Word: iffland
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1950-1959
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Died. Albert Basserman, 84, whose possession of the celebrated Iffland Ring* marked him as the foremost actor of German-speaking Europe; of a heart attack, soon after his plane from the U.S. landed in Zurich, Switzerland. In 1939, after the Nazis failed to persuade him to divorce his non-Aryan wife, Actress Else Schiff, Basserman at 72 fled with her to Switzerland and the U.S., started life all over again in Hollywood, acted with memorable brilliance in such movies as Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet, The Moon and Sixpence, Rhapsody in Blue...
...Named for Vienna Actor August Wilhelm Iffland (1759-1814), who, smitten with a younger actor's performance, presented him with the ring, instructed him to name his own successor in the next generation. Although Iffland wanted his token of stage greatness passed on forever, Basserman, who got the ring in 1908, sadly decided that it was cursed after three actors, to whom he successively planned to give it, all died, shortly thereafter. In 1946 he gave the heirloom to Vienna's Municipal Museum...
| 1 |