Torben Meyer

Torben Emil Meyer (1 December 1884 – 22 May 1975) was a Danish-American character actor who appeared in more than 190 films in a 55-year career.

Torben Meyer
in Casablanca (1942)
Born	Torben Emil Meyer 1 December 1884 Copenhagen, Denmark
Died	22 May 1975 (aged 90) Hollywood, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1912—1966

Early career

Meyer was born in Aarhus, Denmark and began his career as a stage actor in Denmark. He appeared in his first silent movie, Vor tids dame in 1912 and made twenty more before making Don Quixote in 1926. This movie achieved considerable international stature, and Meyer followed the migration of leading European actors to Hollywood the following year. His first American role was as a spy in the silent movie The Man Who Laughs starring Conrad Veidt in 1928. Meyer arrived just when the transition to sound was in progress. In contrast to many other European-born actors, his thick accent became an asset for him. He appeared uncredited in numerous movies throughout the 1930s and 1940s, almost always cast as a German.

In 1930, Meyer received a small part in a Michael Curtiz film A Soldier's Plaything, and in 1932, Meyer appeared in two Swedish language American films, Trådlöst och kärleksfullt and Halvvägs till Himlen. Later that year, he had a small part in Murders in the Rue Morgue, based on the Edgar Allan Poe short story which starring Bela Lugosi.

Meyer had small parts as waiters in five different movies during 1932; in German émigré director Ernst Lubitsch's film Broken Lullaby starring Lionel Barrymore, in George Cukor's What Price Hollywood?, where he plays a waiter in the famous Hollywood restaurant 'The Brown Derby', in Downstairs starring Paul Lukas, in Mervyn LeRoy's Big City Blues starring Joan Blondell and in The Match King. Also that year, he had a small part in The Animal Kingdom starring Leslie Howard.

Next Meyer went from waiter to butler in a number of films in the 1930s; The Crime of the Century, John Ford's The World Moves On, Preview Murder Mystery starring Reginald Denny, Piccadilly Jim and The First Hundred Years both starring Robert Montgomery, and The King and the Chorus Girl starring Joan Blondell. However, he was again cast as a waiter in Reunion in Vienna starring Lionel Barrymore, in The Good Fairy starring Margaret Sullavan, in Break of Hearts starring Katharine Hepburn and Charles Boyer (in this one he was headwaiter at The Ritz), in Two for Tonight starring Bing Crosby, in The Gay Deception as a butler and in To Beat the Band.

In 1935, Meyer was strangled by Boris Karloff's Frankenstein in James Whale's Bride of Frankenstein. Two years later, in 1937, Meyer had a number of bit parts; as a servant in Tovarich starring Claudette Colbert, Charles Boyer and Basil Rathbone, as Raymond Massey's servant in The Prisoner of Zenda starring Ronald Colman in the title role and as Tyrone Power's chauffeur in Sonja Henie's Thin Ice. In 1938 Meyer played a German Police Prefect in a Simon Templar movie, The Saint in New York, and the following year, he played a doorman in Topper Takes a Trip starring Roland Young and Billie Burke. In 1939, Meyer had a bit part in Warner Bros. anti-Nazi movie Nurse Edith Cavell starring Anna Neagle.

Middle years

In 1940, Meyer had a small role in Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet starring Edward G. Robinson, Ruth Gordon and Otto Kruger, and later that year, featured in the Charlie Chaplin movie, The Great Dictator. He also appeared that year in Four Sons, starring Don Ameche. He is seen in the beginning of the movie as a farmer driving a hay wagon from Nazi Germany into Czechoslovakia and then gives Don Ameche's character a ride home. Later that year, he got to play 'Mr. Schmidt' in Preston Sturges' Christmas in July, his second film with the writer-director. Meyer become part of Sturges' unofficial "stock company" of character actors, appearing in every American film written and directed by Sturges with the exception of The Great McGinty.[1] Evidently as a private joke, Sturges nearly always cast Meyer as a character named "Schultz", with conspicuous exceptions as playing Dr. Kluck in The Palm Beach Story in 1942.

In 1942, at age 57, Meyer acted in one scene in the anti-Nazi movie Berlin Correspondent with Dana Andrews, playing a restaurant manager who is harassing Virginia Gilmore for her ration card. Next he had a small part as a Dutch banker in Casablanca who is seated at a baccarat table. His female friend (played by Trude Berliner) wants to have a drink with Rick but is told no by Carl, the headwaiter (S.Z. Sakall). Meyer is annoyed by this rebuff telling Carl, "Perhaps if you told him I ran the second largest banking house in Amsterdam." He is informed that it wouldn't impress Rick, "the leading banker in Amsterdam is now the pastry chef in our kitchen" and "his father is the bellboy!"

