Actor, Director. Born Maximilian Goldmann of Jewish ancestry in the former country of Austria-Hungary, he worked as a theater director in Berlin, Germany, from 1902 to 1933, specifically the Deutsches Theater, as well as the Theater in der Josefstadt in Vienna, Austria. He was credited for introducing new dimensions into the German theater by employing powerful staging techniques and harmonizing stage design, language, music, and choreography. He has an interest in filmmaking as a director and at times as a producer. His first staging for the film was "Sumurun" (1910) and after that he founded his own film company. He was chosen to direct the film adaptation "Das Mirakel" (1912) but withdrew from the project because of staging controversies. He made the films "Die Insel der Seligen" (1913) and Eine venezianische Nacht (1914) for German film producer Paul Davidson. After Nazi Germany's annexation of Austria in 1938, he escaped the Nazi persecution of Jews by emigrating first to England and then the United States, where he had already directed his own play "The Miracle" in 1924, and was the producer of a popular version of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream' in 1927, on Broadway. He followed with a film version of "A Midsummer's Night Dream" in 1935 that starred Mickey Rooney, James Cagney, Joe E. Brown, and Olivia de Havilland. He opened the Reinhardt School of the Theater in Hollywood where he gave classical theater training. He became a naturalized United States citizen in 1940. His other Broadway works include "Jederman" (1927 - co-producer), "Peripherie" (1928 - playwright), "Redemption" (revival) (1928 - director), "The Eternal Road" (1937 - director), Thornton Wilder's play "The Merchant of Yonkers" (later rewritten as "The Matchmaker") (1938), and "Sons and Soldiers" (1943 - producer and director). He was married to actress Helene Thimig. His son, Gottfried Reinhardt, was also a well-regarded film producer.