Sig Ruman
Actor
Biography
Sig Ruman was a German-American actor known for his portrayals of pompous and often stereotypical Teutonic officials or villains. Ruman made his film debut in Lucky Boy (1929).
He became a favorite of the Marx Brothers, appearing in A Night at the Opera, A Day at the Races, and A Night in Casablanca. His German accent and large stature kept him busy during World War II, playing sinister Nazi characters in a series of wartime thrillers.
During this period, he also appeared in several films by director Ernst Lubitsch including Ninotchka and To Be or Not to Be. Ruman continued playing over-the-top German characters later in his career for Billy Wilder in The Emperor Waltz, Stalag 17, and The Fortune Cookie.
Filmography
Stalag 17
as Sgt. Johann Sebastian Schulz 1953
White Christmas
as Landlord (uncredited) 1954
A Night at the Opera
as Gottlieb 1935
Ninotchka
as Comrade Iranoff 1939
One, Two, Three
as Count von Droste Schattenburg (voice) (uncredited) 1961
The Fortune Cookie
as Professor Winterhalter 1966
Only Angels Have Wings
as Dutchy 1939
A Day at the Races
as Dr. Leopold X. Steinberg 1937
House of Frankenstein
as Burgomeister Hussman 1944
The Glenn Miller Story
as W. Kranz 1954
A Night in Casablanca
as Count Pfefferman / Heinrich Stubel 1946
The Song of Bernadette
as Louis Bouriette 1943
Heidi
as Police Captain 1937
Nothing Sacred
as Dr. Emil Eggelhoffer 1937
Houdini
as Schultz 1953
Robin and the 7 Hoods
as Hammacher (uncredited) 1964