In 1943, Meyer played a waiter again in RKO's spy thriller Journey into Fear starring Joseph Cotten, Dolores del Río and Orson Welles. Next, he portrayed a gypsy in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man starring Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney Jr. in the title roles. This was followed with a bit role in Warner Bros.'s war drama Edge of Darkness, starring Errol Flynn and Ann Sheridan, where he plays a clerk for Kaspar Torgerson (Charles Dingle) in a Norwegian cannery. Next he played Gottwald in the spy drama They Came to Blow Up America starring George Sanders and Ward Bond.

The following year, Meyer, wearing a beard and mustache, played a sympathetic Swiss Red Cross representative named Karl Kappel in the 20th Century Fox, The Purple Heart, a war drama of captured US army air force pilots from the Doolittle Raid over Tokyo put on trial in Japan, starring Dana Andrews and Richard Conte. After this, he played Dr. Dahlmeyer in The Great Moment starring Joel McCrea. Next he played Emil Rameau's butler in the musical Greenwich Village starring Carmen Miranda and Don Ameche. Meyer received a bit part as a hotel manager in Once Upon a Time starring Cary Grant. In Hotel Berlin in 1945, which starred Helmut Dantine and Peter Lorre, Meyer plays a barber named Franz. Later that year he was a town official in the Fred Astaire musical Yolanda and the Thief.

After World War II, Meyer continued to receive roles. In 1946, he played a Count in the Bob Hope comedy Monsieur Beaucaire. The following year, he received a small part in Millie's Daughter. Later that year, Meyer who once played a lowly waiter in the famed Los Angeles restaurant 'The Brown Derby' back in 1932, now gets to play the head waiter there in Variety Girl which had cameos from literally dozens of Hollywood stars. In 1949, he portrayed doctors in two movies; he had a small part as Doctor Shultz in the comedy The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend starring Betty Grable and a larger one as Doctor Hans Heinrich in the Bowery Boys film Hold That Baby! Later that year, Meyer played a captain of an ocean liner in the Bob Hope comedy The Great Lover.

In 1951, Meyer played Donovan in Grounds for Marriage starring Van Johnson. Later that year, he got a part as an auto mechanic in Come Fill the Cup starring James Cagney. The next year, Meyer played the mayor of a small French town during World War I in the John Ford drama What Price Glory?. Later in 1952, Meyer was a station master in The Merry Widow starring Lana Turner. The next year, Meyer appeared in the musical Call Me Madam starring Ethel Merman and Donald O'Connor. Next he portrayed another waiter in the Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis comedy The Caddy, and appeared as a chef in another Martin and Lewis comedy the following year, Living It Up.

Meyer appeared in the Bob Hope comedy Casanova's Big Night which also starred Joan Fontaine and John Carradine in 1954, his fourth Bob Hope movie. Next, he got to play cards again, as he did in Casablanca, in Deep in My Heart starring José Ferrer and Merle Oberon. Meyer was out catching butterflies in the Michael Curtiz comedy We're No Angels starring Humphrey Bogart, Aldo Ray and Peter Ustinov. He played a scribe in the John Wayne film The Conqueror in 1956, and later he played a French waiter in the musical Anything Goes starring Bing Crosby and Donald O'Connor.

Meyer portrayed Gaston, the night watchman who discovers a murder at the beginning of the sci-fi classic The Fly starring Vincent Price in 1958. Next he played Alex, the headwaiter at the Harmonica Club in The Matchmaker starring Shirley Booth, Anthony Perkins and Shirley MacLaine. The following year, he had the role of Hugo in This Earth Is Mine starring Rock Hudson and Claude Rains, and in 1960 he appeared in the Elvis Presley movie G.I. Blues.

In the 1950s and 60s, Meyer made some guest appearances on TV shows such as I Dream of Jeannie, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and I Love Lucy.

Later career and death

In 1961, at the age of 76, he got his best role in the classic Judgment at Nuremberg starring Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich, Maximilian Schell, Judy Garland and Montgomery Clift, playing the guilt-ridden "Werner Lampe", one of the ex-Nazi judges on trial whose inability to explain his actions is one of the most powerful moments.[2] Two years, earlier, he had played the same role in the original television production. Two years later, in 1963, he had a small uncredited role in what would be the last movie of his career, A New Kind of Love.

