Raoul Aslan

Raoul Aslan
Born
Tigran Aslanyan

(1886-10-16)16 October 1886
Selânik, Ottoman Empire
Died17 June 1958(1958-06-17) (aged 71)
Seewalchen am Attersee, Austria

Raoul Aslan (Armenian: Ռաուլ Ասլան, born Tigran Aslanyan, Armenian: Տիգրան Ասլանյան; 16 October 1886 – 17 June 1958) was an Austrian theater actor of Greek-Armenian ancestry.[1][2]

Life

Born in Saloniki, Ottoman Empire (now in Greece), his father was a tobacco merchant and his mother, an Italian emigree. [3] As was customary in high-standing Ottoman families at the time, his mother tongue was French, and, in 1896, he moved to Vienna with his mother to attend high school.[3]

There, he joined the Volkstheater in 1917, and was active at the Burgtheater from 1920 to 1958, where he mainly played classical heroes and complex characters such as Hamlet, Mephisto, Marquis Posa, and Nathan.[4] In 1929 he was the first actor to be awarded the title "Kammerschauspieler",[5] as he regarded as its star actor.[6]

After the Anchluss, he was listed on Joseph Goebbels' Gottbegnadeten list as a crucial representative of National Socialist culture, and thus exempt of all military movilisation.[7] Despite this, he was publicly known to be in opposition to the regime,[4] as well as a homosexual, despite the high level of political prosecution both communities faced at the time. [8]

After the war, served as director of the Burgtheater from 1945 to 1948, and continued acting until his death.[9] From 1934 onwards, he shared an apartment with his partner Tonio Riedl.[10] He died in Seewalchen am Attersee in 1958 and was buried at the Grinzinger cemetery in Vienna.[3]

Quotes

Aslan once said to fellow actor Gustaf Gründgens: "Mr. Gründgens, you're the greatest German actor, I am the greatest German actor. But one thing you should never forget: My family comes from Konstantinopel via Thessaloniki to Vienna. And you, Mr. Gründgens, you are from Düsseldorf."[1]

Selected filmography

References

  1. ^ a b The Accidental Caregiver: How I Met, Loved, and Lost Legendary Holocaust Refugee Maria Altmann. Bloch-Bauer Books. 15 August 2012.
  2. ^ Popa, Dorin (1989). O.W. Fischer: seine Filme, sein Leben (in German). Dorin Popa. ISBN 978-3-453-00124-4.
  3. ^ a b c armprelacy (2025-06-12). "Death of Raoul Aslan (June 17, 1958)". Armenian Prelacy. Retrieved 2025-11-30.
  4. ^ a b "European Film Star Postcards: Raoul Aslan". European Film Star Postcards. 2024-01-23. Retrieved 2025-11-30.
  5. ^ "Raoul Aslan". www.geschichtewiki.wien.gv.at (in German). Archived from the original on 2025-10-03. Retrieved 2025-11-30.
  6. ^ "Portrait of the actor Raoul Aslan by Thomas Staedeli". cyranos.ch. Retrieved 2025-11-30.
  7. ^ Klee, Ernst. (2009). Kulturlexikon zum Dritten Reich : Wer war was vor und nach 1945 (1. Aufl ed.). Frankfurt am Main: Fischer, S. p. 23. ISBN 9783596171538. OCLC 316290686.
  8. ^ Aslan, Raoul; Riedl, Tonio; Gruber, Margarete (1978). Begegnung im Licht: Briefwechsel mit Tonio Riedl. Wien: Braumüller. ISBN 978-3-7003-0178-3.
  9. ^ "Raoul Aslan - Biography". IMDb. Retrieved 2025-11-30.
  10. ^ Krickler, Kurt (21 September 2018). "Gay and lesbian life in Vienna 1938–45 (and before)" (PDF). Toronto.
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