Louis Brody (born Ludwig M'bebe Mpessa; 15 February 1896 – 11 February 1951) was a Cameroonian-born German film actor, musician and showfighter.
Brody was born in Douala, in the German colony of Kamerun. His career began in the 1920s after he moved to Germany and lasted uninterrupted throughout the Nazi regime till his death in 1951. Brody engaged also in political work in favour of Afro-Germans as part of the African Aid Organisation, established by and for Afro-Germans living in Germany and was co-founder and an active member of the Liga zur Verteidigung der Negerrasse. In 1938 he married a unknown woman from Danzig. Brody remained active and successful as an artist during World War II.
Selected filmography
(1915) as the Black African (film debut) The Dagger of Malaya (1919) as Jack Johnson The Mistress of the World (1919-1920, part 1, 4-6) as Mallkalle the medicine man / Simba the Chinese servant Genuine (1920) as the Malay The Secret of Bombay (1921) Der Kleine Muck (1921) as Achmet The Conspiracy in Genoa (1921) as Mulay Hassan The Man Without a Name (1921, part 1, 2, 4-7) as Bill Burns Die Abenteuer eines Ermordeten (1921, part 2) The Pearl of the Orient (1921) as the Rajah's servant Destiny (1921) as Moor / Mohr The Poisoned Stream (1921) The Indian Tomb (1921, part 1, 2) as Maharadjah's black servant (uncredited) The Secret of Santa Maria (1921) The Island of the Lost (1921) as king of the island Wildnis (1922) Homo sum (1922) Lust for Life (1922) as Jimmy Das Spielzeug einer Tänzerin (1923) as Brutus The Pleasure Garden (1925) as plantation manager (uncredited) The Great Duchess (1926) I Once Had a Comrade (1926) as Moor / Mohr The Boxer's Bride (1926) as Fighting Bob The Armoured Vault (1926) as chauffeur Mata Hari (1927) The Last Testament (1929) Death Drive for the World Record (1929) as Salto King's servant Stürmisch die Nacht (1931) No More Love (1931) as cook Calais-Dover (1931) as cook Peter Voss, Thief of Millions (1932) as Pascha's servant The White Demon (1932) as the theater porter Narcotics (1932) as theater porter (uncredited) The Flower of Hawaii (1933) as a waiter Hard Luck Mary (1934) as black man The Riders of German East Africa (1934) as Hamissi Punks Arrives from America (1935) as barkeeper Pillars of Society (1935) as cowboy La Habanera (1937) as Puerto Rican passerby The Mystery of Betty Bonn (1938) as Seaman Higgins The Impossible Mister Pitt (1938) as Seaman Hannibal Kautschuk (1938) as man (uncredited) In geheimer Mission (1938) Sergeant Berry (1938) as Berry's neighbor Water for Canitoga (1939) as Johnny Kennwort Machin (1939) as New York hotel porter (1939) Jud Süß (1940) as Duke's black valet Blutsbrüderschaft (1941) as cabaret singer Carl Peters (1941) as East African tribal chief Ohm Kruger (1941) as Lobenguela Goodbye, Franziska (1941) as South American hotel porter (uncredited) Giungla (1942) as Je-Crois-En-Dieu Vom Schicksal verweht (1942) as tribal chief Doctor Crippen (1942) as Pedro Münchhausen (1943) as Abd al-Hamid's servant (uncredited) (1943) as King Wapunga Herr Sanders lebt gefährlich (1944) Kolberg (1945) as a Black French soldier (uncredited) Peter Voss, Thief of Millions (1946) Quax in Africa (1947) as medicine man Nights on the Nile (1949) as Egyptian The Black Forest Girl (1950) as party guest (uncredited) The Last Year (1951) as café patron (final film role)