Max Schreck

Murnau's Nosferatu. His most popular television role is arguably his portrayal of "Al" in the American TV series Quantum Leap, which aired between 1989 and 1993. Elias Merhige's Shadow of the Vampire, a fictional film loosely based on the historical facts surrounding the making of F.W. Stockwell has acted in both film and television. Max Shreck is portrayed by actor Willem Dafoe in E. Unlike many child actors, he continued to act past his teenage years. The character Max Shreck in the 1992 film Batman Returns may be named in homage of Schreck. Born in North Hollywood, California, Stockwell began his acting career at age 7.

Curiously, the word Schreck is also the German word for fright, or terror. Dean Stockwell (born 5 March 1936) is an American actor. Their physiques do not match at all. Suggestions that Schreck was really actor Alfred Abel can be seen to be wrong when the two actors are seen together. He was married to actress Fanny Normann, who appeared in a few films, often credited as Fanny Schreck.

In 1926, Schreck returned to the Kammerspiele in Munich and continued to act in films right through the advent of sound until his death. Murnau expressed his repugnance over Die Finanzen des Grossherzogs (The Finances of the Grand Duke). Even the director, F.W. Schreck did appear in a comedy, albeit poorly made.

No prints of this film remain today. In 1923, Schreck appeared as a blind man in the acclaimed film Die Straße. Schreck's Count Orlok, with its bald, rat shaped head and long spidery fingers remains a haunting character. The company declared themselves bankrupt after the film's release to avoid paying copyright infringement costs to an irate Florence Stoker, the widow of Dracula author Bram Stoker.

In 1922 he was hired by Prana Film for their first and only production, Nosferatu. For three years between 1919 and 1922, Schreck appeared at the Kammerspiele in Munich whilst working on his first film Der Richter von Zalamea, adapted from a six act play, for Decla Bioscop. Many of Reinhart's troupe made a huge contribution to the cinema. Schreck then joined Max Reinhart's celebrated company of performers back in Berlin.

He made his stage debut in Messeritz and Speyer, and then toured Germany for two years appearing at theatres in Zittau, Erfurt, Bremen, Lucerne, Gera, and Frankfurt. He received his training at the Staatstheater in Berlin. Along with Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee, Schreck is considered among the classic portrayers of Dracula. Max Schreck (June 11, 1879–November 26, 1936) was a German actor remembered today most for his lead role in Nosferatu.