Age, Biography and Wiki

Mischa Auer was a Russian-born American actor who was active in Hollywood from the 1920s to the 1950s. He was best known for his roles in such films as My Man Godfrey (1936), The Great Ziegfeld (1936), and The Awful Truth (1937). He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Great Ziegfeld. Auer was born Mischa Ounskowsky in St. Petersburg, Russia, to a Jewish family. He began his acting career in the Russian Imperial Theatre in St. Petersburg, and later moved to Berlin, where he appeared in several films. He moved to the United States in 1926, and made his American film debut in The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927). Auer was a versatile actor, appearing in both comedic and dramatic roles. He was known for his ability to play both lighthearted and serious characters. He was also known for his distinctive voice and his ability to speak several languages. Auer was married twice, first to actress Eugenie Besserer, and later to actress Mary Ellis. He died in 1967 in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 61.

Popular As Mischa Ounskowsky
Occupation actor,soundtrack,miscellaneous
Age 62 years old
Zodiac Sign Scorpio
Born 17 November 1905
Birthday 17 November
Birthplace St. Petersburg, Russian Empire [now Russia]
Date of death 5 March, 1967
Died Place Rome, Lazio, Italy
Nationality Russia

We recommend you to check the complete list of Famous People born on 17 November. He is a member of famous Actor with the age 62 years old group.

Mischa Auer Height, Weight & Measurements

At 62 years old, Mischa Auer height is 6' 2" (1.88 m) .

Physical Status
Height 6' 2" (1.88 m)
Weight Not Available
Body Measurements Not Available
Eye Color Not Available
Hair Color Not Available

Who Is Mischa Auer's Wife?

His wife is Elsie Souls Lee (21 September 1965 - 5 March 1967) ( his death), Susanne Kalish (5 May 1950 - 1957) ( divorced) ( 2 children), Joyce Hunter Duskin (4 December 1941 - 1950) ( divorced), Norma Tillman (3 July 1931 - 3 December 1941) ( divorced) ( 2 children)

Family
Parents Not Available
Wife Elsie Souls Lee (21 September 1965 - 5 March 1967) ( his death), Susanne Kalish (5 May 1950 - 1957) ( divorced) ( 2 children), Joyce Hunter Duskin (4 December 1941 - 1950) ( divorced), Norma Tillman (3 July 1931 - 3 December 1941) ( divorced) ( 2 children)
Sibling Not Available
Children Not Available

Mischa Auer Net Worth

His net worth has been growing significantly in 2022-2023. So, how much is Mischa Auer worth at the age of 62 years old? Mischa Auer’s income source is mostly from being a successful Actor. He is from Russia. We have estimated Mischa Auer's net worth , money, salary, income, and assets.

Net Worth in 2023 $1 Million - $5 Million
Salary in 2023 Under Review
Net Worth in 2022 Pending
Salary in 2022 Under Review
House Not Available
Cars Not Available
Source of Income Actor

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Timeline

1964

In 1964 he appeared as Baron Popoff in the New York Lincoln Center Music Theater's revival of "The Merry Widow". It was not a success, but the New York Times review praised him: "Mischa Auer is, after all, one of the great comics. With his head down a little, jowls flapping, his ripe Marsovian accent rolling through the house, his eyes popping--he dominates the performance.

1957

He suffered a heart attack in 1957 but continued to make movies in Europe and appear on television in the U. S.

1955

On the Continent he was typecast as an elderly eccentric, most notably in Orson Welles's Confidential Report (1955).

1953

He achieved acclaim in Paris for his appearance in the title role of the 1953 revival of the comedy "Tovarich".

He was praised for his appearance in a 1953 Omnibus (1952) presentation of George Bernard Shaw's play "Arms and the Man".

1950

During the 1950s, after the Paramount decision, when Hollywood first experienced runaway production as American producers turned to the cheaper European film studios to save money, Auer decamped for Europe. He and his family settled in Salzburg, Austria, where he made broadcasts for Radio Free Europe between appearances in European-made films, mostly in France.

He also appeared frequently on American television during the 1950s.

1947

The last play he appeared in on Broadway, "Lovely Me", opened on Christmas Day 1946 and closed 37 performances later, on January 25, 1947. Between movies, he appeared in touring shows and in vaudeville.

1945

HOLLYWOOD, Feb. 13 (Associated Press) - Actor Mischa Auer broke his right leg when he chased a prowler from his Encino home early today and fell trying to follow the man over a fence. ("Mischa Auer Breaks Leg Chasing Robber", The San Bernardino Daily Sun, San Bernardino, California, Wednesday 14 February 1945, Volume 51, page 1.).

