A: I come from Germany. I was born in a town called Hamburg located on the northern tip of Germany. My birthday is September 22nd 1891. My childhood was mostly great, accept for what my parents told me of the year 1892, when there was a cholera outbreak in Hamburg, which wasn't handled well by the government.
I also grew up in a time of war, but that isn't a time in my life I like to talk about. I love talking about the city of Hamburg though! The city is gorgeous with lots of riverfront views. With the rule of Hitler in some parts of my life, that was definitely a downside to my life. There are lots of things that im grateful for but some thing I wished didn't happen.
2.) Q: What events in your early life made you get interested in the arts?
A: There is no certain event that made me interested in the arts. I feel like you are born with interests in things. Like some people are born with in interest in sports or academics or science, I was born with an interest in acting and singing, which flourished throughout my life.
To do the things I did with my career you have to have a real passion for it. What I mean by that is you cant go into the business that I did just expecting to work. You have to work hard, and really want to get it, to make it in the business. Its certainly something you need to have in interest for to go into.
3.) Q: What role did mentors play in helping you develop the interests you have as an artist?
A: I did not have many mentors. Once I got into the business there were many people that did inspire me to become better at my work. I have to say my favorite co-star that I've had is Marlene Dietrich. Many of my films were silent films, but when I was in Der Blaue Engel with Marlene, I feel like that started my career in movies other then silent films.
She is also a great person to work with. In this business there are many different people you work with, some you like, some you especially don't like but I really enjoyed working with Marlene. Another person who I enjoyed working with is Heinz Ruhmann, which the movie we were in together is the film that got me a lot more popular among the people.
4.) Q: What was the world of art like in your particular art field when you entered it?
A: During the time that I entered the field of film, there was a lot of silent films being made. a lot of my work in films was silent films. I only started doing films that weren't silent later in my career and that really started with the film with Marlene Dietrich. I actually appeared in one of Germany's first sound movies Die Nacht gehort uhns.
I eventually became Germany's highest paid actor! So with most of my films being silent films, I did like doing sound movies because they were less common. People were surprised with my way of acting because they said that I was myself on screen, appearing the same as I do in real life on screen. I liked being seen as that. I felt that made some of my roles and jobs more genuine.
5.) Q: How did the major cultural, economic and political situations of the time impact your work?
A: During some of my work, Hitler was in rule. That majorly impacted some of the films that were made during that part of my life. With Hitler in rule, and my Jewish girlfriend Hansi Burg, also an actress, I came into a lot of trouble with Nazis at times. I also went off to fight in World War 1. That didn't end up very well! While fighting, I became injured.
After being injured I came back and resumed my career as an artist. Some of my films were made during Hitlers rule and I was judged very harshly for some of them. I feel like I had to keep doing what I loved in that time because there wasn't a lot of good in the world during that time, so doing what I loved and being with Hansi were the only things making me happy!
6.) Q: What do you think were your major accomplishments and what were some of the methods you used in your art?
A: A big thing people said about my art was that I appeared on film the same way I appeared in life, I guess meaning personality wise and or tone of voice? I'm not quite sure, I feel like I didn't want to be "fake" with my acting and I wanted there to be little parts of me in every part I played so I can see how they saw that with my films.
Some of the most known films ive been in are, like ive already said, Der Blaue Engel and Die Nacht gehort uhns. Lots of other films but those are the ones im most proud of. I don't want to gloat so i'm going to say that I haven't had that many major accomplishments.
7.)Q: What were some key opportunities you had that led to the turning points in your life?
A: My work with Marlene Dietrich was a big oppurtunity that led to big things in my life. Also my films with Heinz Ruhmann led to things. Those people were the reason that I got so many jobs in my career. Also the fact that I got training early in my life, even if it was secret training, that did help my career.
So if you have the chance to get your training for what your passionate in early you should do it! Its never to early to learn and it will never hurt to learn more about the field of work you like. Especially if its acting!
8.) Q:Were there any roadblocks or hardships that affected your growth in the industry?
A: A big hardship I had to overcome was starting off my acting career. I had to take acting classes and coaching without my parents even knowing so that was a big issue. The reason I didn't tell them was because I was afraid they would judge me and say things like that isn't a thing you can make a living of.
Another thing I had to deal with in my life was my girlfriend Hansi Burg. She wasn't the problem, I loved her, which was the issue. She was Jewish so that meant I had to deal with the Nazi's which drew up a lot of complications. But what can you do, when you really love someone you do whatever you can.
9.) Q:Wow. You've gone through a lot. Do you have any personal stories that you think effected your work?
A: A big thing that happened was my career was somewhat slowed during Hitlers regime. I had a very bad feeling towards the Nazi's and lots of people knew that so after Hitler was dealt with I quickly got back into business with little trouble at all! I feel like my work after that was also much more genuine because I had gone through a lot more in my life which helped me reflect that in my work.
Theirs not many personal stories that I haven't told you or many that I can remember to the date, but yes the things I have gone through have been big deals, and I think that did impact my work. I still got through it all, and was successful with my career.
10.) Q; Interesting. How did you feel that your work impacted the field of art?
A: I am not quite sure how I impacted the world of art. I feel like my way of acting that people thought I did, like portraying myself in all of the parts I got, was something that other actors took into account. I think using my personal self and not a made up character helped make my roles and movies a lot more memorable and real.
I hope that I had a good impact on the world in general. I am doing what I love and I hope others can do that too! I hope there is no one out there doing something they hate, I cannot imagine what that is like. Take my advice and go out and do something that you like and let it take you away! You never know just what could happen!
Bibliography
"History of Hamburg"
< https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Hamburg >
"Hans Albers"
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Albers >
<http://www.biography.com/people/hans-albers-20701969>
<http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002161/>
<http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/hans-albers-5359.php>
"Historical Dictionary of German Theatre" pub, June 17th 2015
<https://books.google.com/books?id=vKilCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA34&lpg=PA34&dq=hans+albers+film+life&source=bl&ots=WXyIUgwET-&sig=VhVkYwhKbGwesvS-_OQvJSzoshU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CC4Q6AEwA2oVChMI07OFtpOCyQIVwV0eCh3E9ws8#v=onepage&q=hans%20albers%20film%20life&f=false>
