Ludwig Donath Movies and Career Information

Ludwig Donath (6 March 1900, Vienna–29 September 1967, New York City), was an Austrian actor who appeared in many American films. Donath graduated from Vienna's Academy of Dramatic Art and became a prominent actor on the stage in Berlin. When Hitler came to power in 1933, he returned to Vienna and was active there in theater and film and until the Anschluss in 1938. He began his American film career with Lady from Chungking (1942) and went on to appear in dozens of films, including Gilda (1946), The Jolson Story (1946), Jolson Sings Again (1949), The Great Caruso (1951), My Pal Gus (1952), Sirocco (1951), and Torn Curtain (1966). Donath played the father of legendary entertainer Al Jolson (Larry Parks) in the two biopics The Jolson Story (1946) and Jolson Sings Again (1949). Although in his mid- to late-40's during the filming of both films, and less than 15 actual years senior to Parks as Jolson, Donath appeared and acted believably as a character who aged well into his 80's, with both performance and makeup remarkable given 1940's filming and techniques. He also appeared frequently on television and on Broadway. He died of leukemia in 1967.