WALTER SLEZAK BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Walter Slezak was born on May 3rd, 1902 in Vienna, Austria.  He was he son of, Leo Slezak an Opera tenor.  After High School, he had his career goals set on studying medicine and also found part time work as a bank teller.
 
When he was twenty years old he was spotted at a beer garden by an actor and director, Mihaly Kertesz and was asked if he would be willing to appear in the silent film "Sodom and Gomorrah" (1922).  Soon he was signed to a contract with Ufa and became a German film star.  As time progressed in a number of German films, he put on so much weight that he went from being cast as a romantic lead to playing character roles instead.
 
When he relocated to the United States he was cast in a number of musical comedies as a stage performer and also portrayed a number of villain characters on the big screen.  His first film in America was "Once Upon a Honeymoon" (1942) and continued to appear in a number of American films such as "The Princess and the Pirate" (1944), "The Spanish Main" (1945), "Sinbad the Sailor" (1947), "Born to Kill" (1947), "The Inspector General" (1949) starring Danny Kaye, "Bedtime for Bonzo" (1951) starring Ronald Reagan and "Call Me Madam" (1953).
 
He won a Tony Award for the Broadway musical "Fanny" and also worked on a number of radio shows such as "Lux Radio Theater", "The Pepsodent Show" and "The Charlie McCarthy Show". 
 
His career was very strong also making a number of television appearances on such series as "This is Show Business", "Playhouse 90" and "Studio One".  He is most remembered for his roles in the films "Lifeboat" (1944) and "The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm"(1962). 
 
Besides acting he had a number of other interests such as being an experienced pilot, and also very much enjoyed art and reading.  He retired from the industry in 1980 with some of his latest work being on the soap opera "One Life to Live' (1976) and the television series "The Love Boat" (1980).    
 
He married only once to Johanna Van Rijn on October 10th, 1943 and the couple had three children, Ingrid, Erika and Le.  They remained together until Slezak passed away on April 21st, 1983 from a self inflicted gunshot wound in Flower Hill, New York.  He is buried at Egern Friedof in Munich, Germany. 

 
Filmography

1980 The Love Boat
1976 One Life to Live
1973 Assignment Vienna
1972 Treasure Island
1971 Black Beauty 
1970 The Juggler of Notre Dame 
1968 Heidi
1968 The Legend of Robin Hood 
1968 Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In 
1967 I Spy 
1967 The Caper of the Golden Bulls
1966 The Mysterious House of Dr. C 
1966 Batman
1966 Congress of Love 
1965 A Very Special Favor 
1965 Twenty-Four Hours to Kill 
1965 The Man Who Bought Paradise
1964 Dr. Kildare
1964 Emil and the Detectives
1964 Swingers' Paradise 
1956-1963 Hallmark Hall of Fame
1963 77 Sunset Strip
1963 Rawhide
1962 The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm
1962 Cain's Hundred
1961 Outlaws
1961 Come September
1960 The Chevy Mystery Show
1960 Dow Hour of Great Mysteries
1959 The Loretta Young Show
1959 Startime
1959 The Miracle
1959 Alcoa Theatre
1954-1958 The United States Steel Hour 
1958 Telephone Time 
1958 Playhouse 90
1957 Pinocchio
1957 Goodyear Playhouse
1957 Ten Thousand Bedrooms
1951-1956 Studio One in Hollywood
1956 The 20th Century-Fox Hour
1956 Robert Montgomery Presents 
1954 The Steel Cage 
1953 Omnibus
1953 White Witch Doctor 
1953 Call Me Madam 
1953 Confidentially Connie 
1952 Schlitz Playhouse 
1951-1952 Danger 
1950-1951 Suspense 
1951 People Will Talk 
1951 Bedtime for Bonzo
1950 Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion 
1950 Spy Hunt 
1950 The Yellow Cab Man 
1949 The Inspector General
1948 The Pirate
1947 Riffraff
1947 Born to Kill
1947 Sinbad the Sailor
1945 Cornered
1945 The Spanish Main
1945 Salome Where She Danced 
1944 The Princess and the Pirate
1944 Till We Meet Again
1944 Step Lively
1944 Lifeboat
1943 The Fallen Sparrow
1943 This Land Is Mine
1942 Once Upon a Honeymoon
1932 The Gala Performance
1929 Eros in Ketten
1929 Osudné noci
1928 Almenrausch und Edelweiss
1928 Ledige Mütter
1928 Das Hannerl von Rolandsbogen
1927 Die große Pause
1927 Liebe geht seltsame Wege
1927 Die Lorelei
1927 Das Recht zu leben
1927 Addio giovinezza!
1927 Der Fahnenträger von Sedan
1926 Der Seekadett
1926 Aus des Rheinlands Schicksalstagen
1926 Junges Blut
1926 Marccos tollste Wette
1926 Grüß mir das blonde Kind am Rhein
1926 Wie bleibe ich jung und schön - Ehegeheimnisse
1925 O alte Burschenherrlichkeit
1925 Sumpf und Moral
1924 My Leopold
1924 Michael
1922 Sodom und Gomorrh