Meyer died on 22 May 1975 of bronchial pneumonia in Hollywood, California at the age of 90. He was cremated and his ashes are in the Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles.[3]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1912	Manegens stjerne	Dumme Peter
1913	Staalkongens Villie
1913	Kæmpedamens bortførelse
1913	Ballettens Datter	Delange - Theatre Manager
1913	Atlantis	Willy Snyders - artist
1913	Kärleken rår	Kuno
1913	Fra fyrste til knejpevært
1914	Under Skæbnens Hjul
1914	Af elskovs naade	Laege
1914	Helvedesmaskinen	Lerche
1914	Den kulørte slavehandler
1915	Appetit og kærlighed	Jens
1915	Held i Uheld	Fritz Tummel
1915	Et huskors	Lensgreve Rosenørn
1915	Revolutionsbryllup
1915	Cigaretpigen	Pedro Delmart - Painter
1915	Cowboymillionæren
1915	Penge
1916	En uheldig skygge
1916	Voksdamen
1916	En nydelig onkel
1916	Lotteriseddel No. 22162	Charles - Apache
1916	Manden uden fremtid	Tobby Spratt
1916	Filmens Datter
1916	Sønnen	Mr. Grøn
1916	Truet lykke	Simoni
1917	Manden uden Smil	Pianist
1918	Hævneren	Niels
1918	Prøvens Dag	Mr. von Scholten
1919	Hans store Chance	Arthur
1919	Bajadser	Rodolfo
1919	Hvorledes jeg kom til Filmen	Gordon Sidney
1919	Dømmer ikke	Philip Saphir
1919	Prinsens Kærlighed
1919	En ung mans väg	Agapetus von Dufva
1920	Lykkeper	Walter Crone
1921	Hendes fortid	Moses Volkenthal
1921	Film, flirt og forlovelse	The Baron
1922	Der var engang	Ceremonimesteren
1923	Madsalune
1923	Republikaneren	Editor
1923	Den sidste dans	Herr von Schneppen
1924	Min ven privatdetektiven
1924	Little Dorrit	Hauptschließer Chivery
1925	Fra Piazza del Popolo	Benedetto - Servant
1926	Maharadjahens yndlingshustru III	Mohun Singh
1926	Klovnen	Butler
1926	Don Quixote	Sancho Carrasco
1928	The Man Who Laughs	The Spy	Uncredited
1928	Jazz Mad	Kline
1928	Noah's Ark	Man on Train	Uncredited
1928	The Viking	Odd
1928	The Last Warning	Gene
1929	Behind Closed Doors	Captain von Gilden
1930	Behind the Make-Up	Waiter
1930	Lummox	Silly Willie
1930	Mamba	German Soldier	Uncredited
1930	The Bad One		Uncredited
1930	Just Like Heaven	Pierre
1930	The Lottery Bride	Miner	Uncredited
1930	A Soldier's Plaything	German Actor in Horse	Uncredited
1931	Trådlöst och kärleksfullt
1931	Just a Gigolo	Waiter	Uncredited
1931	Halvvägs till himlen	Director
1932	Broken Lullaby	Waiter at Inn	Uncredited
1932	Murders in the Rue Morgue	The Dane	Uncredited
1932	What Price Hollywood?	Nick - Brown Derby Headwaiter	Uncredited
1932	Downstairs	Cafe Waiter	Uncredited
1932	Big City Blues	Second Waiter	Uncredited
1932	Six Hours to Live	Sturges - Butler	Uncredited
1932	Le bluffeur	Col. Ginsberg
1932	The Animal Kingdom	Meyer - Idealistic Printer	Uncredited
1932	The Match King	Hans, Headwaiter	Uncredited
1933	The Crime of the Century	Eric Ericson - Butler
1933	Reunion in Vienna	Headwaiter Strumpf	Uncredited
1933	Ladies Must Love	Beermaster	Uncredited
1933	Cradle Song	Papa	Uncredited
1933	The Worst Woman in Paris?	Taxi Driver	Uncredited
1934	Mandalay	Mr. Van Brinken	Uncredited
1934	All Men Are Enemies	Clerk	Uncredited
1934	Little Man, What Now?	Headwaiter	Uncredited
1934	The World Moves On	Head Butler	Uncredited
1934	Pursued	Hansen	Uncredited
1934	By Your Leave	Costume Company Fitter	Uncredited
1934	Music in the Air	Pharmacist	Uncredited
1935	Enter Madame	Carlson
1935	The Night Is Young	Adjutant	Uncredited
1935	The Good Fairy	Head Waiter	Uncredited
1935	Roberta	Albert
