Francis Lederer

Birth Name:

František (Franz) Lederer

Birth Date:

November 6, 1899

Birth Place:

Prague, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary

Death Date:

May 25, 2000

Place of Death:

1385 E El Alameda, Palm Springs, California

Age:

100

Cause of Death:

Natural causes

Cemetery Name:

Forest Lawn Cemetery

Claim to Fame:

Show Business

Francis Lederer was an Austro-Hungarian Empire-born American film and stage actor with a successful career, first in Europe, then in the United States. Lederer's career spanned the century from ''Pandora's Box,'' the 1929 German silent film in which Louise Brooks made a scandalous splash as Lulu the prostitute, to the television series ''Mission Impossible'' and ''Night Gallery,'' in which he played guest roles four decades later. He also played assorted rogues, charmers, horror villains and a Nazi spy opposing Edward G. Robinson in the 1939 Warner Brothers drama, ''Confessions of a Nazi Spy.'' In ''Midnight,'' Billy Wilder's 1939 comedy that starred Don Ameche and Claudette Colbert, Mr. Lederer played a typical part: Jacques Picot, a gigolo attached to Mary Astor. In its review at the time, Variety said Mr. Lederer was ''aptly cast as the love pirate.'' With a slight accent and silken air, he played a philandering actor who accidentally kisses Ida Lupino in a darkened theater in ''One Rainy Afternoon'' (1936) and a sinister valet who stalks Paulette Goddard in Jean Renoir's ''Diary of a Chambermaid'' (1946). Aside from his stage and screen work, Lederer did a great deal of television, for which he adapted Ibsen's A Doll's House, and was the chief villain in the first Mission Impossible (1967). He also taught acting for many years, helped found the American National Academy of Performing Arts and the Holly wood museum, was active in civic affairs, and made a fortune from property.

Fun Facts

The old Francis Lederer home in Canoga Park is truly a one of a kind home built for actor Francis Lederer in 1933 which was declared a Historic Cultural Monument on November 15, 1978 . Lederer also owned the stables across the street which is now the Canoga Mission Gallery which was declared on December 4, 1974 and both sites comprised a 300 acre ranch owned by Lederer. Located at 23134 Sherman Way in Canoga Park, California, the city called the Lederer Residence “a distinguished example of Mission Style architecture in which interior and exterior detailing is of museum quality. The Spanish and Italian furnishings are of particular interest, dating back from the 14th century.”

Francis Lederer’s final screen performance was a 1971 episode of Rod Serling’s Night Gallery called “The Devil Is Not Mocked”.

Francis also founded the American National Academy of Performing Arts and continued to give acting seminars up until a week before his death at age 100. His more famous students include Helen Hunt, Michael Nader and Paul Gleason.

Cemetery Information:

Final Resting Place:

Forest Lawn Cemetery

69855 Ramon Road

Cathedral City, California, 92234

USA

North America

Map:

Map of Forest Lawn Cemetery in Cathedral City, California

Grave Location:

Sanctuary of Hope and Faith, Wall 15, Space 1314-B

Grave Location Description

Park on Memorial Drive and walk through the gate to the left of the fountain. As you go past the fountain, walk on the left side of Serenity Chapel. Turn left at the first walkway after the elevator. Look to your right and actor/director Francis Lederer’s final resting place is the fourth crypt on the right, sixth crypt up from the ground floor.