Max Reinhardt was born as Maximilian Goldmann in Baden, Austria. He began his career at the age of 17 as actor and assistant director at the Salzburg State Theater. In 1894, he moved to the Deutsches Theater in Berlin that he directed from 1905. Later he built the Kammerspiele next door for intimate productions and modern plays. He became famous throughout Germany with his staging of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 1905. All in all, he staged 600 productions including 22 Shakespearean plays.
Reinhardt exerted an enormous influence on German and international cinema as many of the most famous directors of the 1920s and 1930s trained under him. When the Nazis came to power, he went to the US and founded an acting school and theater workshop in Hollywood.