Born Mishilem Meier Weisenfreund in Lemberg, Austria-Hungary (now Lviv, Ukraine). The son of an itinerant actor and actress, he appeared on stage with his parents from early childhood. When he was seven, the family emigrated to the US, settled on New York's Lower East Side, and continued its theatrical activity on the Yiddish stage. In 1918, Muni joined the then-thriving Yiddish Art Theater company, with which he toured the US and Europe. He was 31 when he made his English-language stage debut in the 1926 Broadway production of We Americans. By 1929 he was sufficiently established on Broadway to be signed by Fox. He was nominated for an Oscar for his very first film role, in THE VALIANT (1929). But, unhappy with his second film, SEVEN FACES (1929), in which he played seven different roles, Muni returned to Broadway, where he scored a notable success in 1931 in Counsellor-at-Law. Returning to the screen, he reaped two successive personal triumphs with SCARFACE (1932) and I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG (both 1932). He was again nominated for an Oscar for the latter. Muni was next signed to a long-term contract by Warners and rapidly established himself as the studio's most distinguished thespian. An extremely conscientious actor, he insisted on choice of roles and took meticulous care with the makeup required for authenticity in his portrayals. After completing a cycle of social dramas he scored his biggest success with a string of portrayals of famous people in the Warners biofilms of the 30s. He won an Academy Award for THE STORY OF LOUIS PASTEUR (1936), the New York Film Critics Award for THE LIFE OF EMILE ZOLA (1937), and wide esteem for THE GOOD EARTH (also 1937) and JUAREZ (1939). But disagreements with studio management over subsequent roles led to the termination of his contract by mutual consent. From the early 1940s he alternated between stage and screen. His film roles were few and far between (HUDSON'S BAY, 1941, THE COMMANDOS STRIKE AT DAWN, 1942, A SONG TO REMEMBER and COUNTER-ATTACK, both 1945 and ANGEL ON MY SHOULDER, 1946), but each was still anticipated with some excitement by the critics and the public. He scored a hit on Broadway in 1955 with Inherit the Wind and played his last role in either medium in the film THE LAST ANGRY MAN (1959). Deteriorating health and advancing blindness kept him virtually inactive until his death from a heart ailment.  Nominated for Actor 1928-29: THE VALIANT  Nominated for Actor 1932-33: I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG  Nominated for Actor 1935: BLACK FURY NOTE: THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL NOMINATION. Write-in candidate.  Actor 1936: THE STORY OF LOUIS PASTEUR  Nominated for Actor 1937: THE LIFE OF EMILE ZOLA  Nominated for Actor 1959: THE LAST ANGRY MAN 5 nominations, 1 write-in nomination, 1 Award