Harry Baur

Harry Baur (12 April 1880 as Henri-Marie Baur in Montrouge, Hauts-de-Seine – 8 April 1943 in Paris) was a French actor.

Initially a stage actor, he was described by film academic Ginette Vincendeau as "a corpulent man with a resonant voice, his stagey performance style ranged from the hammy ... to the soberly moving".[1] Baur appeared in about 80 films between 1909 and 1942. He gave an acclaimed performance as the composer Ludwig van Beethoven in the biopic Beethoven's Great Love (Un grand amour de Beethoven, 1936), directed by Abel Gance, and as Jean Valjean in Raymond Bernard's version of Les Misérables (1934). He also acted in Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset's silent film, Beethoven (1909), and in La voyante (1923), Sarah Bernhardt's last film.

In 1942, while in Berlin to star in his last film "Symphone eines Lebens", Baur's Jewish wife was arrested by the Gestapo and charged with espionage. His effort to secure her release led to his own arrest and torture, being falsely labelled as a Jew but confirmed freemason. He was released in April 1943, but died in Paris shortly after in mysterious circumstances.

Academy Award-winning American actor Rod Steiger cited Baur as one of his favorite actors who had exerted a major influence on his craft and career.

Partial filmography

• Flower of Paris (1916)
• The Gold Chignon (1916)
• La voyante (1923)
• David Golder (1931)
• Poil de Carotte (1932)
• The Three Musketeers (1932)
• Les Misérables (1934)
• Golgotha (1935)
• Moscow Nights (1935)
• Dark Eyes (1935)
• Le Golem (1936)
• Samson (1936)
• Taras Bulba (1936)
• Un grand amour de Beethoven (1936)
• Les Hommes nouveaux (1936)
• Nitchevo (1936)
• Sarati the Terrible (1937)
• Mollenard (1938)
• The Patriot (1938)
• Rasputin (1938)
• Who Killed Santa Claus? (1941)