John Gottowt
Born
15 June 1881 (144)
Place of Birth
Lemberg, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Lviv, Ukraine]
Also known as
Isidor Gesang
Biography
John Gottowt (born Isidor Gesang; 15 June 1881 – 29 August 1942) was an Austrian actor, stage director and film director for theatres and silent movies. Gottowt was born in Lemberg, Austria-Hungary (present-day Lviv, Ukraine) into a Jewish family. 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 a...
John Gottowt (born Isidor Gesang; 15 June 1881 – 29 August 1942) was an Austrian actor, stage director and film director for theatres and silent movies. Gottowt was born in Lemberg, Austria-Hungary (present-day Lviv, Ukraine) into a Jewish family. 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 ("The Student of Prague") (1913). 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 (Abraham van Helsing) 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 an SS officer while in hiding in Wieliczka, disguised as a Roman Catholic priest.
Filmography (18)
Radiohead X Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror
2025
The Living Dead
1932
The Twelfth Hour
1930
The Flight in the Night
1926
Waxworks
1924
Der schwarze Stern
1922
Nosferatu
1922
Brennendes Land
1921
The Night of Queen Isabeau
1920
Algol: Tragedy of Power
1920
Genuine: The Tragedy of a Vampire
1920
The Hunchback and the Dancer
1920
Der rote Henker
1920
Peer Gynt - 1. Teil: Peer Gynts Jugend
1919
Morphium
1919
Die Prinzessin von Neutralien
1917
Das schwarze Los
1913
The Student of Prague
1913