Theatre Register

Kurt Kasznar

Shows · Kurt Kasznar

Actor 1913–1979 On stage 19371963

Kurt Kasznar (born Kurt Servischer; August 13, 1913 – August 6, 1979) was an Austrian-American stage, film and television actor who played roles on Broadway, appearing in the original Broadway productions of Waiting for Godot, The Sound of Music and Barefoot in the Park. He also appeared in feature films and had many notable parts in television, including the science fiction series Land of the Giants. "A big, glib, dapper man who spoke with an accent, he was almost always cast as some sort of a Continental gentleman," reported The New York Times. As a soldier in World War II, Kasznar was among the first U.S. Army photographers to film the ruins of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

On stage 10 productions, 26 years

1937 The Eternal Road Manhattan Opera House · Original · directed by Max Reinhardt 153 perf.
1948 Joy to the World Plymouth Theatre · Original · directed by Jules Dassin 124 perf.
1948 Make Way for Lucia Cort Theatre · Original 29 perf.
1949 Montserrat Fulton Theatre · Original 65 perf.
1950 The Happy Time Plymouth Theatre · Original · directed by Robert Lewis 614 perf.
1955 Seventh Heaven ANTA Theatre · Revival · directed by John C. Wilson 44 perf.
1956 Waiting for Godot John Golden Theatre · Original · directed by Herbert Berghof 60 perf.
1959 Look After Lulu Henry Millers Theatre · Original · directed by Cyril Ritchard 39 perf.
1959 The Sound of Music Lunt-Fontanne Theatre · Original · directed by Vincent J. Donehue 1,443 perf.
1963 Barefoot in the Park Biltmore Theatre · Original · directed by Mike Nichols 1,530 perf.

Each row is a staging this name appears in the cast list of, read from the production record rather than from the person record. The person record names works instead, and a work cannot say which run somebody was in — that is how Elaine Stritch ends up filed under Show Boat 1927 when she was in the 1994 revival. No row here says what part was played, because no cast list records it.

Worked with more than once1 names

Stefan Gierasch 2 productions

Both names in the same cast list, more than once. It is not evidence of a partnership — a long-running company puts the same forty people together every night — but it is where one would start looking. 1 of these names are not links because we hold no record behind them; the name is set from the identifier and its punctuation may be wrong.

In the literature8 passages

  • Act One: “C’est la vie” (Robert Clary, Kurt Kasznar, Beatrice Arthur, Company); “Where Is That Someone for Me?” (Gloria DeHaven); “Camille, Collette, Fifi” (Chita Rivera, Patricia Hammerlee, Gerrianne Raphael); “Man with a Dream” (Ricardo Montalban, Company); “Remarkable Fellow” (Ricardo Montalban, Chita Rivera, Scott Merrill, Company); “…ebooks/Dietz, Dan/Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals, The - Dan Dietz.txt
  • During the tryout, Paul Hartman was replaced by Kurt Kasznar, and Fifi D’Orsay by Beatrice Arthur (but a program advertisement for the second week of the Broadway run touted Hartman and D’Orsay as cast members; and while the title page of the program indicated the show was a “musical play,” the ad called it a “musical comedy”). The minor…ebooks/Dietz, Dan/Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals, The - Dan Dietz.txt
  • Act Two: “No Way to Stop It” (Theodore Bikel, Kurt Kasznar, Marion Marlowe); “An Ordinary Couple” (Mary Martin, Theodore Bikel); “Processional” (Ensemble); “You Are Sixteen” (reprise) (Mary Martin, Lauri Peters); “Do Re Mi” (reprise) (Mary Martin, Theodore Bikel, Children); “Edelweiss” (Theodore Bikel, Mary Martin, Children); “So Long, Fa…ebooks/Dietz, Dan/Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals, The - Dan Dietz.txt
  • Cast: Mary Martin, Theodore Bikel, Patricia Neway, Kurt Kasznar, Marion Marlowe, Lauri Peters, Brian Davies, John Randolph, Nan McFarland, Joey Heathertonebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt
  • The sound of music. Theodore Bikel, Marion Marlowe, and Kurt Kasznar. (Friedman-Abeles)ebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt
  • In New Haven, Paul Hartman, who played Boule, the rascally taxi driver who narrated the show, was replaced by Kurt Kasznar. Fifi D’Orsay, who played the hookers’ madam, held on through New Haven and Philadelphia but was replaced by Beatrice Arthur in Boston.ebooks/Mandelbaum, Ken/Not Since Carrie_ Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops - Ken Mandelbaum.txt

Passages naming this person, found by keyword across 178 books. A keyword match is not a biography, and a common name will pull in the wrong one.

What this page does not know

  • What this person played. No cast list we hold records a character against a performer.
  • Which of the credits above the roles on this record — actor — apply to. The roles sit on the person and never on a credit, so a director who also acted looks the same here as one who did not.

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