Hans Josef Schumm(néJohann Josef Eugen Schumm; 2 April 1896 Stuttgart – 2 February 1990 Los Angeles) was a German-born-turned-American actor, notably, a prolific and critically acclaimed Hollywood screen character actor[3][4][5][6] who appeared in some 95 films – including a co-starring villainous role in a 12-episode serial. He also appeared in 15 TV productions and several stage productions, including one on Broadway. Except for about ten cinema productions, Schumm's body of work in cinema and television was filmed in the United States. On stage and in film, he is credited as Hans Josef Schumm or simply Hans Schumm; but in seven films, he is credited under the pseudonym André Pola — three in 1948, one in 1949, one in 1954, and one 1956.[a] In his private life, he was known as Joseph Schumm and Johann J.E. Schumm.
While living in Stuttgart, Schumm first visited New York as a merchant at age 27, arriving January 1, 1924. There are at least two attributions for his acting debut, one in 1925 in Meissen, Germany, and one around 1925 in Stuttgart, performing in The Merchant of Venice with Staatstheater Stuttgart. Schumm visited New York again, arriving November 30, 1926, and performed with a German stock company in Milwaukee and Chicago.
Permanent move to New Yorkedit
Schumm returned a third time to New York, arriving August 26, 1929, to work in German-language theater as a permanent United States resident.[7][3][8]
The timing of Schumm's 1929 arrival was 3 years, 5 months before Hitler's seizure of power on January 30, 1933. Germany had been in the throes of severe economic duress from post World War I, which included hyperinflation that began around 1922. His arrival was also sixty-four days after the Great Crash of 1929 on Wall Street. The Great Depression had struck Germany hard in late 1929, and sunk to its trough in early 1932.
Shortly after arriving, until about 1931, Schumm lived at 160 Wadsworth Avenue, Washington Heights, a neighborhood in the most northern part of Manhattan, New York.
Back in Germany, in 1933, by decree of Joseph Goebbels under a newly created agency called Die Reichskulturkammer (DKK), Jewish actors were, among other things, prohibited from performing on German stage. Schumm was not an exile. But he worked within the Hollywood cinema community, particularly German expatriate groups, to help German Jewish exiled actors acclimate in American cinema. In Los Angeles, in 1939, Schumm became one of 60 or more initial members who formed The Continental Players, a short-lived theater company spearheaded by film executives in support of exiled Jewish thespians from Germany and Austria.
World War II eraedit
Schumm's film roles were mostly minor and, during World War II, mostly uncredited; though he was billed as a main actor on some film posters, including his villainous role as "The Mask" in the popular 1942 12-episode movie serial, Spy Smasher.[9] Generally, the Screen Actors Guild for film, and AFTRA for TV and radio, establishes the guidelines for credits. The lack of crediting can be for several reasons, such as (i) small roles, (ii) non-speaking roles, (iii) brevity, (iv) perceived mismatch between the actor and the role (e.g., a famous actor playing an insignificant part), (v) cameos, (vi) extras, (vii) bit part roles. But also, from 1933 until after World War II, film credits for German-expatriates and German-American actors, particularly in Nazi-themed films, was risky for those who had families in Nazi-occupied countries, not only for Jews, but for anyone with American ties that might draw the attention of the SS. Schumm's paternal and maternal relatives were German citizens and resided there. Schumm became a U.S. naturalized citizen February 14, 1941. When Schumm was drafted under the U.S. Selective Service System, he became a conscientious objector.
In a 2015 retrospective review of Schumm's role as "The Mask" from the 1942 serial Spy Smasher, film critic Boyd P. Magers wrote, "the ultimate screen Nazi was Hans Schumm." An IMDb biographer characterized Schumm as "Nazi swine 'par excellance.'" Magers pointed out that Schumm's career received a considerable boost in the early 1940s when German-born actors were sought, particularly for roles in anti-Nazi films portraying members of the Wehrmacht and SS.[9]
Schumm played a character role in the 1943 film, Hangmen. The film was one of the few attempts by German immigrants in the United States to make a film against the Hitler regime.[10][11]
Post World War IIedit
After World War II, Schumm performed a role in a 1952-1953 Broadway play, A Red Rainbow.
