Lionel Royce

Biography

Acted extensively in German theatre in 1930's until driven out by demonstrators due to being Jewish. Returned to theatre pretending to be German farmer, Nazi press competed to heap praise on him. Eventually he was betrayed by a former colleague (though an actor in the same production also recognised him but kept silent). He then continued working in Vienna until the Anschluss after which he moved to the US. He was married to German Actress Agnes Straub. The story of his impersonation of an Aryan farmer was used as the basis of Austrian Playwright, Felix Mitterer's play "In Der Lowengrube", now translated into English as "In The Lion's Den".