Sig Ruman: Movies & Box Office

Siegfried Carl Alban Rumann (October 11, 1884 – February 14, 1967), billed as Sig Ruman, was a German-American character actor known for his portrayals of pompous and often stereotypically Teutonic officials or villains in more than 100 films. Born in Hamburg, German Empire, he studied electrical engineering, then began working as an actor and musician before serving with the Imperial German Army during World War I. He resumed his acting career after the war and emigrated to the United States in 1924, where his acting career blossomed. On Broadway, he appeared in many successful productions and made his film debut in Lucky Boy (1929). He became a favorite comic foil of the Marx Brothers and was much in demand during World War II, playing sinister Nazi characters in several wartime thrillers. He also appeared in films by director Ernst Lubitsch, another German émigré, and continued to play over the top German characters in later films. Despite declining health during the 1950s and 1960s, he continued to appear in films and made many guest appearances on television. Ruman died of a heart attack at his home in Julian, California, at the age of 82.