Biography

Max Landa was born on April 24, 1873 in Minsk, Russian Empire [now Belarus]. He was an actor and producer, known for Cinderella (1916), Kaiserin Elisabeth von Österreich (1921) and Die schwarze Schachdame (1922). He was married to Margot Landa. He died on November 8, 1933 in Bled, Slovenia.

When Joe May founded his own film production company in 1915 he formed a contract with Max Landa who became the first of a number of actors to play the role of the fictional British detective Joe Deebs, created as a rival to Sherlock Holmes during the silent era.

After working as a bank clerk for a short period he decided to focus on his acting career in 1893.

The Jewish Landa left Germany in 1933 for vacation in Bled in Slovenia where he shot himself in hotel Park and left 21 farewell letters.

After working at various theaters in Austro-Hungarian Empire and Germany for about twenty years he was discovered in Berlin as leading man by movie star Asta Nielsen with whom he played in several movies directed by Urban Gad.

He attended the Handelsakademie (commercial academy) in Vienna and took classes with acting teacher Karl Arnau in the same city.