MUNI, Paul

Nationality: American. Born: Muni Weisenfreund in Lemberg, Austria (now Lvov, Ukraine), 22 September 1895; emigrated with his family to the United States, 1902. Family: Married Bela Finkel, 1921. Career: 1908—first stage appearance in Two Corpses at Breakfast, Cleveland; beginning 1910—toured with Samuel Grossman's theater troupe; 1914–17—worked with burlesque company, Philadelphia; 1917–18—worked with Molly Picon's company, Boston; 1918—joined Yiddish Art Theatre in New York; became star of Yiddish theater in 1920s; 1926—Broadway debut in We Americans; 1929—first film appearance in The Valiant; 1932—contract with Warner Brothers; 1939—on Broadway in Key Largo; 1955—stage success in Inherit the Wind. Awards: Best Actor, Academy Award, and Best Actor, Venice Festival, for The Story of Louis Pasteur, 1936; Best Actor, New York Film Critics, for The Life of Emile Zola, 1937. Died: In Santa Barbara, California, 25 August 1967.

Films as Actor:

1929

The Valiant (Howard) (as Dyke); Seven Faces (Viertel) (as Papa Chibou)

1932

Scarface (Hawks) (as Tony Camonte); I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (LeRoy) (as James Allen)

1933

The World Changes (LeRoy) (as Nordholm)

1934

Hi, Nellie! (LeRoy)

1935

Bordertown (Mayo) (as Johnny Rodriguez); Black Fury (Curtiz) (as Joe Radek); Dr. Socrates (Dieterle) (title role); The Story of Louis Pasteur (Dieterle) (title role)

1937

The Good Earth (Franklin) (as Wang Lung); The Woman I Love (Litvak) (as Lieutenant Claude Maury); The Life of Emile Zola (Dieterle) (title role)

1939

Juarez (Dieterle) (as Benito Pablo Juarez); We Are Not Alone (Goulding) (as Dr. David Newcome)

1940

Hudson's Bay (Pichel) (as Pierre Radisson)

1942

The Commandos Strike at Dawn (Farrow) (as Eric Torensen)

1943

Stage Door Canteen (Borzage) (as himself)

1944

A Song to Remember (Charles Vidor) (as Joseph Elsner)

1945

Counter-Attack (Zoltan Korda) (as Alexei Kulkov)

1946

Angel on My Shoulder (Mayo) (as Eddie Kagle)

1952

Imbarco a mezzanotte (Embarkation at Midnight; Stranger on the Prowl; Encounter) (Losey) (as The Man)

1959

The Last Angry Man (Daniel Mann) (as Dr. Sam)

Publications

By MUNI: articles—

"Paul Muni Interviews Himself," in Motion Picture Magazine (New York), December 1933.

"Hollywood Is the World's Melting Pot," as told to Gladys Hall, in Movie Classic, November 1936.

On MUNI: books—

Lawrence, Jerome, Actor: The Life and Times of Paul Muni, New York, 1974.

Druxman, Michael B., Paul Muni—His Life and Films, New York, 1974

Parish, James Robert, The Tough Guys, New Rochelle, New York, 1976.

Wallis, Hal, and Charles Higham, Starmaker, New York, 1980.

On MUNI: articles—

Cooley, Donald G., "They Tried to Make a Chaney Out of Muni," in Movie Classic, April 1935.

Best, Katherine, "Danger: Man at Work," in Stage, 1 April 1939.

Eustis, Morton, "Paul Muni," in Theatre Arts (New York), March 1940. Current Biography 1944, New York, 1944.

Jacobs, Jack, "Paul Muni," in Films in Review (New York), November 1961. Obituary, in New York Times, 26 August 1967.

Kazan, Elia, in Positif (Paris), October 1989.

Film Dope (Nottingham), March 1991.

Frank, Michael, "Paul Muni," in Architectural Digest (Los Angeles), April 1996.

Bagh, Peter von, in Filmihullu (Helsinki), no. 1, 1998.

