Paul Rudolf Parsifal "Percy" Adlon (German: [ˈpɛɐ̯si ˈaːdlɔn]; born 1 June 1935) is a German director, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for his film Bagdad Cafe. He is associated with the New German Cinema movement (ca. 1965–1985), and has been noted for his strong female characters and positive portrayals of lesbian relationships.^[2][3]

Early life

Adlon was born in Munich, Germany. He grew up in Ammerland/Starnberger See. He studied art, theater history, and German literature at Munich's Ludwig-Maximilian University; took acting and singing classes; and was a member of the student theater group.

Career

Percy's films are shown and compete regularly at international film festivals, such as the Cannes Film Festival, the Berlin International Film Festival, and others.

He started his professional career as an actor, became interested in radio work, was a narrator and editor of literature series and a presenter and voice-over actor in television for 10 years.

In 1970, he made his first short film for Bavarian television, followed by more than 150 documentary films about art and the human condition. His first one-hour portrait Tomi Ungerer's Landleben started a very successful co-operation with Benigna von Keyserlingk who became Adlon's television producer of documentaries and feature films.

Their first feature film Céleste, drew international attention at Cannes in 1981. Bagdad Cafe (1987) started their co-operation with Dietrich v. Watzdorf (Bayerischer Rundfunk). The story of Jasmin Münchgstettner and the Café owner Brenda was an international hit. Marianne Sägebrecht whom Percy Adlon discovered in 1979 became a cult figure, and he developed songs with Tony, Oscar, and Grammy award nominated Bob Telson on such songs as "Calling You" a classic.

Percy and Eleonore Adlon have won numerous awards, including top honors in Rio de Janeiro for Bagdad Cafe, and in Montreal for Salmonberries, two Césars, the Ernst Lubitsch Award, a Norwegian Amanda Award, the Swedish and the Danish Academy awards, the Prix Humanum, Belgium, prizes in Venice, Chicago, Valladolid, Brussels, Tokyo as well as Bavarian and German Federal Film Awards, among others.

Percy Adlon is the recipient of the Officer's Cross of the Federal Republic of Germany, and a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Personal life

Percy is the great-grandson of Lorenz Adlon, the founder of the Hotel Adlon. Percy was the grandson of Louis Adlon Sr., who had five children with his first wife Tilly. After almost 15 years of marriage, he met a hotel guest, the German-American Hedwig Leythen (1889–1967),^[4][5][6][7] called Hedda, at a New Year's Eve party in the Hotel Adlon, left his wife and children, and in 1922 he married her. It was one of the biggest scandals of Berlin in the 1920s.^[8] Tilly moved with her daughter Elisabeth, then two, to the south of Germany, while the other children Susanne Adlon-Meyerhöfer (mother of Percy), Lorenz, and twins Carl and Louis (junior) were sent to boarding school and later all four emigrated to America.^[9]

Adlon's father was opera tenor Rudolf Laubenthal.^[10] He grew up in the Bavarian countryside with his mother Susanne and attributes the strong, often unconventional, women's roles in his films to his being brought up in this manner. His son, Felix, also a film director, is the former husband of American actress Pamela Adlon and the father of her three daughters, including actresses Odessa and Gideon Adlon.

Percy and Eleonore Adlon live in Pacific Palisades, California, US.^[11]

Thomas Meyerhöfer is a half-brother of Percy, 15 years younger and son of Emil Meyerhöfer.^{[12][13][14][15][16]}

