Which actor played Count Orlok in the silent film Nosferatu?

Max Schreck played Count Orlok in the 1922 silent film Nosferatu.

Schreck was a German stage and screen actor whose full name was Friedrich Gustav Maximilian Schreck. Although he worked in many productions, his performance as the gaunt, rat-like vampire became his defining role. The character is Nosferatu’s altered version of Count Dracula from Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel.

Nosferatu was directed by F. W. Murnau and produced by Prana Film. Because the filmmakers did not secure permission to adapt Dracula, they changed names and details: Dracula became Orlok, Jonathan Harker became Thomas Hutter, and Mina became Ellen. The story and characters nevertheless remained recognizably connected to Stoker’s novel.

A common mix-up is Gustav von Wangenheim, who played Thomas Hutter, Orlok’s estate-agent visitor. Emil Jannings and Conrad Veidt were also prominent German actors, but neither played the vampire in this film. Schreck’s eerie appearance and restrained, unnatural movements helped establish a visual template for later cinematic vampires.