Max Hansen (1926) German Silent Film and similar items

Vintage original 3.5 x 5.25 in. German postcard depicting the German-born singer, actor and producer, MAX HANSEN. The handsome young performer is depicted in close publicity shot wearing a tuxedo. This postcard was signed in black ink by Max Hansen in, we believe, 1926 (see additional details below), the year in which he first appeared in motion pictures. Printed in Berlin, Germany, this vintage original silent film postcard is unused in very fine+ condition. Provenance: Approximately 8 years ago, we purchased a collection of two albums of vintage original German postcards from a rare book dealer at an antiquarian book fair in Pasadena, California (see photos). Approximately half of the postcards were signed by the respective personalities and the ones that were dated by the actors are all dated "1926." We were informed by the dealer that these photographs came from a film collector in Germany who acquired the postcards at the time they were issued and then had them signed by the respective actors when he met them in person. We are now pleased to make these vintage original postcards available to other collectors. Max Hansen was born in Mannheim, Germany, but was raised by his step-parents in Munich. His mother was a Danish actress, Eva Haller, his father's name was von Waldheim. In his school days, he already sang at the Opera House, so he earned the nickname "The Little Caruso" ("Der kleine Caruso"). Later, he studied Music and Voice and got a job at the Simplizissimus Cabaret in Munich. From 1914, he played in operettas in Vienna and became a good friend of Franz Lehár. After that, he worked in Berlin at the Metropole Theater and became a superstar of operettas, revues, cabaret, and radio. He began acting in five silent films from 1926 to 1928. His first talkie was Wien, du Stadt der Lieder (1930) ("Vienna, City of Song") (1930). In 1932, he played opposite Gitta Alpar in She, or Nobody (1932). He left Germany in 1933 for Vienna and to play in Switzerland, Amsterdam, Oslo, and Helsinki. On a late summer day in 1936, while she was in Copenhagen, Swedish singer Zarah Leaner received a telephone call from Max Hansen. He asked her if she spoke German and she replied that she did. Next he wanted to know if she would take the female lead in Axel an der Himmels Tür (Axel at the Gate of Heaven), an operetta with music by Ralph Benatzky. Hansen, in collaboration with Paul Morgan and Hans Weigel, was producing the operetta in Theater an der Wien. Zarah was so excited to get her first German speaking role that she accepted the part without even asking how much money they were offering her. In 1949, Max Hansen visited Hamburg; in 1951 he played in Berlin and Scandinavia. He died in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1961.