Friedrich Zelnik was born into a
Jewish family in Czernowitz, today in
Ukraine, at the time the capital of the
Duchy of Bukovina in the Austrian part of the
Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. After studying in
Vienna, Friedrich Zelnik worked as an actor in theaters in
Nürnberg,
Aachen,
Worms,
Prague and finally
Berlin, in the theaters Theater an der Königsgrätzer Straße, Berliner Theater, and Komödienhaus. In 1914 Friedrich Zelnik began acting in films, and after 1915 producing and directing movies while still appearing in roles as an actor in other director'films. In 1918 he married a young Polish ballet dancer turned film actress named
Lya Mara and promoted her to stardom by producing and directing movies for her. In 1920 he established a film production firm Zelnik-Mara-Film GmbH. Popular, operetta style costume films like
The Blue Danube,
The Bohemian Dancer,
Dancing Vienna,
Mariett Dances Today brought
Lya Mara and Zelnik enormous success in Germany and beyond. Several of his collaborators, such as cameraman
Frederik Fuglsang and production designer
André Andrejew are perceived today as important artists of the German silent cinema. Upon the introduction of
sound film, Friedrich Zelnik became the first director in Europe to
postsynchronize a movie,
The Crimson Circle (1929), using the
DeForest Phonofilm sound-on-film process. In 1930, Zelnik traveled to
Hollywood, California and upon his return to Germany, directed his first full sound film, a new version of his silent success
The Bohemian Dancer. After
Hitler took power in 1933, Zelnik and
Lya Mara left Germany for
London. In the following years, Zelnik continued to direct and produce movies in Great Britain and The Netherlands. He also legally changed his name to Frederic Zelnik and took British citizenship. Zelnik died in 1950 in London, aged 65. ==Selected filmography==