Fritz Spira

Fritz Spira (1881–1943) was an Austrian stage and film actor. He appeared frequently in films during the silent and early sound eras. Spira played the role of the Austrian Emperor Franz Josef in the 1926 film The Third Squadron. Spira had been working in Germany before the Nazi takeover in 1933 compelled him to leave because of his Jewish background. He went first to Poland, then returned to his native Austria. Following the Anchluss he tried to leave, but was arrested. He eventually died in 1943 at the Ruma concentration camp in Vojvodina.

Family

He was married to Lotte Spira from 1905-1934 and was the father of the actresses Camilla Spira and Steffie Spira. Camilla only survived the holocaust because her mother signed a statement swearing that Fritz was not Camilla's real father.

Selected filmography

• Ferdinand Lassalle (1918)
• Countess Maritza (1925)
• Love and Trumpets (1925)
• A Free People (1925)
• We Belong to the Imperial-Royal Infantry Regiment (1926)
• The Third Squadron (1926)
• The Red Mouse (1926)
• The Trumpets are Blowing (1926)
• Unmarried Daughters (1926)
• Women of Passion (1926)
• Nanette Makes Everything (1926)
• Vienna - Berlin (1926)
• The Dashing Archduke (1927)
• Family Gathering in the House of Prellstein (1927)
• When the Mother and the Daughter (1928)
• The Fate of the House of Habsburg (1928)
• The Alley Cat (1929)
• The Fourth from the Right (1929)
• What's Wrong with Nanette? (1929)
• Darling of the Gods (1930)
• Fairground People (1930)
• Two Worlds (1930)
• Duty is Duty (1931)
• Johann Strauss (1931)
• Johnny Steals Europe (1932)
• The Ladies Diplomat (1932)
• Der Choral von Leuthen (1933)
• The Emperor's Waltz (1933)
• The Roberts Case (1933)