From Wikipedia Edmund Breese June 18 1871 April 6 1936 was an American stage and film actor of the silent era Long on the stage with a varied Broadway career before entering movies he appeared with James ONeill in The Count of Monte Cristo 1893 The Lion and the Mouse 1906 with Richard Bennett The Third Degree 1909 with Helen Ware The Master Mind 1913 with Elliott Dexter the popular World War I era play Why Marry 1917 with Estelle Winwood Nat C Goodwin and So This Is London 1922 with Donald Gallaher He appeared in 129 films between 1914 and 1935 He is best remembered as the advicegiving German businessman at the beginning of the war film All Quiet on the Western Front His final role was on stage in Night of January 16th from September 1935 to April 1936 Just before the play ended its run Breese developed peritonitis which he died from on April 6 1936