1942

After appearing in the musical comedy "The Lady Comes Across" in early 1942, a flop which lasted three performances, he toured with vaudeville before acting in the summer radio series "Mischa the Magnificent". In the radio show, he played a man writing his memoirs, but after the summer run he returned to the movies.

1938

Do you wonder that I am flattered when people say I am mad?"He turned in a memorable appearance as the Russian ballet-master Boris Kolenkhov in Frank Capra's Oscar-winning classic You Can't Take It with You (1938) opposite Jean Arthur and Ann Miller.

1937

Other memorable parts in the "Golden Years of Hollywood" phase of his career came in the musical One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937) in support of Deanna Durbin and as Boris Callahan, who touches off a cantina catfight between Marlene Dietrich and Una Merkel, in the classic Destry Rides Again (1939).

1936

One year after signing a long-term contract with Universal, Auer broke through into the realm of featured character actors with his Academy Award-nominated turn as the fake nobleman/freeloader/gigolo Carlo in the classic screwball comedy My Man Godfrey (1936) over at Universal in 1936. That was the first year that Oscars were awarded to supporting players, and although he lost to eventual three-time Best Supporting Actor Academy Award winner Walter Brennan, it made him as a popular character actor.

1934

Was in five Oscar Best Picture nominees: Viva Villa! (1934), The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935), Three Smart Girls (1936), One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937) and You Can't Take It with You (1938), only the last of these won.

1932

The films he appeared in, usually in small, uncredited parts, included Rasputin and the Empress (1932) with John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore and Ethel Barrymore; Viva Villa! (1934) with superstar Wallace Beery; and The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935), one of Gary Cooper's best early films.

1930

Auer -- the Mad Russian -- became a fixture in comedies of the late 1930s and early 1940s. Of the role of Carlo, he said: "That one role made a comedian out of me. I haven't been anything else since. It's paid off very well.

1928

Director Frank Tuttle hired Auer for a role in the comedy Something Always Happens (1928) after he saw the Russian perform with the Bertha Kalich Company in Los Angeles. This led to a decade of screen work in many films, in which the tall, unusual-looking actor was typecast as a foreigner, often of a villainous bent as befitted the prejudices of the time, which were actively catered to by the movies.

1926

As an actor, he eventually caught on with Eva Le Gallienne's touring theatrical company before joining Bertha Kalich's company, which toured the provinces after Kalich -- a stalwart of the Yiddish theater -- made her last appearance as the eponymous "Magda" on Broadway in January and February 1926. Kalich cast Auer as Max in the touring production of "Magda".

1925

Mischa Auer made his Broadway debut on February 24, 1925, in a walk-on role as an elderly guest in the Actors Theatre production of Henrik Ibsen's "The Wild Duck", which starred Helen Chandler as Hedvig.

He also appeared in the Actors Theatre's Broadway production of the play "Morals" in 1925 before continuing his his apprenticeship in small roles, including an appearance with the great Walter Hampden in "Cyrano de Bergerac". While acting, Mischa also performed as a musician.

1920

during the 1920s. Mischa's father, an officer in the Imperial Russian Navy, died in the Russo-Japanese War while was he was still a baby, which wiped the family out financially.

However, young Mischa soon became smitten with acting and, through his grandfather's contacts, was able to turn professional in the 1920s.

1917

After the November 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, the Ounskowsky family disintegrated and Mischa became a "street Arab", living with homeless youths and barely scraping by in appalling poverty. He eventually was reunited with his mother, who had nursing experience and became a caregiver in the nascent Soviet Union. But V. I. Lenin's socialist dream wasn't for her, and she fled to Turkey with Mischa. In Constantinople Mischa's mother contracted typhus from the patients she was tending and died. The young boy had to dig a grave with his own hands to bury her. He then began wandering, and was in Italy when Leopold Auer, his mother's father, discovered his whereabouts. Subsequently, young Ounskowsky emigrated to the United States to join Auer, who lived in New York. Leopold encouraged his grandson to become a musician, and Mischa matriculated at New York City's Ethical Culture School to please his grandfather. He became an accomplished musician, able to play multiple instruments, including the violin and piano.

1905

Mischa Auer, the American screen's supreme exponent of the "Mad Russian" stereotype so dear to Yankee hearts before and after World War II, was born Mischa Ounskowsky on November 17, 1905, in St. Petersburg, Russia, the grandson of violinist Leopold Auer, whose surname he took when he became a professional actor in the U. S.