Fritz Spira

Fritz Spira
Born 1 August 1881
Vienna, Austro-Hungarian Empire
Died c. 1943 (aged 62)
Ruma, Occupied Yugoslavia
Occupation Film actor
Stage actor
Years active 1910-1935 (film)
Spouse(s) Lotte Spira (m. 1905- div. 1934)
Charlotte Andresen (m. ?-1943)
Children Camilla Spira
Steffie Spira

Fritz Spira (1881–1943) was an Austrian stage and film actor. He appeared frequently in films during the silent and early sound eras. Spira played the role of the Austrian Emperor Franz Josef in the 1926 film The Third Squadron. Spira had been working in Germany before the Nazi takeover in 1933 compelled him to leave because of his Jewish background. He went first to Poland, then returned to his native Austria. Following the Anchluss he tried to leave, but was arrested. He eventually died in 1943 at the Ruma Concentration Camp in Vojvodina.

Family

He was married to Lotte Spira from 1905-1934 and was the father of the actresses Camilla Spira and Steffie Spira. Camilla only survived the holocaust because her mother signed a statement swearing that Fritz was not Camilla's real father.[1]

Selected filmography

References

  1. Baer p.118

Bibliography

External links


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