Fritz Schulz

Born April 25, 1896 · Karlsbad, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary [now Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic]

Fritz Schulz was born on April 25, 1896, in Karlsbad, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary [now Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic]. He was an actor and director known for his work in *Ende schlecht, alles gut* (1934), *Kaczmarek* (1928), and *Dienst ist Dienst* (1931). He was married to Ágnes Eszterházy. He died on May 9, 1972, in Zurich, Switzerland. A character actor and singer, he appeared on stage starting in 1913 and in films the following year. He typically played romantic heroes and gentlemen or dashing officers in musical comedies or crime melodramas. As a "suspect" Jew, he was expelled from the Reich Theatre Chamber in 1933 and briefly interned. He was eventually released through the efforts of his wife (former silent film star Agnes Esterházy) and fled to Switzerland. He became a member and director at the Stadttheater Zürich (1940–56) and the Schauspielhaus Zürich (1956–69), specializing in operettas as well as classical and modern plays. Under the National Socialists, a ban was soon proclaimed on screening Austrian films featuring Jewish participation in Germany. Many Jewish filmmakers began producing their own films in German. The first independent production company was founded as early as 1934 by émigrés Fritz Schulz, Rudi Loewenthal, and Erich Morawsky; their first film was titled *Salto in die Seligkeit* (1934). However, just a year later—following their direction of *Letzte Liebe* (1935)—they were forced to close the production company. The press described this type of film as "émigré films" or simply as independent films.