1935	Bride of Frankenstein	Victim in Flashback	Uncredited
1935	Mark of the Vampire	Card Player	Uncredited
1935	Break of Hearts	The Ritz Headwaiter	Uncredited
1935	The Girl Who Came Back	Zarabella
1935	Front Page Woman	Janitor	Uncredited
1935	The Black Room	Peter
1935	Two for Tonight	Waiter	Uncredited
1935	The Gay Deception	Waiter	Uncredited
1935	Thunder in the Night	Cafe Owner	Uncredited
1935	Charlie Chan in Shanghai	French Diplomat	Uncredited
1935	The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo	Minor Role	Uncredited
1935	Splendor	Baron Von Hoffstatter
1935	To Beat the Band	Headwaiter	Uncredited
1935	East of Java	Derelict	Uncredited
1935	A Tale of Two Cities	Lackey #1	Uncredited
1935	If You Could Only Cook	Swedish Servant	Uncredited
1936	King of Burlesque	Leopold the Valet	Uncredited
1936	It Had to Happen	Sign Painter	Uncredited
1936	The Preview Murder Mystery	Smith's Butler	Uncredited
1936	The Farmer in the Dell	Party Guest	Uncredited
1936	Till We Meet Again	Kraus
1936	Champagne Charlie	Minor Role	Uncredited
1936	Piccadilly Jim	Pett's Butler	Uncredited
1936	Star for a Night	Saddle Maker	Uncredited
1936	In His Steps		Uncredited
1936	Wedding Present	Winternitz	Uncredited
1936	The Accusing Finger	Proprietor	Uncredited
1936	Espionage	Police Inspector	Uncredited
1936	The King and the Chorus Girl	Eric - the Butler	Uncredited
1937	Thin Ice	Chauffeur
1937	The Good Old Soak	Headwaiter	Uncredited
1937	Shall We Dance	Show Producer	Uncredited
1937	The Emperor's Candlesticks	Train Announcer	Uncredited
1937	She's No Lady	Swedish Waiter	Uncredited
1937	The Prisoner of Zenda	Max - Butler
1937	Wife, Doctor and Nurse	Second Tailor	Uncredited
1937	Madame X	Peridcord	Uncredited
1937	Fight for Your Lady	Hungarian Police Officer	Uncredited
1937	Prescription for Romance	Hotel Desk Clerk	Uncredited
1937	Tovarich	Servant	Uncredited
1938	The First Hundred Years	Karl
1938	Bulldog Drummond's Peril	Hoffman	Uncredited
1938	Romance in the Dark	Prof. Jacobsen
1938	Romance in the Dark	Art Critic	Uncredited
1938	The Saint in New York	German Police Prefect	Uncredited
1938	I'll Give a Million	Doorman	Uncredited
1938	The Great Waltz	Ticket Taker at Dommayer's	Uncredited
1938	Topper Takes a Trip	Hotel Doorman	Uncredited
1939	Island of Lost Men	Cafe Manager	Uncredited
1939	Nurse Edith Cavell	German Officer	Uncredited
1939	Everything Happens at Night	Station Master	Uncredited
1940	Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet	Kadereit	Uncredited
1940	The Way of All Flesh	Sandor Nemzeti
1940	Four Sons	Gustav
1940	The Great Dictator	Bald Barbershop Customer	Uncredited
1940	Christmas in July	Mr. Schmidt
1940	No, No, Nanette	Furtlemertle	Uncredited
1941	The Lady Eve	Mr. Clink - Purser	Uncredited
1941	Sunny	Jean (head waiter)
1941	Sullivan's Travels	The Doctor
1941	Bedtime Story	Dinglehoff	Uncredited
1942	The Adventures of Martin Eden	Jacob	Uncredited
1942	Crossroads	Old Man	Uncredited
1942	Berlin Correspondent	Manager
1942	The Palm Beach Story	Dr. Kluck
1942	Casablanca	Dutch Banker at Cafe Table	Uncredited
1943	Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man	Gypsy	Uncredited
1943	Edge of Darkness	Cannery Clerk	Uncredited
1943	They Came to Blow Up America	Graumark Hotel Desk Clerk	Uncredited
1943	Jack London	Literary Guest	Uncredited
1943	The Miracle of Morgan's Creek	Dr. Meyer	Uncredited
1944	The Purple Heart	Karl Kappel	Uncredited
