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This may not be the most original post but I wondered what your thoughts/feelings/ideas were on Max Shrek (Count Orloff in Nosferatu)?
He was rumoured to be a real Vampire, due to his 'method acting'.
I believe he was portrayed very well in 'Shadow of the Vampire' starring Williem Dafoe and John Malkovich.
So... any ideas?

Nosferatu is a very good movie but I have yet to see shadow of the vampire. I don't believe he was a vampire but instead just a very good actor.

"shadow" all in all wasn't too bad a film,it did did delve into his background but like Lugosi,it was generally believed he was when actually it was just good acting

If he was the first or not, I think we will never know if he was a real one, I mean maybe he was I dont say he was not, I am simply saying who really knows the truth behind his actions and his motive for those? No one but him. Still he could have been a real vampire....

I really don't believe he is a real vampire.

I refuse to believe he was at all normal. I kinda want him to have thought he was a vampire. I heard he bit one of the crew members . . . but that's probably just movie hype.

I don't think he was a vampire, just a good actor.

I agree that he was a very good actor, very believable, but I'm skeptical to think that he was really a vampire.

I enjoyed both movies, and the shadow of the vampire brought to life some of the crews thought on max shrek. where he was so involved in the character that everybody thought that his essentric way was unbeilable. even creepy. a great movie to see. max shrek almost no doubtly could have been a vampire.

That was a great movie and i could see him being a real vampire but no one will ever truley know for sure if he was a true vampire...

his potrayel was very involved and he truly could have been, very actual to the character he potrayed and never went on to do other work. i don't think,

He made over 50 movies in his career over a 16 year period prior to his death (heart attack) in 1936.

He wasn't a vampire. Both movies were excellent!

I have yet to see the movie. I don't beleive he was a vampire. I think he was a very good method actor.

good movies but he is just a very good actor

I find it most likely that Max Shrek was simply an excellent method actor.

Who knows sometimes actors become there characters.....Bela Lugosi kind of struck me as an example of that.

Ah there is no real right or wrong answer to this question, Max Shrek is the only one that knows the truth... but it is nice to just believe that its the truth. I haven't seen the new movie but must admit it has raised my interests and shall endeavour to see it. :)

i also believe he was just a good actor, but there is no way to ever really know

He was an excellent actor...he made the part very believable :)

great actor. but like said before no way of knowing if he was or wasn't a real vamp.

Cool, I appreciate all your thoughts people :)

I watched the movie again, and he is really a good actor and i could see him as being a real vampire...

i enjoyed the movies but i too believe hes just a very good actor

I enjoyed the movies he has to be real Smiles! wheres the imagination these days stripped away from those who once possed a way to see the world differntly look through a different lense see what others block open ur mind feel what simply couldn't be and make it a reality.


things that seem unreal to many I belive are real simply b/c u can't touch it or see it doesn't mean it isn't there what about air

Ponder what I speak and tell me then what u think.

I believe he was just an actor. However, comparing with Bella is bit off. When Bella did Dracual, he spoke very very little english, and acted mainly by phonetics. That was really him, and how he spoke. :)

I dont think so.

I think when some actors are typecast people tend to blur the line between their on screen persona and their real persona.

I don't think that he was a real vampire but he was a very talented actor.

like people have said i dont think he was a real vampire but he was a very talented actor.

I have never actually seen Nosferatu, but I did see Shadow of the Vampire which was okay but a little wierd.

I personally don't think that a real undead vampire would have allowed himself to be put on film, even if he was guarenteed that no one would believe he was real. Too damn risky, real vamps don't want exposure.

But then, what do I know...not like I am a real undead vampire. lol

I tend to agree:I think it was just good acting

I think that he was an actor and not a real vampire.

It's just an actor playing a part..one cannot be turned.

to say you refuse to believe he was normal, well who is? I'm not normal, plesant, nice but not normal. Maybe he was mental.

A very good actor who really got into this part. just a ploy by hollywood again for the part two of his story, shadow of a vampire were it potrayed him as a real vampire and not an actor.

actors can portray and make you beleive it's real, that's there job to do so, some are just better at doing so, thats all

Well, he was a just a good actor in Nosferatu...

