Felix Salten

When he was four weeks old his family relocated to Vienna, Austria. Many Jews were emigrating to the city during the late 19th century, because Vienna had granted full citizenship to Jews in 1867.

Felix Salten was born on September 6, 1869 in Pest, Hungary as Siegmund Salzmann.

The author and screen writer Felix Salten first worked for an affirmation before he published his probably first poem called "An der schönen blauen Donau" in 1889.

He became an editor for the "Wiener Allgemeinen Zeitung" in 1894 and was assigned to the theater section. Eight years later he went to wor for "Die Zeit", where he was able--thanks to his acquaintanceship with 'Archduke Leopold Ferdinand'--to write juicy details and scandals that soon made him famous . He finally became a leading journalist in Europe.

In 1900 he published his first collection of short stories. In 1901 he initiated Vienna's first, short-lived literary cabaret Jung-Wiener Theater Zum lieben Augustin.

He married the stage actress Ottilie Metzel in 1902; this influenced his later plays and novels, as the topic "marriage" became more and more important.

Now considered to be the anonymous author of a celebrated erotic novel, "Josephine Mutzenbacher: The Life Story of a Viennese Whore, as Told by Herself" (1906).

He got into the still young film business in 1913 and wrote several scripts for silent movies like Der Shylock von Krakau (1913), Der Narr des Schicksals (1915) (which he also directed) and Dr. Schotte (1918).

Austrian writer, best known as the author of "Bambi, a Life in the Woods" (1923), made into a classic Disney film, Bambi (1942).

He wrote film scripts and librettos for operettas. In 1927 he became president of the Austrian P.E.N. club, succeeding of Arthur Schnitzler.

Life in Austria became perilous for a prominent Jew during the 1930s. Adolf Hitler had Salten's books banned in 1936. Two years later, after Germany's annexation of Austria, Salten moved to Zurich, Switzerland, with his wife, and spent there his final years.

He was a writer and director, known for Bambi (1942), Arm wie eine Kirchenmaus (1931) and Der Narr des Schicksals (1915). He was married to Ottilie Metzl.

His books were prohibited in Nazi Germany and he got into financial distress. Finally his daughter, who was married in Switzerland, was able to see that Felix and his wife were allowed to emigrate there. He died in 1945 in Zurich.

His stories "Perri" and "The Hound of Florence" inspired the Disney films Perri (1957) and The Shaggy Dog (1959).