Albert Bassermann began his career at the age of 20 in his home city of Mannheim. For a number of years he formed part of the renowned Meininger Hoftheater ensemble. In 1895 he moved to Berlin, where he performed first under Otto Brahm, and from 1909 under Max Reinhardt at the Deutsches Theater. In 1912 he appeared on film for the first time (Der Andere) and helped this new form win a measure of artistic prestige among his own somewhat conservative theatre circle. Up until 1933 he appeared in numerous German films, both silent films and talkies, but always maintained his loyalty to the theatre.

A few months after the Nazis assumed power he appeared, at Goebbels’ insistence, in the drama Schlageter at the Berliner Schauspielhaus. At the end of the premiere, which was attended by Hitler, Göring and Goebbels, Bassermann was the only performer not to acknowledge the applause with the Nazi salute.

The Bassermann family relocated to Switzerland. When Bassermann’s wife, actress Else Bassermann, was forbidden from performing in Germany due to her Jewish roots, Albert too refused to perform there. In the ensuing years he appeared in various productions of the Züricher Schauspielhaus and in an Austrian film (Letzte Liebe, 1934) as well as a French film (Les Héros de la Marne, 1938). In 1939 the 72-year-old Bassermann emigrated to the USA with his wife and daughter with an affidavit from Ernst Lubitsch in his pocket. Despite initial difficulties he managed to find work in film and theatre.

Selected works:
Der Andere, 1913
Masken, 1920
Der Mann mit der eisernen Maske, 1922
1914, die letzten Tage vor dem Weltbrand, 1930
Foreign Correspondent (dt. Der Auslandskorrespondent), 1944

Further reading:
Klapdor, Heike (Hg.): Ich bin ein unheilbarer Europäer. Briefe aus dem Exil. Berlin: Aufbau 2007, S. 167 – 200
Weniger, Kay: „Es wird im Leben dir mehr genommen als gegeben…“. Lexikon der aus Deutschland und Österreich emigrierten Filmschaffenden 1933 bis 1945. Eine Gesamtübersicht. Hamburg: Acabus 2011, S. 86 – 88