Karlweiss, Oskar, 1894?-1956

Oskar (often spelled "Oscar") Karlweiss was an Austrian actor; in his professional career and in his correspondence, he appears to have spelled his last name "Karlweis," but it has been rendered as "Karlweiss" by the Library of Congress. He was the son of Carl Karlweis (pseudonym of Karl Weiss; 1850-1901), a Viennese dramatist and prose writer who had been an acquaintance of Alma Mahler in Vienna in her youth. After acting on stages in Vienna, Munich, and Berlin, Oscar Karlweis experienced tremendous success as a film actor in Germany in the early 1930s; because he was Jewish, he left Germany in 1933 and returned to Vienna, where he continued his stage career. Following the Anschluss in 1938, he fled Austria and, via Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, France, and Spain, he eventually arrived in the U.S. in 1940. After learning English, Karlweis resumed a film and stage career in the U.S., experiencing triumphant success in the starring role in the Broadway production of Franz Werfel's play Jacobowsky and the Colonel, which ran from 1944 to 1945. In 1948 he began to appear once again on stage in Vienna and also made Hollywood films in the following years. Ninon Tallon Karlweis (1908-1977), a film producer, was Oscar's wife.

From the description of Correspondence with Alma Mahler and Franz Werfel, 1944-1957. (University of Pennsylvania Library). WorldCat record id: 155863620