John Gottowt


John Gottowt was an Austrian actor, stage director and film director for theatres and silent movies.
He was born as Isidor Gesang in Lemberg, Austria-Hungary. After his education in Vienna, he joined the Deutsches Theater in Berlin in 1905, working for Max Reinhardt as an actor and director. Gottowt was mainly active in different theatres in Berlin as a character actor and director.
His first silent film appearance was in Paul Wegener’s Der Student von Prag . In 1920 he appeared in Robert Wiene's Genuine and took the main role in the early science fiction film Algol. In 1921 he played Professor Bulwer in the classic silent film Nosferatu directed by F.W. Murnau.
Gottowt made also several films with his brother-in-law Henrik Galeen but, as a Jew, was banned in 1933 from working as a professional actor. After a few years in Denmark he moved to Kraków in Poland. He was murdered in 1942 by the SS in Wieliczka.

List of films