Germanyedit
Following a trend beginning around 1953 for American film producers to shoot in West Germany due to low costs,[12] Schumm traveled to West Germany for work, including roles in:
The Third Sex was produced in West Germany. It was filmed from May 8 to June 3, 1957, and premiered in Vienna on August 29, 1957, in several cinemas. In Germany, the film was first seen in Stuttgart at the Gloria-Palast[c] on October 31, 1957.[13] Schumm played a pediatric psychologist. The film addressed homosexuality, which was controversial at the time. The underlying message, conversion therapy, is on the wrong side of science. Directed by Veit Harlan, the aim was to liberalize public views against homosexuality, and in particular, influence reform of West German laws against it. The film – specifically the version censored by German authorities under Paragraph 175 of the German Criminal Code – had the opposite effect.[b]
Hollywood in the 1960sedit
Schumm returned to Hollywood and finished his acting career in 1970.
After shooting Das dritte Geschlecht, Schumm returned to Hollywood and finished his acting career in 1970.
Schumm was born April 2, 1896, in Stuttgart, Germany, to Friedrich Schumm (1855–1904) and Petronella (aka Petrauella) Jehle (maiden, aka Yehle aka Fehle;[d] 1855–1936). He had three siblings – two brothers and a sister. His older brother, Gustav "Gustel" Schumm (de) (1888–1966) had been a star rugby and soccer player, and in 1912, for one year, had served as president of VfB Stuttgart and is credited for developing youth soccer in Germany, before and after World War I.
First marriageedit
Schumm first married – on July 29, 1931, in Los Angeles – Agnes Mellen Kent (1888–1975), who from a previous marriage, had two daughters – (i) Jessie Marcellina (Elizabeth) Olivieri (1918–1947) and (ii) Josephine Tarquini (1910–2010), that latter having been adopted after being rescued from the 1915 earthquake in central Italy. Agnes Kent was the daughter of New York architect William Winthrop Kent (1860–1955) – who, as architect, was affiliated at various times with (i) Harvey L. Page, (ii) his brother, Edward Austin Kent (who perished on the Titanic), (iii) Heins & LaFarge, and (iv) Jardine, Kent & Jardine. He was one of the architects of the original plan for Cathedral of St. John the Divine, including the Romanesque Revivalapse. Agnes was also the granddaughter of Henry Mellen Kent (1823–1894), one of the founders of the Flint & Kent department store in Buffalo.[14] Hans and Agnes divorced. Agnes had been previously married to Umberto Olivieri (1884–1973), a banker for 14 years at Bank of America in San Francisco, a lawyer in Rome, and a language professor for 30 years at Santa Clara University, who, in 1958, at the age of 74 — after returning to Italy and joining the Order of Saint Benedict at the Subiaco Monastery in Rome — became ordained as a RomanCatholic Priest by the Bishop of Tivoli at Subiaco.[15] Hans Schumm was Agnes' second of three husbands.
Second marriageedit
Schumm then married – on September 23, 1935, in Santa Ana, California – Gloria F. Smith (aka Gloria Smith Beery, née Florence W. Smith; 1916–1989). Gloria Schumm filed for divorce late September 1943 in Los Angeles County.[i] Their divorced became final on December 8, 1944. Gloria and Hans then remarried August 21, 1947, after Gloria realized that she was pregnant from, she claimed, actor Wallace Beery, which Beery denied.[ii] Gloria gave birth on February 7, 1948, to Johan Richard Wallace Schumm. On February 13, 1948, Gloria Schumm, on behalf of Johan Schumm, as plaintiff, filed a paternity suit against Beery, who, through his lawyer, Norman Ronald Tyre (1910–2002) – Gang, Tyre, Ramer & Brown – initially offered $6,000 as a settlement, but denied being the father.
Gloria Schumm, again, filed for divorced from Hans Schumm on April 2, 1953, in Los Angeles County. Gloria, in her private life, sometimes used Wallace Beery's surname and, as a bit part actor, sometimes used her stage name, Gloria Whitney.[e] Gloria, again, divorced Hans Schumm January 11, 1978, in Los Angeles County.
