Emil Rameau

After his graduation from Realschule Rameau became an actor. His first role was Marcellus in Julius Caesar in Bromberg (today Bydgoszcz in Poland). In 1906 he went to the Schiller Theater in Berlin, where he worked with Leopold Jessner. From 1923 until 1931 he was the deputy artistic director at the Schiller theatre. He directed some plays at the Volksbühne. Rameau worked also with Max Reinhardt at the Deutsches Theater. He made his film debut in 1915 and appeared regularly in German silent films, mostly in character roles.

After the Nazis seized power in 1933, Rameau escaped through Switzerland, the Netherlands, Italy, and Great Britain to the United States. During the Second World War, he made small appearances in over 20 Hollywood movies. In the 1944 mystery-thriller Gaslight, Rameau played Maestro Guardi, Ingrid Bergman's Italian singing teacher, which was perhaps his most recognised role in Hollywood. He made his last film appearance in Hollywood in 1949 and returned to Germany, where he worked as a stage actor. In 1951, he was appointed deputy artistic director of the Schiller theatre.