio Moreno - Manuel La Tessa...
(1936) - MidnightMidnight (1939 film)Midnight is a 1939 romantic comedy directed by Mitchell Leisen and written by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder based on a story by Edwin Justus Mayer and Franz Schulz. It starred Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche and John Barrymore.-Plot:Eve Peabody is an out-of-work American showgirl...
(1939) - Confessions of a Nazi SpyConfessions of a Nazi SpyConfessions of a Nazi Spy is a 1939 American spy thriller film and the first blatantly anti-Nazi film produced by a major Hollywood studio prior to World War II. The film stars Edward G. Robinson, Francis Lederer, George Sanders, and a large cast of German actors, including some who had emigrated...
(1939) - The Man I MarriedThe Man I MarriedThe Man I Married is a 1940 drama film starring Joan Bennett and Francis Lederer. An American woman marries a German, only to lose him to the Nazi Party when the couple travel to Germany.-Cast:...
(I Married a Nazi) (1940) - Puddin' Head (1941)
- A Voice in the WindA Voice in the WindA Voice in the Wind is a novel by Francine Rivers, and the first book in the Mark of the Lion Series.It is the story of a young Christian-Jewish slave named Hadassah living under the Roman Empire. When Hadassah is captured by Roman soldiers, her entire family is killed. She serves as a slave to...
(1944) - The Bridge of San Luis ReyThe Bridge of San Luis Rey (1944 film)The Bridge of San Luis Rey is a 1944 drama film made by Benedict Bogeaus Productions and released by United Artists. It was produced and directed by Rowland V. Lee with Benedict Bogeaus as co-producer. The screenplay by Howard Estabrook and Herman Weissman was adapted from the novel The Bridge of...
(1944) - The Diary of a ChambermaidThe Diary of a Chambermaid (1946 film)The Diary of a Chambermaid is a drama film about a newly-hired servant who severely disrupts a wealthy family. The film was based on the novel of the same name by Octave Mirbeau and the play Le journal d'une femme de Chambre by André Heuse, André de Lorde, and Thielly Nores, was directed by Jean...
(1946) - Madonna's Secret (1946)
- Million Dollar WeekendMillion Dollar WeekendMillion Dollar Weekend is a 1948 American film directed by, and starring, Gene Raymond.- Cast :*Gene Raymond as Nicholas Lawrence*Osa Massen as Cynthia Strong*Francis Lederer as Alan Marker*Robert Warwick as Dave Dietrich*Patricia Shay as Sally...
(1948) - Surrender (1950)
- Captain Carey, U.S.A.Captain Carey, U.S.A.Captain Carey, U.S.A. is a 1950 drama film starring Alan Ladd, Wanda Hendrix, and Francis Lederer. An American returns to post-World War II Italy to bring a traitor to justice.The film was based on the novel No Surrender by Martha Albrand...
(1950) - LisbonLisbon (film)Lisbon is a 1956 American crime film produced and directed by Ray Milland and starring Milland, Maureen O'Hara, Claude Rains, Edward Chapman, and Jay Novello. An American smuggler based in Lisbon is hired to rescue a wealthy industrialist from behind the Iron Curtain.The film was shot on location...
(1956) - The Ambassador's DaughterThe Ambassador's Daughter (1956 film)The Ambassador's Daughter is a 1956 romantic comedy film starring Olivia de Havilland and John Forsythe. When a visiting American Senator decides to make Paris off-limits to rowdy military personnel, the daughter of the Ambassador to France decides to show him that American servicemen can be...
(1956) - The Return of DraculaThe Return of DraculaThe Return of Dracula is a 1958 horror film starring Francis Lederer as Dracula. The female lead, Rachel, is played by Norma Eberhardt. It is filmed in black and white and directed by Paul Landres....
(1958) - Terror Is a ManTerror Is a ManTerror Is a Man is a 1959 Philippine / American film directed by Gerardo de Leon.The film is also known as Blood Creature .- Cast :*Francis Lederer as Dr...
(1959)
See also
- Veterans of the First World War who died in 2000Veterans of the First World War who died in 2000The following is a list of known veterans of the First World War who died in 2000.-Australia :-Austria-Hungary :-Canada :-France :-Germany :...
- List of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments in the San Fernando Valley