10 Great German-American Entertainers

A Brief History

On July 22, 1932, Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. died in Hollywood, California, ending a wonderful career in entertainment, known especially for being the creator of The Ziegfeld Follies. Flo, as he was called, was a German-American (father’s side) though his mother was Belgian. Ziegfeld is one of many great German-American entertainers, and here we list 10 notable examples of Great German-American Entertainers. (See our July 22, 2014 article, German-Speaking Actresses in English-Speaking Roles, Part 1.)

Digging Deeper

1. Flo Ziegfeld, Impressario and Producer.

A Broadway legend, Ziegfeld is famous for his Follies and also for producing Show Boat. A member of The American Theater Hall of Fame, Ziegfeld also produced radio shows as well as live shows.

2. George Herman “Babe” Ruth, Baseball player.

Not only the greatest baseball player of all time (a superb pitcher as well as hitter) Ruth was one of the most entertaining, on and off the field. He even acted in 10 films, although 6 of those are ‘shorts.’ With his Anglo-sounding last name, you may not have known both of his parents were German. The mythical story that the Baby Ruth candy bar was named after President Cleveland’s daughter is pure baloney. The familiar candy bar is indeed named after Babe Ruth. The girl died in 1904, and the candy bar debuted in 1921, when Ruth was a sensation. The Curtis Candy Company was obviously playing off Ruth’s popularity without wanting to pay him royalties. By 1995, the current manufacturer of the Baby Ruth, Nestles, used the image of Babe Ruth to market the candy. In 2005 the Baby Ruth became the official candy bar of Major League Baseball.

3. Bruce Willis, Actor.

Did you know Willis was born in Germany? He was, in 1955 in Idar-Oberstein, West Germany. His father was an American GI and his mother a native German. Willis is one of the most sought after action movie heroes in Hollywood, and can be funny as well as deadly serious on the screen.

4. Christopher Walken, Actor.

Walken is so talented he can play a comic role as well as he can an uber-evil bad guy, a psychic, a hero, or you name it. (Personally, Walken is perhaps my favorite actor.) Born in 1943, Walken started out as a dancer before moving on to acting. With a Scotland born mom and a Germany born dad, Walken’s best known roles (perhaps) are in the movies The Deer Hunter (Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor), The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill (as the main villain in the Bond film), The King of New York, and as Max Shreck in Batman Returns. Walken is familiar to fans of Saturday Night Live, having hosted 7 times.

5. Clark Gable, Actor.

Born in Cadiz, Ohio, in 1901 to parents of Bavarian, Rhinelander and Pennsylvania “Dutch” (Deutche) extraction, Gable was perhaps the biggest male Hollywood star of his era, as evidenced by his nickname, “The King of Hollywood,” or simply “The King.”You may have seen him in monster hit films such as Gone With the Wind, Mutiny on the Bounty and It Happened One Night (Best Actor Oscar for Gable, as well as Best Picture of 1934, and Best Actress for Claudette Colbert). Gable starred opposite Marilyn Monroe in The Misfits (1962), the last film for both of these mega-stars.

6. Ben and Casey Affleck, Actors.

For Ben (age 44) we can add ‘screenwriter’ for his Oscar winning collaboration with pal Matt Damon for Good Will Hunting (1997). Ben also directed, produced, and starred in the Best Picture Oscar winner, Argo, in 2012. Younger brother Casey (age 41) is no slouch in the movie business, either, and has a Best Actor Oscar to his credit for Manchester by the Sea (2016) among his many awards. Both brothers also direct films and are politically active progressives. Their father’s last name was Affleck, and their mother’s last name was Boldt, both German with English, Irish, and Swiss German heritage mixed in. Ben was the “Sexiest Man Alive” in 2002!

7. Donald Trump, Reality TV star, Political WTF?

Yes, like him or not, The Donald is as German as the Dachshund or Beck’s Beer. Well, actually only half as German as his mother came from Scotland. On his father’s side, he’s all German, and the ancestral name of the Trump family was Drumpf. If you think Donald is entertaining, his dad, Fred, must have set the bar awful high with being arrested for marching with the Ku Klux Klan in New York in 1927, though Donald has denied that Vater was ever arrested. Fred was also investigated for profiteering from public contracts and for civil rights (fair housing) violations. Donald is no longer on The Apprentice television show, but he gets plenty of air time as President of the US, entertaining audiences world-wide with outlandish claims that are easily proven false. Trump has also entertained us with running the Miss Universe, Miss USA, and Miss Teen USA beauty pageants, although supposedly the contestants were not amused by his alleged propensity for popping in on them while they were undressed, including girls of a minor age. As entertaining as President Trump has been in the first half of 2017, we predict he will get even more entertaining as the year goes on!

8. Doris Day, Singer, Actress, All American Girl.

This adorable lady was born Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1922 (currently 95). All 4 of her grandparents were immigrants from Germany to the US. Her signature songs (of the 650 or so she recorded) include “Sentimental Journey,” “Secret love,” and “Que Sera, Sera,” all 3 are in the Grammy Hall of Fame. Billboard ranked her the #1 female singer 9 times in a decade from 1949 to 1958. She got the 1960 nomination for Best Actress Oscar for Pillow Talk, and was given a Lifetime Achievement Academy Award in 1991. Some of her best known films include Pillow Talk, That Touch of Mink,The Glass Bottom Boat, Please Don’t Eat the Daisies, and Teacher’s Pet.

9. Elvis Aron Presley, King of Rock and Roll.

Although having Scots, Irish, French and maybe Native American mixed in, the primary ethnic heritage of Elvis was German. Have you heard him sing “Wooden Heart” in German? Oddly enough, after being drafted in the US Army he served in Germany! (Although this author is only 1/8^th German, Elvis and I have striking similarities, uncanny even. He was born on January 8, I was born on January 7. We both love peanut butter, cheeseburgers, and jelly donuts. We both sing like Elvis, both had sideburns, and both were prescribed a bunch of prescription drugs. Both of us served in the US military and were law enforcement officers. Oh, and both of us are slightly overweight…)

10. Robert Craig “Evel” Knievel, Daredevil.

This half-German (father’s side) and half-Irish thrill seeker entertained millions of people with his death defying stunts, stunts with very real danger, as evidenced by his many injuries and broken bones over the years. A member of the Motorcycle Hall of Fame, Evel died of pulmonary disease at the age of 69 in 2007. During his career, Evel Knievel was probably the best known daredevil on the planet and was the epitome of “Daredevil.” His son Robbie has taken the mantle of being probably the best known daredevil in the world.

Question for students (and subscribers): Who would you add to today’s list? Please let us know in the comments section below this article. (Hint: Maximillian Schell and Rutger Hauer are not German. David Hasselhoff is too easy!)

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