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In a 1976 M*A*S*H episode, Hawkeye talked about the familiarity of American life during the Great Depression. “You knew where you stood in those days,” he says. “Franklin Roosevelt was always president, Joe Louis was always the champ, and Paul Muni played everybody.” It must have seemed like that to many moviegoers, as the Academy Award-winning actor’s 1930s/’40s résumé included such roles as an Italian immigrant gangster based on Al Capone (Scarface); the French chemist and “father of bacteriology” (The Story of Louis Pasteur); a French author and poltical gadfly (The Life of Emile Zola); the mid-1800s president of Mexico (Juarez); and Frédéric Chopin’s musical mentor (A Song to Remember).
Born Frederich Meier Weisenfreund in what’s now the Ukrainian city of Lviv in 1895, his family moved to Chicago when he was seven. With both parents active in the Yiddish theatre, the young Muni followed in their footsteps. He excelled at using makeup to play older characters and moved to New York to join its renowned Yiddish Art Theater. Making his Broadway debut in 1926, Paul was signed by Fox three years later and earned an Oscar nomination for his first film, The Valiant.
Along with his biographical performances, Muni starred in such diverse movies as I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, Black Fury, The Good Earth, and Hudson’s Bay. Growing weary of the Hollywood studio system, the actor returned to working on the stage in the early 1940s and made sporadic screen turns in Commandos Strike at Dawn, Counter-Attack and Angel on My Shoulder. His final appearance came in the 1959 social drama The Last Angry Man, which also happened to be the first film of Billy Dee Williams. Muni died from heart issues at the age of 71 in 1967.
For this week’s poll, we’re “showing you the Muni” and inviting you to vote for your favorite performance from his multi-faceted body of work. If we’ve overlooked your choice, please tell us in the comments below.