Awards

Filmography

• Von Nimbus der Ferne (The Aura in the Distance) (1974, documentary) Director, writer
• Der Vormund und sein Dichter (The Guardian and His Poet) (1978, TV film) Director, Writer (written by), Producer (Adolf Grimme Award in Gold)
• Herr Kischott (1980, TV film) Director
• Céleste (1980) Director, (Writer Special Jury Award IFF Chicago)
• Fünf letzte Tage (Five Last Days) (1982) Director) (German Federal Film Award, Bavarian Film Award, OCIC-Prize, IFF Venice, 1982)
• The Swing (1983) Director, Writer
• Sugarbaby (1985) Director, Writer ... a.k.a. Sugarbaby (Ernst-Lubitsch-Award for Marianne Sägebrecht)
• Herschel und die Musik der Sterne (1986, TV film) Director, Writer
• Out of Rosenheim a.k.a. Bagdad Cafe (USA) (1987) Director, Writer, Producer (Grand Prix IFF Rio de Janeiro, César, best foreign Film (French Film Award), Ernst-Lubitsch-Award (Director), Swedish and Danish Film Academies, Bavarian Film Award (original screenplay) Prix Humanum, Belgium.)
• Babycakes (1989, TV film), American remake of Zuckerbaby aka Sugarbaby, co-writer
• Rosalie Goes Shopping (1989) Director, Writer, Producer (Official German Entry, 1989 Cannes Film Festival. Best Film - Section "Cinema & Denaro", IFF EuropaCinema & TV, Viareggio.)
• Red Hot + Blue: A Tribute to Cole Porter (1990, TV film) Director
• Salmonberries (1991) Director, Writer ... a.k.a. Percy Adlon's Salmonberries (Germany: poster title) (Grand Prix des Ameriques, Montreal. Bavarian Film Awards for director P.A. and for Rosel Zech, Best Actress.)
• Younger and Younger (1993) Director, Writer, Producer. (Special Prize of the Jury, Brussels. Best Actress IFF Tokyo Lolita Davidovich)
• In der glanzvollen Welt des Hotel Adlon (1996, TV film) Director ... a.k.a. The Glamorous World of the Adlon Hotel (Bavarian Television Award)
• Eat Your Heart Out (1997) Producer
• Die Straußkiste (1999) Director, Writer Cinematographer ... a.k.a. Forever Flirt (International: English title)
• Hawaiian Gardens (2001) Director, Writer
• Koenig's Sphere (2001) Director ... a.k.a. Koenigs Kugel (German title)
• Bagdad Cafe - The Musical (2003–2006) Director
• Orbela's People (2007)
• Mahler auf der Couch (2010)

Other work

• Elisir D'Amore (2003) opera by Gaetano Donizetti, directed by Percy Adlon for the Berlin State Opera Unter den Linden.
• Wolkenstein (2004) A new opera by Wilfried Hiller and Felix Mitterer, directed by Percy Adlon. Premiere at the State Opera Nürnberg.

Further reading

• Bock, Hans-Michael; Bergfelder, Tim, eds. (2009). The Concise Cinegraph: Encyclopaedia of German Cinema. New York: Berghahn Books. pp. 3–4. ISBN 978-1-57181-655-9.
• Haase, Christine (2007). "4: Crossing Boundaries, Connecting People: The German-American Films of Percy Adlon". When Heimat Meets Hollywood Book: German Filmmakers and America, 1985-2005. Boydell & Brewer. pp. 134–161. JSTOR 10.7722/j.ctt16314n0.
• Milicia, Joseph (2000). "Percy Adlon". In Pendergast, Tom; Pendergast, Sara (eds.). International Dictionary of Film and Filmmakers. Vol. 2 (4 ed.). St. James Press. ISBN 978-1-55862-449-8. OCLC 611728059. Retrieved 21 July 2022. he has still achieved a handful of works which remain important and distinctive, particularly for their mixture of cool detachment and genuine compassion for lonely eccentrics.
• Lühr, Tanja (23 September 2020). "Percy Adlon, ein vielseitiger Regisseur" [Percy Adlon, a more versatile director]. Münchner Merkur (in German).

See also

• Lorenz Adlon (1849–1921), German hotelier, grandfather of Percy
• Hotel Adlon, Berlin, Germany – built by Lorenz Adlon
• Louis Adlon (1908–1947), German-American film actor in Hollywood, grandson of Lorenz, cousin of Percy
• Pamela Adlon (born 1966), American actress, daughter-in-law of Percy
• Hotel Adlon, German film, from book by Louis's father's second wife

References

External links

• Percy Adlon at IMDb
• Bagdad Café, Sundancechannel.com