Haas, Hugo

views updated

HAAS, HUGO

HAAS, HUGO (1901–1968), Czechoslovakian actor and film director. Haas was with the National Theater in Prague before World War ii and also acted in many Czech films. In 1939 he escaped from Nazi-occupied Prague and went to the United States. On Broadway, he appeared in Čapek's R.U.R. and in a dramatization of Tolstoy's War and Peace. He eventually formed his own company in Hollywood. Among his pictures were Pickup (1951) and Edge of Hell (1956). He also played the title role in the tv series Rabbi on Wheels. In 1963, Haas settled in Vienna.