Vancouver Sun (04/Apr/1992) - Elegant actor-director Paul Henreid dies at 84

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article: Elegant actor-director Paul Henreid dies at 84
newspaper: Vancouver Sun (04/Apr/1992)
keywords: Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV), Bette Davis, Claude Rains, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Peter Lorre

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Elegant actor-director Paul Henreid dies at 84

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Paul Henreid, the stoically elegant matinee idol of the '30s and '40s, whose portrayal of resistance fighter Victor Laszlo in Casablanca made him a prized part of the Hollywood legend, has died. He was 84.

Henreid, who created another of cinema's vintage moments when he sentimentally lit two cigarettes and handed one to Bette Davis in Now, Voyager, died Sunday, his daughter Monika announced Thursday. Cause of death was heart failure, according to Santa Monica Hospital. A private funeral was held Thursday.

An actor and director, Henreid's career spanned 50 years. His credits included Night Train, Devotion, In Our Time, Between Two Worlds, Of Human Bondage, Rope of Sand and Last of the Buccaneers. His directing credits included the movies For Men Only, Dead Ringer, Ballad in Blue and such television productions as Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Big Valley.

Ironically, his death came as Casablanca had once more been scrubbed and recycled for a big screen revival next week at leading U.S. theatres.

In the 1942 classic, he starred with Humphrey Bogart as the club owner Rick, Ingrid Bergman as Laszlo's wife, Dooley Wilson as Sam the piano player and Claude Rains, Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre.

Now, Voyager, released that same year, featured Henreid with Davis and Rains.

Henreid was born Paul George Julius Hernreid Ritter von Wasel Waldingau in Trieste, Italy, on Jan. 10, 1908. He studied drama in Vienna and fled Adolf Hitler's Europe to appear on the British stage in the anti-Nazi play The Madman of Europe, his first English production.