United States citizenshipedit
Schumm applied to become a naturalized citizen of the United States on November 13, 1940, in Los Angeles, and was admitted as a citizen February 14, 1941. The two affiants attesting to Schumm's identity and residency were Stuttgart-born Alfred Theodor Hummel (1876–1946) and John Harrison Rodney Pain (1884–1966), a British-born American gardner and woodwork artisan.[16] Schumm was approximately 6 feet (1.8 m) tall, weighed approximately 198 pounds (90 kg), and had brown hair and brown eyes — according to his 1942 U.S. draft registration card.[17]
Deathedit
Schumm died at 93 years and 10 months on February 2, 1990. He was dead on arrival at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Los Angeles from heart failure after being stricken at the Hollywood nursing home where he had been living. His body was cremated with his ashes buried in the actors' rose garden at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery.[9]
Links to stillsedit
Three stills from "The Primitive Touch," a TV episode from The Web;CBS/Getty Images, May 14, 1954 New York, New York
Two images: April 17, 1952, Johann Schumm – 4 years (child); Gloria Schumm (mother); University of Southern California; OCLC 822257200, 857831052, 663235176
Screen Extras Guild (between 1946 and 1992, background actors in film and television were largely represented by the Screen Extras Guild. SEG was disbanded on 1 June 1992 and transferred its jurisdiction to SAG)
Edwin Forrest Society, The Actors Fund, member (estate benefactor)
Ebell Wilshire Theater Los Angeles Second event of the German Theater Season
Cast: Bert Sprotte (title role), Eva Leoni, Edith Wolf-Kopelson, Conrad Seidemann, Hans Joseph Schumm, Johanna Hagen, Charlotte Foerstel, Kurt Herrnfeld, Costea Mooth, Otto Kottka, Elizabeth Siegel[24]
Cast: Louis Adlon; Siegfried Arno (Stuessi); Lutz Altschul (Rösselmann); Norbert J. Kobler (1916–2003), son of German actor and director, Julius Kobler (de); Ernst Lenart (de); Sigmund Nunberg (de); Friedrich Mellinger; Ernst Deutsch (the dictator); Leo Reuss (akaLionel Royce) (William Tell); Norbert Schiller (de), great-great-great nephew of the playwright[v] (Baumgarten); Gerhard Schaefer (Arnold von Melchtal); Hans Schumm; Walter O. Stahl (de); Rudolf Steinbock (de); Christiane Grautoff (de) (Ernst Toller's wife) (Hedwig, Tell's wife); Eva Hyde (aka Heyde; née Heymann; 1910–1955)[g] (Armgard); Hermine Sterler (Gertrude Stauffacher); Alexander Granach (Stauffacher); Bobby Moya (young Tell).
Cast included Norbert Schiller (de) as Faust, Walter Wicclair (de) as Mephistopheles, Laura McCann (de) as Gretchen, Else Baeck-Neft (de) as Martha, and Franz Roeh as Wagner, Marcel Lerner as the student.[28] Others in the cast included Otto Waldis (de), Sigurd Bernau, L.H. Lasch, and Renee Henning.
