- Elegant silent screen matinée idol, the son of a tax collector. In films from 1914, he appeared as romantic lovers and bon vivants opposite most of the major female stars of the period. He set up his own production company in 1922. His career was disrupted by a motorcycle accident in 1924, as a result of which he suffered severe injuries from which he never fully recovered. Having failed to make the transition to sound Kastner committed suicide by hanging himself in 1930.
- The great Asta Nielsen spot him for her movie "Engelein" in 1914. The oddest of all film careers started. Although Bruno Kastner wasn't a very good actor and also no critics left out an occasion to announce it, he conquered the hearts of the female audience in not time.
- Kastner attended schools in Fürstenwalde and afterward served a short, seventeen day stint in the military before being relieved of his duties due to an injury.
- He subsequently travelled to Berlin and took acting lessons from stage actor Paul Biensfeldt and then relocated briefly to Hamburg where he performed at the Harburger Theater. After a brief period in touring companies he worked as a choral singer and actor at the Meinhard-Bernauer Bühnen in Berlin.
- The onset of sound films proved disastrous to Kastner's career in 1930 upon the release of his first talkie titled Das Land des Lächelns (The Land of Smiles) when filmgoers discovered that he stammered.
- Each of his movies were money-spinners.
- Most men of his age were in the war, the demand for actors was bigger than the offer. He played lovers at theaters but the success didn't turn up immediately.
- The women who loved him once forgot him. He earned at the end of the twenties his living with appearances at small organizations in the following years. Eventually he was broken by this anonymity.
- After failing to garner any more film roles because of his speech impediment, he tried to revive his career by touring German theaters and permitting female members of the audience to get onstage and have their photograph taken with their past idol.
- In film magazines roused pros and contras Kastner discussions.
- By the male audience he was confronted with disapproval. Nicknames like "coat hanger" or "perfume advertising" went the round.
- Bruno Kastner was slim, good-looking, young - and unfit for military service.
- Kastner cemented his romantic image by appearing as the ardent suitor to popular actress Dorrit Weixler in a number of films of the era. Male filmgoers were less fond of Kastner's image of a handsome dandy and gave him the nickname "Kleiderbügel" ("coat hanger") - a reference to his slim build and fashionable wardrobe.[.
- His picture decorated many bedside tables, love letters were transported in laundry baskets by tormented postmen.
- His father was a forestry tax minister.
- In 1924 he had a serious accident with his motorcycle and had to take a break for one year. He concealed the consequence of the accident for good reason. Because if the female followers would have known that he wasn't a man any longer literally after the accident, they wouldn't have remained loyal to him. In spite of this serious accident he was able to continue his successful film career.
- The star of Kastner sunk after his accident very low. With the upcoming sound film he was out at the latest, because Bruno Kastner stammered. Role offers failed to come.
- In 1921 he was chosen as the best (in reality most popular) German actor - he was even ahead of Harry Liedtke and Max Landa.
- The actor Bruno Kastner came like most of his colleagues from the theater and wandered with a touring company for years.
- When the World War I broke out he became his chance to prove to be a good actor for movie and theater.
- Kastner suffered from depression after his rapid career decline.. After two years of struggling to regain his public popularity, he rented a hotel room in Bad Kreuznach and committed suicide by hanging himself in June 1932.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content