
Alexander Granach
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Alexander Granach (April 18, 1890 – March 14, 1945) was a popular German actor in the 1920s and 1930s who immigrated to the United States in 1938. Granach was born Jessaja Gronach in Werbowitz (Wierzbowce/Werbiwci) (Horodenka district, Austrian Galicia then, now Verbivtsi, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, Ukraine), to Jewish parents and rose to theatrical prominence at the Volksbühne in Berlin. Granach entered films in 1922; among the most widely exhibited of his silent efforts was the vampire classic Nosferatu (1922), in which the actor was cast as Knock, the lunatic counterpart to Renfield, effectively a substitute name for Dracula. He co-starred in such major early German talkies as Kameradschaft (1931). The Jewish Granach fled to the Soviet Union when Hitler came to power. When the Soviet Union also proved inhospitable, he settled in Hollywood, where he made his first American film appearance as Kopalski in Ernst Lubitsch's Ninotchka (1939) for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Granach proved indispensable to film makers during the war years, effectively portraying both dedicated Nazis (he was Julius Streicher in The Hitler Gang, 1944) and loyal anti-fascists. Perhaps his best role was as Gestapo Inspector Alois Gruber in Fritz Lang's Hangmen Also Die! (1943). His last film appearance was in MGM's The Seventh Cross (1944), in which almost the entire supporting cast was prominent European refugees.
Known for
Credits

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)
as Soldier (uncredited)

Nosferatu (1922)
as Knock

For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)
as Paco

Ninotchka (1939)
as Comrade Kopalski

Foreign Correspondent (1940)
as Hotel Valet (uncredited)

Hangmen Also Die! (1943)
as Gestapo Insp. Alois Gruber

The Seventh Cross (1944)
as Zillich

So Ends Our Night (1941)
as The Pole

Camera obscura (1921)
Actor

The Theft of the Mona Lisa (1931)
as Redner

Danton (1921)
as Minor Role (rumored)

Voice in the Wind (1944)
as Angelo

Half Way to Shanghai (1942)
as Mr. Nikolas

Joan of Paris (1942)
as Gestapo Agent

Mission to Moscow (1943)
as Russian Air Force Officer (uncredited)

I.N.R.I. – A Film of Humanity (1923)
as Judas Ischariot

1914: The Last Days Before the War (1931)
as Jaurès' Friend

Warning Shadows (1923)
as Shadowplayer

Accident (1928)
Actor

The Hitler Gang (1944)
as Julius Streicher
Ich hatte einst ein schönes Vaterland (1928)
as Pollaczek

A Man Betrayed (1941)
as T. Amato

Man by the Roadside (1923)
as Shoemaker

Die berühmte Frau (1927)
as Diener bei Alfredo

Radiohead X Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (2025)
as Knock - ein Häusermakler

Comradeship (1931)
as Kasper

Paganini (1923)
as Ferucchio
Flucht in die Fremdenlegion (1929)
as Beppo, Legionär

Northwest Rangers (1942)
as Pierre - Man in Casino

Svengali (1927)
as Geiger Gecko

The Adjutant of the Czar (1929)
as Stranger

Three Russian Girls (1943)
as Major Braginski

Lucrezia Borgia (1922)
as ein Gefangener
Qualen der Nacht (1926)
as Murphy
Ein Weib, ein Tier, ein Diamant (1923)
as Archivar Lindhorst
Die Radio Heirat (1924)
Actor

Danton (1931)
as Marat

My Buddy (1944)
as Tim Oberta

Pavement Butterfly (1929)
as Coco

The Twelfth Hour (1930)
as Karsten (Archive footage)

Gypsies (1936)
as Danilo, rich gypsy camp leader

Navarro the Dancer (1923)
as Clegg

Wrecking Crew (1942)
as Joe Poska

A Man's a Man (1931)
Actor

Earth Spirit (1923)
as Schigolch

The Struggle (1936)
as Rovelli (uncredited)

Das letzte Fort (1929)
as Gestino
Freie Fahrt (1928)
Actor