Kitty Mattern (de) playing Helen Prynne co-starred with Hans Schumm playing Bennet Chase. In a love scene, Mattern and Schumm reportedly drove realism to an intensity that was unusual for the era. Others in the cast included Norbert J. Kobler playing Victor Prynne, Inga Grothe playing Sybile Chase[27][29]
Cast included Else Baeck-Neft (de) as Rosa, Efriede Borodin (de) as Marianne, Walter Wicclair (de) as Professor Gallwitz, and Hans Schumm as Dr. Neumeister.[27]
Cast: Carolyn Jones (Amytis, Grecian wife of the Roman dictator), Robin Hughes (Hannibal), Richard Hale (Hasdrubal), Mike Freeman (Maharbal), Clayton Cole (Hannibal's brother), Nico Lek (1901–1983) (Fabius, the dictator), Margaret Brewster (Fabius' mother), Pat Golden (the sergeant), Keith McConnell (Scripio), Taylor Flanikan (slave), Francesca Leland (slave)
The play is a murder-mystery involving the infiltration of communism in American life (see Red-baiting and McCarthyism). The production was partly financed by the Cinema Education Guild of Hollywood, Inc., which has been chronicled as a notoriouslyill-fatedMcCarthyistic organization founded and headed by Myron C. Fagan (president). His son, executive producer of the play, Bruce Vincent Fagan (1918–2001) was the organization's secretary.[vi][33] Schumm's 1953 affiliation with Fagan notwithstanding, it is not known whether he seriously shared Fagan's views given that he went on to work with actors, directors, and producers who Fagan later infamously named before a stage audience, and on radio, 300 Hollywood stars that he claimed were communists. (FBI file)
Radioedit
Dates
Play
Writer(s)
Director
Role
Network
1955
Radio Play: "Hier geschieht ja doch nichts" (adaptation from "Mr. Higginbotham's Catastrophe," from Twice-Told Tales)
Cast: Karin Schlemmer (de) (Helen Longfield), Thomas Flemming (Dominic Pike), Albert Florath (Thompson), Willi Reichmann (Babbler), Kurt Haars (Bullock), Walter Thurau (Davies), Trude Tandar (Mrs. Luly), Hans Mahnke (de) (Der hinkende Sam), Hans Josef Schumm (Josua)
Notes and referencesedit
General resourcesedit
Marta Mierendorff papers 0214 "Schumm, Hans," Box 12, Folder 22, University of Southern California (USC), Feuchtwanger Memorial Library; OCLC 709903745
Marta Mierendorff, PhD — a German-born scholar who, in the latter 1960s, became a faculty member at USC — was a pioneer in the study of exiles. Schumm was not an exile, but, the papers include information on Schumm
"Arbeitsausschüsse der Fachschaft Bühne," Die Bühne (Redakteur: Dr. Hans Knudsen), 2 Jahrgang, heft 1, 1. Januar 1936, seit 22; OCLC 1019938629
O – Obmann; St – Obmann Stellvertreter; S – Schriftführer; K – Kassenwart; Vd – Vertrauens -dame; B – Beisitzer; FV – Fachgruppenvertreter.
Bamberg Stadttheater: Walter Storm (O), Fritz Milter (St), Hans Schumm (S), Karl Frank (K), Ria Mardeck (Vd).
Koegel, John, PhD (born 1956) (2009). Music in German Immigrant Theater: New York City, 1840-1940. University of Rochester Press.Retrieved May 25, 2018. Koegel, as of 2018, is Professor of Musicology at California State University, Fullerton.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: postscript (link)LCCN 2009-6777; OCLC 488494395 (all editions).
Koegel – via Google Books.
Koegel – via Internet Archive. 2009. ISBN 9781580462150.
See inline citation 21 for Chapter 5 on p. 504. → Ulrich, Paul Stanley (1997). Biographisches Verzeichnis für Theater, Tanz und Musik [Biographical Index for Theater, Dance and Music: Directory of German-Language Reference Works and Yearbooks]. Berlin Verlag Arno Spitz GmbH (de). ISBN 387061479X ISBN 3-8706-1673-3, 978-3-8706-1479-9; ISBN 978-3-8706-1673-1; OCLC 444440441 (all editions).
Vol. 1: A–L
Vol. 2: M-Z
Notesedit
^Disambiguation: Andre Pola (surname also spelled as Polah) (1892–1949) was a Dutch-born violinist who immigrated to America with his Belgian teacher, Eugène Ysaÿe. After concertizing for several years, Polah eventually became head of the violin department at Syracuse University in the late 1920s, conducting the university orchestra as well.
^ abSchumm appeared only in the censored version of The Third Sex. The director, Veit Harlan, was roundly criticized by American reviewers for having been anti-Semitic. Moreover, the underlying messages of the film (about homosexuality), were criticized then by major media in the U.S., and over sixty-five years since its release in North America, has been uniformly debunked. It is not known why the scene with Schumm, as psychologist, was replaced with another actor in the English language version; and it is not known whether Schumm – by participating in the German language version – was sympathetic to the director or the film's message.
^The Stuttgart Gloria-Palast was a single-screen movie theater that opened August 2, 1956.
