This book depicts the life of Conrad Veidt (1893-1943), the defining German actor of expressionist cinema in the 1920s. He was dubbed "the Demon of the Silver Screen" after his legendary performance in Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (1919/20) made him an international star. To this day, Veidt is considered an icon of early horror film. He showed his acting range in more than a hundred films, among them masterpieces such as The Indian Tomb (1921), Orlac's Hands (1924), The Man Who Laughs (1928), The Thief of Bagdad (1940), and Casablanca (1942). Veidt's acting career propelled his social and political involvement, starting with the film Anders als die Anderen, the first film to advocate homosexual rights, in 1919. After the Nazis came to power, he left Germany to protest anti-Semitism and Nazi rule.