Torben Meyer: Movies & Box Office

Torben Emil Meyer was a Danish‑American character actor whose prolific career spanned more than five decades and over 190 films. Born on 1 December 1884 in Aarhus, Denmark, Meyer began his artistic journey on the stage before transitioning to the silent screen in Europe, where he appeared in twenty silent productions between 1912 and 1926 – the latter culminating with his role in Don Quixote. In 1927 he emigrated to the United States, and with the assistance of Danish expatriates such as Benjamin Christensen and Jean Hersholt, he quickly secured supporting roles in Hollywood. Renowned for his linguistic versatility, Meyer was frequently typecast as a foreign‑born character, delivering convincing performances in German, Dutch, French, and other accents; a 1948 newspaper article highlighted his ability to speak German in Sealed Verdict, portray a 17th‑century Dutch sea captain in The Exile, a French professor in To the Victor, and a headwaiter in Variety Girl. His talent for genre work shone in horror classics, where he joined the “all‑star peasant cast” of The Black Room, befriended Boris Karloff, and played memorable parts such as the Dane in Murders in the Rue Morgue and the night watchman Gaston in the 1958 remake of The Fly.

Meyer’s collaboration with director Preston Sturges cemented his place in Hollywood history; he appeared in a series of Sturges comedies, often addressing the filmmaker as “Maitre” and embodying roles like Mr. Schmidt in Christmas in July, the purser in The Lady Eve, and Dr. Dahlmeyer in The Great Moment. Even in his later years he remained active, portraying the ex‑Nazi judge Werner Lampe in Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) and making his final screen appearance in A New Kind of Love (1963) before concluding his television work with an episode of I Dream of Jeannie in 1966. In recognition of his contributions, King Frederik IX of Denmark awarded him the Knights’ Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog in 1962. Meyer passed away from bronchial pneumonia on 22 May 1975 in Hollywood, California, and was cremated with his remains interred at the Chapel of the Pines.