Actor. The grandson of famed hotelier Lorenz Adlon, he was raised in the luxurious surroundings of Berlin, Germany's Hotel Adlon, which he was expected to inherit. The rise of Adolph Hitler drove him into exile in Hollywood, California, where he married Rose Davies (sister of movie star Marion Davies) and launched a career as an actor. Slender and dour-looking, Adlon appeared in two-dozen motion pictures, mostly in supporting roles as a Nazi officer. His films include "Confessions of a Nazi Spy" (1939), "Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet" (1940), "Dispatch from Reuter's" (1940), "My Favorite Spy" (1942), "Assignment in Brittany" (1943), and "Counter-Attack" (1945). In May 1945 he ventured into war-ravaged Germany, ostensibly as a correspondent for the Hearst newspapers but more likely to assume control of the Hotel Adlon, which had survived the fall of Berlin virtually unscathed. When he arrived he discovered that all but the utility wing of the building had been destroyed in a fire set by drunken Soviet Red Army soldiers. Crestfallen, Adlon returned to Hollywood and died of a heart attack soon afterwards. Originally interred in the Davies Family Mausoleum at Hollywood Forever, his body was removed in 1951 and buried in a simple grave at the foot of its steps. He was the subject of a semi-documentary film, "The Glamorous World of the Adlon Hotel" (1996), directed by his nephew, Percy Adlon.
Actor. The grandson of famed hotelier Lorenz Adlon, he was raised in the luxurious surroundings of Berlin, Germany's Hotel Adlon, which he was expected to inherit. The rise of Adolph Hitler drove him into exile in Hollywood, California, where he married Rose Davies (sister of movie star Marion Davies) and launched a career as an actor. Slender and dour-looking, Adlon appeared in two-dozen motion pictures, mostly in supporting roles as a Nazi officer. His films include "Confessions of a Nazi Spy" (1939), "Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet" (1940), "Dispatch from Reuter's" (1940), "My Favorite Spy" (1942), "Assignment in Brittany" (1943), and "Counter-Attack" (1945). In May 1945 he ventured into war-ravaged Germany, ostensibly as a correspondent for the Hearst newspapers but more likely to assume control of the Hotel Adlon, which had survived the fall of Berlin virtually unscathed. When he arrived he discovered that all but the utility wing of the building had been destroyed in a fire set by drunken Soviet Red Army soldiers. Crestfallen, Adlon returned to Hollywood and died of a heart attack soon afterwards. Originally interred in the Davies Family Mausoleum at Hollywood Forever, his body was removed in 1951 and buried in a simple grave at the foot of its steps. He was the subject of a semi-documentary film, "The Glamorous World of the Adlon Hotel" (1996), directed by his nephew, Percy Adlon.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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