^With respect to the various spellings of Schumm's mother's maiden name, "Jehle" and "Yehle," the German consonant "J" is almost always pronounced in the same manner as the English "Y." Other possible transliterations include:
Eahle
Eali
Eallie
Ealy
Ehle
Ehly
Eiley
Eley
Elley
Ely
Ihle
Ihli
Ihlie
Illi
Jehle
Ohley
Uhl
Uhle
Yaley
Yealy
Yehl
Yehle
Yehley
Yhle
Yhley
Yhly
^Disambiguation: Gloria Whitney – the stage name for Gloria Schumm – is not the same person as the singer, Gloria Whitney (stage name) (néeFlorence Joan Healy; 1911–1974), featured on national radio broadcasts and sweet-styled dance orchestras from about 1931 to about 1942.
^D-F Distributing Corp. was headed by David Dietz. The Third Sex is the only known film distributed by the firm. David Dietz, however, also, with William H. Horne, distributed (i) Assassin for Hire, (ii) Louisiana Story, and (iii) Magie Africaine.
^Eva Hyde(néeEva Heymann; 1910–1953), an actress, was the third wife of composer Werner R. Heymann, her first husband whom she divorced. In 1952, she married artist Klaus Brill (1913–2007). She was a distant cousin of Werner Heymann.
^"Hans Schumm" (obituary), Variety, March 7, 1990, p. 70
^ abJourneys of Desire: European Actors in Hollywood – A Critical Companion, by Alastair Phillips, PhD, & Ginette Vincendeau (2006)
Chapter 11: "The Ultimate Irony: Jews Playing Nazis in Hollywood" (essay), by Joseph Garncarz (University of Vienna), pps. 103–113 Entry: "Schumm, Hans (Hans Josef Schumm)"
BFI (2006); OCLC 470550238; ISBN 1844571246, 9781844571246, 1844571238; ISBN 9781844571239
^Who's Who in Hollywood (entry: "Hans Schumm") (in Vol. 2 of 2), by David Ragan (born 1925), Facts on File (1992); OCLC 906553204
^Vampire, Monster, Irre Wissenschaftler: So viel Europa steckt in Hollywoods Goldener Horrorfilmära, by Silvia Kornberger, Disserta Verlag (de) (2014), pp. 419–420; OCLC 869019127
^"Es wird im Leben dir mehr genommen als gegeben:" Lexikon der aus Deutschland und Österreich emigrierten Filmschaffenden 1933 bis 1945, by Kay Weniger, ACABUS Verlag (de) (2012), p. 41; ISBN 3862820491
^ abc"Serial Profiles: Hans Schumm as 'The Mask,'" by Boyd P. Magers (born 1940), "Serial Report," Chapter 86, Western Clippings, 2015; reprinted from the SCOOP (online newsletter), September 18, 2015; OCLC 32602060, 801245552
^Hanns Eisler: Eine Biographie in Texten, Bildern und Dokumenten : mit 235 Abbildungen, by Jürgen Schebera, Schott Music (1998); OCLC 470440541
^"West Germany Crowded With Yank Film Producers: Low Cost Factor," Variety, August 5, 1953, p. 13
^Review of the book: Grenzverwischer – 'Jud Süss' und 'Das Dritte Geschlecht' – Verschränkte Diskurse von Ausgrenzung (book review), by Jennifer William, PhD, Shofar, Vol. 28, No. 1 (2009); OCLC 356994735; ISSN 0882-8539 (accessible viaProject MUSE)
Note: Williams, as of 2018, is Professor of German at Purdue University
^History and Genealogy of the Ancestors and Descendants of Captain Israel Jones who Removed from Enfield to Barkhamsted, Conn., in the year 1759, compiled for Asahel Wellington Jones by Linus Newton Parker (1842–1918), Norwalk, Ohio: Laning Co. (1902); OCLC 7263462
^To the Top of the Mountain: The life of Father Umberto Olivieri, "Padre of the Otomis," by William Nicholas Abeloe (1933–1982), Exposition Press (1976); OCLC 2424353; ISBN 0682485586; ISBN 9780682485586
^"California, Southern District Court (Central) Naturalization Index, 1915-1976" (database with images → "Johann Josef Eugen Schumm, 1941;" citing Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, NARA, Los Angeles Branch, Laguna Niguel). FHL microfilm 1558373. November 28, 2014 – via FamilySearch.
