Kohner Agency advertisement for Felix Bressart (1945)
Kohner Agency advertisement for Felix Bressart (1945)
Kann ich gezwungen werden, in einem Anti-Nazi-Film mitzuwirken, so lange Angehörige in Deutschland sind?
[Can I be forced to play in an anti-Nazi film when I still have relatives in Germany? (ed. trans.)]
Felix Bressart, list of questions to his agent Paul Kohner (undated, 1939)
Felix Bressart, who made his way to the USA in 1938 via stops in Switzerland, Austria and France, was lucky: he was one of the few émigré actors on the books of the newly established Paul Kohner Agency who readily found engagements upon alighting in the New World. This was due above all to his huge comedic talent which managed to transcend linguistic barriers.
Despite concerns regarding the extent of his obligations, Bressart began his Hollywood phase with a six-year contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, specialising in memorable supporting roles like the Polish-Jewish actor Greenberg in Lubitsch’s anti-Nazi comedy To Be or Not To Be in 1942. At the end of his engagement in 1945 his agent placed this advertisement, in which the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer mascot, Leo the lion, thanks Bressart and wishes him all the best. As it happened his run of success had come to an end. After the war Bressart studied medicine and settled down in Beverly Hills where he practised as a physiotherapist.
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