On Muni: film—

Actor: The Paul Muni Story, 1978.

During the 1930s Paul Muni was one of the most respected names in acting. He was a perfectionist and extremely selective in the scripts he would choose to do. (Muni's contracts at both Fox and Warner Brothers gave him script approval.)

Once a script was agreed upon, Muni required months to research his character and prepare for his performance. If the character was a historical figure, he would read every available book on the subject. If the character required a certain dialect, he would rehearse into a recorder until he was satisfied with his accent. Once filming began he would remain in character between takes and even when he was off the studio lot. Muni would literally become the person in the script, which helped to build his reputation as one of the finest character actors of his time.

Muni began his acting career on the Yiddish stage in New York City. As a teenager he developed an affinity for makeup and often played characters much older than his real years. In 1926 he appeared on Broadway in We Americans which brought him to the attention of Hollywood. He started at Fox, and his first film, The Valiant, brought him his first of four Academy nominations. Unfortunately, the film bombed at the box office. His second film, Seven Faces, was also a financial failure. During the production of Scarface the project received a lot of criticism from the censors. Their main objection was the glorification of the gangster, so the studio added a subtitle to the film—"the shame of the nation." When the film was finally released, it was a huge box-office success, and Muni decided to remain in Hollywood to make more films. (His new contract with Warner Brothers also allowed him to act on the stage between pictures.)

Muni's next film was I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, based on the autobiography of Robert E. Burns. The film not only was a critical and financial success (both the film and Muni received Academy nominations), but also helped bring about public awareness of prison conditions in the south. Needless to say, the southern portion of the country did not take well to the film.

Muni's next milestone picture was The Story of Louis Pasteur. It took some good arguing on the part of Muni, the producer Henry Blanke, and the director William Dieterle to persuade Warner Brothers to back the film. The studio finally agreed, although they consented with a minimum budget and shooting schedule. The film was the sleeper of the year, and Muni won an Oscar for his role. After this film Muni appeared in several other historical films, such as The Life of Emile Zola and Juarez.

Although Muni did not make many pictures during his career (23 in all), he did appear in several significant films. Scarface was the first (and often considered to be the best) of the major gangster films of the 1930s. Other films, such as I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang and Black Fury dealt with social injustice, while historical films (although often containing more fiction than fact) were promoted as "important" and prestigious pictures. All of these films are based on strong leading characters, and Muni's ability to give substance to these parts helped to create several memorable roles for the screen.

—Linda J. Obalil

Muni, Paul [né Frederich Weisenfreund] (1895–1967), actor. Born in Austria but raised in Chicago, he made his stage debut in Yiddish theatre in 1908 and his bow on professional English‐speaking stages 1926. Muni did not gain prominence until 1931 when he played the Jewish lawyer George Simon in Counsellor‐at‐Law followed by his commanding performance in 1939 when he portrayed the wartime deserter King McCloud in Key Largo (1939). His last important appearance was as attorney Henry Drummond in Inherit the Wind (1955). Muni was a superb technician, although some playgoers felt he wore his technique on his sleeve. He also enjoyed a distinguished career in Hollywood. Biography: Actor: The Life and Times of Paul Muni, Jerome Lawrence, 1974.

Paul Muni , 1895–1967, American actor, b. Austria, whose original name was Muni Weisenfreund. His parents brought him to the United States in 1902 and from 1903 to 1913 toured with him in vaudeville. Turning to the legitimate theater, he toured (1914–17) the Midwest and acted (1918–25) with the Yiddish Art Theatre in New York City. He began working in films in 1928 and won an Academy Award in 1936 for his performance in The Life of Louis Pasteur. An outstanding character actor, Muni's films include The Life of Émile Zola (1937), The Good Earth (1937), Juarez (1939), and The Last Angry Man (1959). In 1955 he appeared on Broadway in Inherit the Wind.

Bibliography: See biography by M. B. Druxman (1974).