Paul Muni

Also known as Meshilem Meier Weisenfreund, Muni Weisenfreund

Austrian-born American stage and film actor (1895-1967)

OverviewAI-generated

Paul Muni, born Meshilem Meier Weisenfreund in 1895, was an American actor who worked in stage, film, and television. He began his career in 1908 and was employed by Warner Bros. Entertainment. Muni spoke Yiddish and English. He was born in Lviv, then part of Lemberg, Galicia, Austria-Hungary, and died in Montecito.

Muni received the Academy Award for Best Actor, a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play, the Volpi Cup for Best Actor, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. He is recognized in the Academy Award Best Actor collection and the Hollywood Walk Of Fame collection. Muni died of cardiovascular disease from natural causes and is buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Synthesized by Vinony from 24 facts across 3 sources: Wikidata, TMDb, Vinony collections. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Film & TV

Lemberg, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Lviv, Ukraine]

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Paul Muni (born Meshilem Meier Weisenfreund, September 22, 1895 – August 25, 1967) was an Austro-Hungarian-born American stage and film actor. During the 1930s, he was considered the most prestigious actor at Warner Brothers studios, and one of the rare actors who was given the privilege of choosing which parts he wanted. His acting quality, usually…

Known for

Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood — (archive footage)2019
Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood — James Allen (archive footage)2008
The Many Faces of Dracula — Self (archive footage)2000
Frank Capra's American Dream — Self (archive footage)1997
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? — Self (archive footage)1975
The Men Who Made the Movies: Howard Hawks — Self (archive footage)1973
Saints and Sinners — Samuel Foss1962
The Last Angry Man — Sam Abelman1959
General Electric Theater — Senator Ryder1953
Stranger on the Prowl — The Stranger With A Gun1952

via TMDB

Wikidata facts

Instance of: human
Given name: Paul
Gender: male
Citizenship: United States
Place of birth: Lviv
Place of death: Montecito
Occupation: television actor
Employer: Warner Bros. Entertainment
Languages spoken: English language
Image: Paul Muni - Zola - 1936.jpg

Show 10 more facts

Commons category: Paul Muni
date of birth: 1895-09-22
date of death: 1967-08-25
nominated for: Academy Award for Best Actor
place of burial: Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Commons gallery: Paul Muni
cause of death: cardiovascular disease
start of work period: 1908-00-00
birth name: Meshilem Meier Weisenfreund
manner of death: natural causes

Sources (8)

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Encyclopedic overview

Paul Muni (born Frederich Meshilem Meier Weisenfreund; September 22, 1895 – August 25, 1967) was an American stage and film actor from Chicago. He started his acting career in the Yiddish theater and during the 1930s, he was considered one of the most prestigious actors at the Warner Bros. studio and was given the rare privilege of choosing his own parts.

Muni often played powerful characters, such as the lead role in Scarface (1932), and was known for his intense preparation for his parts, often immersing himself in the study of the real characters' traits and mannerisms. He was also highly skilled in makeup techniques, a talent that he had learned from his parents, who were also actors, and from his early years on stage with the Yiddish theater in Chicago. At the age of 12, he played the stage role of an 80-year-old man, and in the film Seven Faces, he played seven characters.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Paul Muni” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.