Werner Johannes Krauss (Krauß in German) (June 23, 1884 – October 20, 1959) was a German film actor.
Krauss was born in Gestungshausen, Germany, the son of a clergyman. He ran away from home and joined a travelling theatre company. There, he met the noted theatre director Max Reinhardt. Reinhardt took Krauss to Berlin where he became a film actor in 1916.
Krauss became a worldwide sensation for his demonic portrayal of the titular character in Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. He also played the title role of William Shakespeare's Othello in a 1920 adaption, and played Iago in a 1922 adaptation. He was prominently featured in Paul Leni's Waxworks (1924), Ewald Andre Dupont's Variété (1925), FW Murnau's Herr Tartüff, and The Student of Prague (1926).
When Adolf Hitler came to power, Krauss developed a Nazi ideology. He was made an Actor of the State by Joseph Goebbels, and took roles such as a sinister rabbi in the anti-Semitic epic Jud Süß (1940). After World War II, Krauss was "forgiven" to the extent of being invited to German film festivals.
Krauss died in Vienna, Austria in 1959.
He was just 35 at the time he filmed Cabinet Of Dr. Caligarli, but his heavy makeup made him seem older.