So good that a little later he was really turned & then ended up starring in Shadow of the Vampire... Ok I made that up LOL :P

lol yendor, thats funny :-P make it up as you go? sounds like a plan to me... *nods*

shadow of the vampire was a wonderfull movie and i really liked it.i dont think he was.

ive seen the movie many times i also feel that he isn a very good acter and could of been a vampire but no one will ever know... what a shame. and very cute he was

I think he is merely a good actor. Just because he gave a stelling performances, does not mean that he was a vampire.

seen both films - thought them brilliant. his name actually means fear, or terror. it wasnt his real name, but a stage name, chosen for effect. in those days an actor invited type casting, and played up to it. those were the days of silent movies, so those actors that came across as most convincing were those who were masters of mime. i think he was just a good actor who knew how to express well.

no but you can look it up, i ahve never heard of it though

I concur with anyone who agrees he was merely good at acting the part. Actors sometimes 'live the role' when they get too good at acting a particular character.
And that is usually the sign of a talented actor when they can be convincing, and make people actually believe they really are vampires. :)

I have never heard of this person whatsoever

Agree with most, He was a good actor, probably one that researched his parts and worked hard on portraying it right.

Honestly, I've yet to see either of those flicks. Sorry I can't help you with your thread dear.

They were both good and the acting of the drinkers was some of the best in my book of the classic vamps.

I don't know, but it would be kinda cool if he was.

I thought I had already answered this, but it appears I hadn't. I agree with the majority of others here in the belief that he was just an excellent actor.

(Not a bad question, in my opinion, by the way!)

Max shrek no matter what was a genuis, also a nother fantastic poytral was done by Anders Hove of subspecies. excellent on both accounts.

i need to update on my vampire movies. i've heard of nasferatu, but i've never seen movies about him to know about this guy

It's a public domain movie so you can watch it here:

Nosferatu

Personally, I have found few actors of the silent film period to be what I would consider so good as to seem real. Max Shrek cuts a tall and imposing figure but his acting doesn't seem so good as to imply that he's a real vampire. In fact, like most silent film actors, it seems stiff and overdone. Perhaps the Defoe character has influenced the opinion since he is a rather brilliant character actor and added so much to the Shrek character.

Oh and Shrek first appears pretty deep in the film at about 20min and 26sec on the counter.

Iam going to buck the trend and say that this wasn't even Max Shreck portraying the vampire in Nosferatu at all, but a real life vampire who took on his persona while filiming.

I think real vampires exist in some form and if this guy is not one (the original) then he sure as hell had great makeup for 1922. Creepy too...

Shadow of the Vampire is an excellent film, btw. Dafoe is totally creepy in this.

he was just a really go0d act0r but im n0t really sure

I dont recall ever hearing of this person

I really don't believe he is a real vampire

Cool thank you everyone for your replies. They've made an interesting read.

i feel the same way....just a very good actor who took his role very seriously.

He wasnt real but its was ok

First of all... For the people who have never seen Nosferatu what the fuck are you doing? Go and watch the dvd now lol..
It's a fuckin Masterpiece!
I Love both films for different reasons..
I've even got a tattoo of the Count from Shadow.. (it's in my port) I was gonna get one of the original Nosferatu but went for that in the end.
As for Max Shrek he was just very intense people were scared of him.. Garry Oldman would be his modern day counterpart..
Great thread by the way Amy :)

Thank you very much Chris :) I appreciate your thoughts on the matter.

Plus your right Gary Oldman would be a fair counter part. He is a fantastic actor. A chamelion almost in his acting and looks, I would say.

Good thoughts on Oldman - but personally I think Daniel Day Lewis is just a wee bit more intense in taking his acting roles literally to heart.

IMHO D.D.L. would be the most likely counterpart of the uber-intense actor, Max Shrek (although I still think he was a real vampire - lol).

Just my two cents which is worth less than a pence over here at the moment anyway.

i would say it would be just good acting

good acting is about all I can say about that man

I am not familiar with his acting style nor the rumor

I did post a link to the full movie higher up in the thread.

It's copyright free because of it's age so it's available on google movies for free

good actor...very good actor.

yes ..Max shrek was an actor who suffered alot of issues..his career was failing and as a method actor..he was just too intense..
it is true that he bit people on set..

but a vampire..maybe he believed it himself..
and we will never know

i haven't seen it either.

Hell...maybe he drank blood during research for his part....helping him get into character? I wouldn't put it past him...he did throw himself into character very well :)

havent seen that.

Great movie but I have to agree that I think he wasn't a Vampire just a good actor.

Hey felix felix posted a link to film futher up the thread. Check it out.

Damn good actor.
Ghost

Max Shrek was a great actor, and Nosferatu was his greatest movie, i think that he could have been a vampire not a true vampire, that can not go into the sun and lives forever but the type of vampire that are mainly around today...

Maybe for the time he played the part, he was a vampire.

i feel he was a great method actor and brought much to the cenema and had a good amount of fans

Alot of great method actors sometimes forget to lose the characters they potray. Kind of a mental state which they develop and continue to carry on. max shrek may have kept some of these traits after the movie was over.