Otto Gebühr (29 May 1877 – 13 March 1954) was a German theatre and film actor who appeared in more than 100 films between 1917 and 1954. He is best known for his portrayal of the Prussian king Frederick the Great (Friedrich II.) in numerous films, a role he played between 1920 and 1942 across twelve films.
Early Life
Gebühr was born in Kettwig (now part of Essen) in the Rhine Province, the son of merchant Otto Gebühr and Fanny Mathilde (née Moll). After his father's death, he grew up in Cologne, where he attended the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Gymnasium. He completed a commercial apprenticeship at the wool wholesale firm M. Michels & Co. in Cologne and subsequently worked as a correspondence clerk in Berlin. Alongside his commercial work, he took drama lessons.
Career
Gebühr began his acting career as a travelling player before securing an engagement at the Stadttheater Görlitz in 1897. From 1898 to 1908, he was a member of the ensemble at the Königliches Hoftheater Dresden, and later performed at the Lessing Theater in Berlin. During the First World War, he served as a volunteer with the 3rd Garde-Feldartillerie-Regiment, rising to the rank of lieutenant.
From 1917 to 1919, he worked under Max Reinhardt at the Deutsches Theater Berlin, where his film career also began, facilitated by his colleague Paul Wegener. His breakthrough came in 1919 when he was cast as King Frederick II in Carl Boese's Die Tänzerin Barberina, owing to his physical resemblance to the Prussian monarch. He subsequently played Frederick the Great in the four-part series Fridericus Rex (1922–1923) and in numerous later films, including Der alte Fritz (1928), Das Flötenkonzert von Sans-souci (1930), Der Choral von Leuthen (1933), Fridericus (1937), and Der große König (1942).
National Socialist Period
During the Nazi era, Gebühr was a valued figure in the state-controlled film industry. The Fridericus films were used to promote nationalist and, after 1933, National Socialist ideology. In 1938, he was awarded the title of Staatsschauspieler (State Actor). In 1944, Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels placed him on the Gottbegnadeten-Liste (List of the Gifted by God), which exempted him from military service. After the war, Gebühr was initially banned from performing by the Allied authorities, and some of his films were indexed.
Post-War Career and Death
Following his denazification, Gebühr returned to the stage in 1947, appearing alongside Lil Dagover in Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard. From 1950, he resumed film work, primarily in supporting roles in Heimatfilme (homeland films) and light entertainment. He died of a heart attack on 13 March 1954 in Wiesbaden, shortly before completing filming on Rosen-Resli.
Personal Life
Gebühr was married twice: first to Cornelia Bertha Julius (from 1910), with whom he had a daughter, Hilde Gebühr (1910–1945), who also became an actress; and second to actress Doris Krüger (from 1942 until her death in 1950), with whom he had a son, the prehistorian Michael Gebühr (1942–2021). His written estate is held in the archive of the Akademie der Künste in Berlin.
