Reggie Nalder

With a mysterious past and a mouth marred by burns, Reggie Nalder has a unique, if under appreciated, place in the history of cinema. Nalder was born Alfred Reginald Natzler in Vienna, Austria, the son of Ida (Herzog), from Safov, and Sigmund Natzler. His parents were from Jewish families The year of his birth has been a matter of speculation. While his obituary in the New York Times claimed 1922, photographic evidence has revealed that it was significantly earlier; most sources now cite 1911. Little is known about his early years. His mother was a beautiful actress who appeared in German films between 1919 and 1929. Nalder himself was an Apache dancer and stage actor in the 1920s and 1930s, and the anecdotes he occasionally shared with friends hint at a colorful career even before his life in films. Photos of Nalder from this period, which surfaced after his death, reveal a handsome young man in his early 20s, almost unrecognizable as the man we know from celluloid. The burns that s