Editing Max Schreck (section)

==Early life==
{{refimprove section|date=March 2025}}
Max Schreck was born in [[Friedenau|Berlin-Friedenau]], on 6 September 1879. Six years later, his father bought a house in the independent rural community of Friedenau, then part of the district of [[Teltow]]. He was baptized at [[Matthew Church (Berlin-Steglitz)|St. Matthew's Church]] in Berlin.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/story/halloween-2024-max-schreck-nosferatu| title=The Undying Mystery of Max Schreck—the First Nosferatu}}</ref>

Schreck's father did not approve of his son's ever-growing enthusiasm for theatre. His mother provided the boy with money, which he secretly used for acting lessons, although only after the death of his father did he attend drama school. After graduating, he travelled briefly across the country with poet and dramatist [[Demetrius Schrutz]].

Schreck had engagements in [[Mulhouse]], [[Międzyrzec Podlaski|Meseritz]], [[Speyer]], [[Rudolstadt]], [[Erfurt]] and [[Weissenfels]], and his first extended stay at The Gera Theatre. Greater engagements followed, especially in Frankfurt am Main. From there, he went to [[Berlin]] for [[Max Reinhardt (theatre director)|Max Reinhardt]] and the [[Munich Kammerspiele]] for [[Otto Falckenberg]].

Schreck received his training at the Berliner Staatstheater (State Theatre of [[Berlin]]), completing it in 1902.<ref name="Walk" /> He made his stage début in [[Międzyrzec Podlaski|Meseritz]] and [[Speyer]], and then toured Germany for two years, appearing at theatres in [[Zittau]], [[Erfurt]], [[Bremen (city)|Bremen]],<ref name="Walk" /> [[Lucerne]],<ref name="Walk" /> [[Gera]],<ref name="Walk" /> and [[Frankfurt am Main]].<ref name="Walk" /> Schreck then joined [[Max Reinhardt (theatre director)|Max Reinhardt]]'s company of performers in Berlin.<ref name="missing">{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080724033613/http://www.missinglinkclassichorror.co.uk/max.htm Enigmatic Max: The career of Max Schreck]}}. Retrieved 26 December 2008</ref> Many members of Reinhardt's troupe went on to make significant contributions to the German film industry.<ref name="missing" />