Walter Berry

One of Europe's most beloved bass-baritone singers, Vienna-born Walter Berry graced operatic stages across a career lasting more than 40 years, and also managed to work in a handful of movies during that period, both on and off camera. The most notable of these, from a cinematic standpoint, was the first, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's delightful Oh...Rosalinda! (1955), based on the operetta Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss II, for which Berry sang the part of Dr. Falke (which was acted onscreen by Anton Walbrook). Equally at home with Wagner, Richard Strauss, and Mozart roles, he portrayed Masetto in a 1954 film of a performance of Mozart's Don Giovanni, directed by Paul Czinner and featuring the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under Wilhelm Furtwangler. In 1956, Berry also sang the Masetto role off camera in H.W. Kolm-Veltee's film of the same opera, entitled Don Juan for U.S. release. He later appeared onscreen in film and video productions of Wagner's Tristan Und Isolde and Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos during the 1970s, and Rossini's La Cenerentola during the 1980s.

~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide