Fritz Feld

German-born actor Fritz Feld established himself in his native film industry before immigrating to the United States in the '20s. With a distinct European accent, Feld was often typecast as an aristocrat or as a hotel employee of some sort. Following a hiatus from film during the mid '30s, Feld was cast with fellow Europeans Claudette Colbert and Charles Boyer in Ukrainian director Anatole Litvak's "Tovarich," about exiled royal Russians in Paris during the Bolshevik revolution. The following year Feld was cast as Dr. Fritz Lehman (he would often be cast as a "Fritz") in Howard Hawks's screwball comedy "Bringing Up Baby" in 1938. Playing another Fritz in H.C. Potter's musical "Romance in the Dark," Feld costarred with John Barrymore. In the '40s he played Lecours in the Oscar-winning horror film "Phantom of the Opera," directed by Arthur Lubin, and developed his trademark "pop" exclamation as Chez Henri in the comedy "If You Knew Susie" in 1948. Working in small and supporting film roles through the '40s and '50s, Feld increasingly took television roles in the '60s in guest roles on popular shows such as the spy series "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." and the superhero series "Batman." Still making films, Feld had small parts in the romantic comedies "Barefoot in the Park" and "Hello, Dolly!"--once again playing a character named Fritz. Displaying incredible longevity in his career, Feld made films into the '80s, including several spoofs of early cinema like Gene Wilder's "The World's Greatest Lover" in 1977.