Born in Berlin, Germany. Writer, director, production designer, actor and costume designer who entered German film in 1915 as production designer for DER GOLEM. Other notable German credits include DER GOLEM UND DIE TÄNZERIN / THE GOLEM AND THE DANCING GIRL (1917, director), DAS KABINETT DES DOKTOR CALIGARI / THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI (1921, asst. director), ALEXANDRA and DER BRENNENDE ACKER / BURNING SOIL (both 1922, both art director), BRÜDER (1923, writer) and AMPHYTRION (1935, costume designer). He was set decorator for the 1955 Austrian film of Beethoven's FIDELIO. In the US, his credits include DeMille Pictures' THE MAIN EVENT (1927, writer) and F.W. Murnau's SUNRISE (1927, art director) for Fox.    Nominated for Art Direction 1927-28: SUNRISE 1 nomination