Max Hansen (tenor)

For other uses, see Max Hansen (disambiguation).

Max Hansen (1929)

Max Hansen (22 December 1897 – 12 November 1961) was a Danish singer known as 'The Little Caruso',^[1] also a cabaret artist, actor and comedian.^[2][3]

Biography

Hansen was born Max Josef Haller in Mannheim, Imperial Germany as an illegitimate child to the Danish actress Eva Haller and a Jewish father, by other sources a Swedish Officer Schürer von Waldheim.^[4] He grew up with foster-parents at Munich, where he first appeared at the Cabaret Simplizissimus at the age of 17.^[5] In 1914 he moved to Vienna and appeared in several smaller theatres as a singer and comedian.

In 1924, Hansen created the tenor role of Baron Kolomán Zsupán in Gräfin Mariza at Hubert Marischka's Theater an der Wien in Vienna. This production moved to the Metropoltheater in Berlin after 900 performances. In Berlin he founded the Kabarett der Komiker with Paul Morgan and Kurt Robitschek. Hansen was engaged by Max Reinhardt for his revival of Offenbach's La belle Hélène ^[6] and by Erik Charell for his production of Lehar's The Merry Widow. Hansen's greatest stage success was in creating the role of Leopold the waiter in Ralph Benatzky's operetta-musical The White Horse Inn, a part he also undertook in Richard Oswald's 1926 silent movie.

In 1932, Hansen satirised Adolf Hitler as homosexual with his song "War'n Sie schon mal in mich verliebt?" ("Have you ever been in love with me?"), which caused the bitter hate of the Nazis. In contrast, he also parodied the opera and operetta soprano Gitta Alpár (in drag) in a film recording dating from the same year.^[7] He returned to Vienna in 1933 and worked again at the Theater an der Wien. In 1936 he met Zarah Leander on a Scandinavian tour and engaged her as his stage partner at Vienna. After Austria was invaded by Germany in 1938, Hansen emigrated to Denmark, where he founded his own theater at Copenhagen.

In 1951 he returned to Germany and was successful once again singing the role of Leopold the waiter (The White Horse Inn) in Hamburg and at Berlin's Theater am Nollendorfplatz. In 1953 Hansen moved back to Copenhagen, where he died in 1961.

Hansen was married to Austrian actress Lizzi Waldmüller and after 1939 to Britta Hansen. He had four children. His son Max Hansen Jr., born in 1954, is also an actor.

In 2004 the German director Douglas Wolfsperger portrayed Hansen in his documentary "War'n Sie schon mal in mich verliebt?"^[8]

Popular songs and arias associated with Max Hansen^[9]

'Ach, Louise!' Bayerisches Seemannslied 'Da geh' ich ins Maxim' (The Merry Widow) 'Das Lied vom Zuschau'n' 'Die erste Frau, die ich geküßt' 'Einmal möchte ich keine Sorgen haben' 'Franz Schubert, du warst nicht umsonst verliebt' 'Gehst du mit nach Honolulu, geh ich auch nach Honolulu' 'Ich hab kein Auto' 'Ich hab ne Leidenschaft' 'Ich möcht' so gerne wissen, ob sich die Fische küssen'

'Im weissen Rössl' (The White Horse Inn) 'Jetzt geht's der Dolly gut' 'Kannst Du pfeifen, Johanna?' 'Klassisch, klassisch' 'Meine liebe Lola' 'Musik muß sein' 'Sag mir Oui' 'Sag ich blau, sagt sie grün' 'War'n sie schon mal in mich verliebt?' 'Was hast du schon davon, wenn ich dich liebe (Danish: Hva' glade har du af, at jeg ka li dig)' 'Wenn ein Fräulein keinen Herrn hat'

Filmography

1925: Husarenfieber 1926: Familie Schimeck - Wiener Herzen 1926: Im weißen Rößl 1926: Der lachende Ehemann 1926: Als ich wiederkam 1926: Die Kleine vom Varieté 1926: Die selige Exzellenz 1927: Venus im Frack 1927: Frau Sorge 1928: Freiwild (Der Leidensweg der Anna Riedel) 1928: Das Girl von der Revue 1929: Wir haben uns gut verstanden 1929: Jetzt geht's der Dolly gut 1930: Gaukler (Les Saltimbanques) 1930: Wien, du Stadt der Lieder 1930: Terra-Melophon-Magazin Nr. 1 1930: Der Hampelmann 1930: Das Kabinett des Dr. Larifari 1931: Schuberts Frühlingstraum 1931: Wer nimmt die Liebe ernst?

1932: Der Frauendiplomat 1932: Die – oder keine 1932: Einmal möcht' ich keine Sorgen haben 1933: Das häßliche Mädchen 1933: Glückliche Reise 1935: Ihre tollste Nacht (Csardas) 1935: Provinsen kalder 1936: Skeppsbrutne Max 1939: Rosor varje kräll 1941: Tror du jeg er født i går? 1941: Wienerbarnet 1943: En fllicka för mej 1944: Gröna hissen 1945: Trötte Teodor 1946: En förtjusande fröken 1946: Bröder Emellan 1947: Bröllopsnatten 1947: Ingen väg tillbaka 1951: Sköne Helena 1956: Hvad vil De ha'?

References

1. ^ cyranos.ch
2. ^ Biographie (Danish)
3. ^ Hansen's grave at Copenhagen
4. ^ filmportal.de
5. ^ steffi-line.de
6. ^ filmportal.de (extended page)
7. ^ Max Hansen imitating Gitta Alpár (1932, YouTube)
8. ^ filmportal.de
9. ^ Some of the information in this section is taken from the related German Wikipedia article.

External links

• Max Hansen at the Internet Movie Database
• Max Hansen at cyranos.ch
• Pictures of Hansen at Virtual-history.com, accessed 24 June 2011
• Max Hansen singing "Was kann der Siegismund dafür, daß er so schön ist" (1930, YouTube)
• Max Hansen singing "War'n Sie schon mal in mich verliebt" (YouTube)

Persondata
Name	Hansen, Max
Alternative names	Hansen, Max Josef
Short description	Tenor
Date of birth	1897-12-22
Place of birth	Mannheim, Imperial Germany
Date of death	12 November 1961(1961-11-12) (aged 63)
Place of death	Copenhagen, Denmark