^"World War II Draft Cards (4th Registration) for the State of California, 1942" (database with images), FamilySearch, November 8, 2017, "Hans Josef Schumm, 1942"; citing NARA microfilm publication M1936, M1937, M1939, M1951, M1962, M1964, M1986, M2090, and M2097
Los Angeles County Draft Board 242 Draft No. 242 ARC (NARA Archival Research Catalog) Identifier 603155 Digital Folder Number 4669791 Image Nos. 1868 & 1869 (registration/login is free, but required)
^The Espionage Filmography: United States Releases, 1898 through 1999, by Paul Mavis, McFarland & Company (2010) (Schumm is cited on 21 pages; see "Schumm, Hans" in "Cast Index" on p. 413); OCLC 910878885, 476156931
^Hollywood 'B' Movies: A Treasury of Spills, Chills & Thrills, by John Howard Reid, Lulu Press Inc. (2005), p. 3–4; OCLC 895215571
^"Film-Panorama: A Voice in the Wind" (film review), by Victoria & Friedrich Torberg (pen name for Friedrich Kantor; 1908–1979), Der Aufbau, Vol. 10, No. 12, March 24, 1944, p. 11; OCLC 30943749
^"German Exile Cinema: 1933–1950," by Jan-Christopher Horak (de) (translated by Jennifer Bishop and Jan-Christopher Horak), Film History, Vol. 8, No. 4 (1996), pps. p. 381 (373–389); ISSN 0892-2160; OCLC 196677607 (accessible viaJSTOR at www.jstor.org/stable/3815389)
^Anti-Nazi-Filme der deutschsprachigen Emigration von Hollywood 1939-1945 (in German), by Jan-Christopher Horak (de), (1984), pps. 81, 136, 255; OCLC 12344138
^"Kalifornien: Leopold Jessner" (from the Marta Mierendorff papers at USC), John M. Spalek (born 1928) & Joseph P. Strelka (de) (eds.), Deutsche Exilliteratur Since 1933, Vol. 1, No. 1, State University of New York Albany (1976), pps. 738–739; OCLC 489704553
^Leopold Jessner - Intendant der Republik: Der Weg eines deutsch-jüdischen Regisseurs aus Ostpreußen by Matthias Heilmann, Max Niemeyer Verlag (de) (2005; 2011); OCLC 979970340
^ abcFirst West Coast Exhibition, German Language Theater in Exile, Hollywood 1933-1950, Presented at the University of Southern California, Treasure Room, Doheny Library, November 1 – December 15, 1973; OCLC 882702800, 15270868
^Von Kreuzburg bis Hollywood (From Kreuzburg to Hollywood), by Walter Wicclair (de), Henschel Verlag (de) (1975); OCLC 923117470
^Mrs. Ziegfeld: The Public and Private Lives of Billie Burke, by Grant Hayter-Menzies (born 1944), McFarland & Company (2009) p. 210 (appendix); ISBN 978-0-7864-3800-6
(note: the book incorrectly attributes the director of The Swallow's Nest as John Milton; Robert Milton was the director)
^"Divorces Filed," Los Angeles Times, November 2, 1943 (accessible viaNewspapers.com at www.newspapers.com/image/380762757, subscription required)
^"Links Berry to Physician," Long Beach Independent, April 29, 1948, p. 12 (accessible viaNewspapers.com at www.newspapers.com/image/74866244, subscription required)
^"On television: Ray Millard Turns to Comedy" ("The Cuckoo Clock," reviewed) by Evelyn Jones (1929–2014), Boston Herald, February 19, 1954, pg. 43
^"Gilmore Brown Offers 'Berkeley Square' as First 1932 Production," The SaMoJaC(The Corsair), Vol. 3, No 16, January 13, 1932, p. 2
^"Refugees to Act Here – Stage Stars Forced to Leave Nazi Areas Aided by Film Men," Los Angeles Times, May 1, 1939, Part 2, p. 3 (accessible viaNewspapers.com at www.newspapers.com/image/160145814)
^"Red Rainbow Opens Tonight" (preview article), by Sam Zolotow, New York Times, September 14, 1953, p. L24, col 1 (timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1953/09/14/83854295.html, subscription required)