Biography
Max Hansen (22 December 1897 – 12 November 1961), also known as 'The Little Caruso', was a Danish singer, cabaret artist, actor, and comedian. Hansen was born Max Josef Haller in Mannheim, Imperial Germany as an illegitimate child to the Danish actress Eva Haller and a Jewish father, by other sources a Swedish Officer Schürer von Waldheim. He grew up with foster-parents at Munich, where he first appeared at the Cabaret Simplizissimus at the age of 17. In 1914 he moved to Vienna and appeared in several smaller theatres as a singer and comedian.
In 1924, Hansen created the tenor role of Baron Kolomán Zsupán in Gräfin Mariza at Hubert Marischka's Theater an der Wien in Vienna. This production moved to the Metropoltheater in Berlin after 900 performances. In Berlin he founded the Kabarett der Komiker with Paul Morgan and Kurt Robitschek. Hansen was engaged by Max Reinhardt for his revival of Offenbach's La belle Hélène and by Erik Charell for his production of Lehar's The Merry Widow. Hansen's greatest stage success was in creating the role of Leopold the waiter in Ralph Benatzky's operetta-musical The White Horse Inn, a part he also undertook in Richard Oswald's 1926 silent movie.
In 1932, Hansen satirised Adolf Hitler as a homosexual with his song "War'n Sie schon mal in mich verliebt?" ("Have you ever been in love with me?"), which caused the bitter hate of the Nazis. In contrast, he also parodied the opera and operetta soprano Gitta Alpár (in drag) in a film recording dating from the same year. He returned to Vienna in 1933 and worked again at the Theater an der Wien. In 1936 he met Zarah Leander on a Scandinavian tour and engaged her as his stage partner at Vienna. After the Anschluss that brought Austria to the German Reich in 1938, Hansen emigrated to Denmark, where he founded his own theater at Copenhagen. Richard Tauber had written an operetta 'Franz im Glück' for him, which was due to be performed at the Theater an der Wien in the 1938/39 season; but the Anschluss in March 1938 put paid to that.In 1951 he returned to Germany and was successful once again singing the role of Leopold the waiter (The White Horse Inn) in Hamburg and at Berlin's Theater am Nollendorfplatz. In 1953 Hansen moved back to Copenhagen, where he died in 1961.
Hansen was married to Austrian actress Lizzi Waldmüller and after 1939 to Britta Hansen. He had four children. His daughter Ann-Mari Max Hansen, born in 1949, and his son Max Hansen Jr., born in 1954, are both actors.
In 2004 the German director Douglas Wolfsperger portrayed Hansen in his documentary "War'n Sie schon mal in mich verliebt?"
Filmography
all 33
Movies 33
self 1
Writer 1
War’n Sie schon mal in mich verliebt? (2006)
Hvad vil De ha'? (1956)
Helen of Troy (1951)
Wedding Night (1947)
En förtjusande fröken (1945)
Gröna hissen (1944)
Wienerbarnet (1941)
Tror du jeg er født i gaar? (1941)
Rosor varje kväll (1939)
Skeppsbrutne Max (1936)
Csárdás (1935)
Glückliche Reise (1933)
The Ugly Girl (1933)
This One or None (1932)
For Once I'd Like to Have No Troubles (1932)
The Ladies Diplomat (1932)
Who Takes Love Seriously? (1931)
Schubert's Dream of Spring (1931)
The Jumping Jack (1930)
Terra Melophon Magazin Nr. 1 (1930)
The Cabinet of Dr. Larifari (1930)
Vienna, City of Song (1930)
The Mountebanks (1930)
Das Girl von der Revue (1928)
Frau Sorge (1928)
His Late Excellency (1927)
Venus in Evening Wear (1927)
When I Came Back (1926)
Der lachende Ehemann (1926)
Die Kleine vom Varieté (1926)
The White Horse Inn (1926)
Familie Schimek (1926)
Husarenfieber (1925)
Ratings
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Information
Known ForActing
GenderMale
Birthday1897-12-22
Deathday1961-11-12 (63 years old)
Birth PlaceMannheim, Germany
ChildrenMax Hansen Jr., Ann-Mari Max Hansen
CitizenshipsGermany, Denmark
ResidencesCopenhagen, Denmark
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