1944	Once Upon a Time	Hotel Manager	Uncredited
1944	The Great Moment	Dr. Dahlmeyer
1944	Hail the Conquering Hero	Mr. Schultz	Uncredited
1944	Greenwich Village	Kavosky's Butler	Uncredited
1945	Hotel Berlin	Franz, the Barber	Uncredited
1945	A Royal Scandal	Stooge	Uncredited
1945	Yolanda and the Thief	Town Official	Uncredited
1946	The Kid from Brooklyn	Garden Party Guest	Uncredited
1946	Heartbeat	Thief at Ball	Uncredited
1946	Monsieur Beaucaire	Count	Uncredited
1946	Alias Mr. Twilight	Starling
1947	The Mighty McGurk	Second Brewer
1947	The Sin of Harold Diddlebock	Barber with Mustache
1947	The Beginning or the End	Milkman	Uncredited
1947	Millie's Daughter	Mr. Johnson	Uncredited
1947	Variety Girl	Andre - Brown Derby Headwaiter
1947	Song of Love	Stage Manager	Uncredited
1947	The Exile	Sea Captain
1948	To the Victor	Elderly Frenchman	Uncredited
1948	Letter from an Unknown Woman	Carriage Driver	Uncredited
1948	Julia Misbehaves	Commissar	Uncredited
1948	Sealed Verdict	Courtroom interpreter
1948	Unfaithfully Yours	Dr. Schultz
1949	The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend	Dr. Shultz
1949	Hold That Baby!	Dr. Hans Heinrich
1949	The Great Lover	Ship's Captain	Uncredited
1949	And Baby Makes Three	Waiter	Uncredited
1950	The Great Rupert	Mr. Petrushka - the Baker	Uncredited
1951	Grounds for Marriage	Donovan
1951	The Company She Keeps	Maitre'd in French Restaurant	Uncredited
1951	That's My Boy	Photographer	Uncredited
1951	Night into Morning	Butcher	Uncredited
1951	Come Fill the Cup	Delmar - Ives' Auto Mechanic	Uncredited
1951	The Blue Veil	Photographer	Uncredited
1951	My Favorite Spy	Headwaiter	Uncredited
1952	What Price Glory	Mayor	Uncredited
1952	The Merry Widow	Station Master	Uncredited
1953	Call Me Madam	Rudolph	Uncredited
1953	The Story of Three Loves	Man in Saloon	(segment "Equilibrium"), Uncredited
1953	Ma and Pa Kettle on Vacation	Doorman at Hotel Louis	Uncredited
1953	Houdini	Headwaiter	Uncredited
1954	Casanova's Big Night	Attendant	Uncredited
1954	About Mrs. Leslie	Maitre D'	Uncredited
1954	Living It Up	Chef	Uncredited
1954	Deep in My Heart	Card Player	Uncredited
1955	We're No Angels	Butterfly Man	Uncredited
1956	The Conqueror	Scribe	Uncredited
1956	Anything Goes	French Waiter	Uncredited
1956	Hollywood or Bust	Waiter	Last Martin & Lewis comedy; waiter, Uncredited
1957	Public Pigeon No. 1	Waiter	Uncredited
1957	The Helen Morgan Story	Manager	Uncredited
1958	The Fly	Gaston	Uncredited
1958	The Matchmaker	Alex, Headwaiter, Harmonica Club
1959	This Earth Is Mine	Hugo	Uncredited
1959	Li'l Abner	Butler	Uncredited
1960	G.I. Blues	Headwaiter	Uncredited
1961	Judgment at Nuremberg	Werner Lampe
1963	A New Kind of Love	Hotel Clerk	Uncredited

References

1. Meyer appeared in Christmas in July, The Lady Eve, Sullivan's Travels, The Palm Beach Story, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, Hail the Conquering Hero, The Great Moment, The Sin of Harold Diddlebock, Unfaithfully Yours and The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend, Sturges' last American film. Earlier, he had also appeared in The Good Fairy, which was written by Sturges.
2. Erickson, Hal Biography (Allmovie)
3. "Torben Meyer". Find a Grave. Retrieved October 19, 2010.

External links

• Torben Meyer at IMDb 
• Torben Meyer at AllMovie
• Torben Meyer at the TCM Movie Database
• Torben Meyer at the British Film Institute
• Torben Meyer at Find a Grave