Gustav von Seyffertitz

Gustav von Seyffertitz was a German film actor and director. He settled in the United States. He was born in Haimhausen, Bavaria and died in Los Angeles, California, aged 81.

Gustav von Seyffertitz was born into an aristrocratic family as the son of Guido Freiherr von Seyffertitz and his wife Anna Grfin von Butler Clonebough zu Haimhausen. His family expected him to start a military career, but was shocked when he said that he wanted to be an actor. He was a member of the Meiningen Court Theatre and also appeared in operas. He emigrated to the United States in 1896, after being asked by the AustrianAmerican theatre director Heinrich Conried. Despite his thick Austrian accent, he was a successful on Broadway where he worked as a stage actor and director during the 1900s and 1910s. He appeared as an actor in such lavish productions as The Brass Bottle in 1910. This play was turned into several films and was the idea for the television show I Dream of Jeannie in the 1960s. He made his film debut in 1917, appearing with Douglas Fairbanks in Down to Earth.

Source: Wikipedia