Roles included Othello in 1910,[1] Faust Part II with Friedrich Kayssler in 1911,[2] Shylock in The Merchant of Venice and August Strindberg's The Storm with Gertrud Eysoldt in 1913.

He also worked with German silent film directors Richard Oswald, Ernst Lubitsch, Leopold Jessner and Lupu Pick.

In 1928 he appeared in the first staging of Carl Zuckmayer's Katharina Knie, and in November that year in Herr Lambertier by Verneuil[4] In 1933, Bassermann left Germany and lived in Switzerland,[5] then moved to the United States in 1938.

Annija Simsone, who played opposite Bassermann in the Neue Wiener Buehne Theater in the 1920s, wrote the following in her autobiography: "During the Hitler era, Bassermann did not perform in Germany, though Adolf Hitler personally held him in high regard; Elsa was Jewish.

"[5] Although his ability to speak English was very limited, he learned lines phonetically with assistance from his wife and found work as a character actor.

For his performance as the Dutch statesman Van Meer in Alfred Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent, Bassermann was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor in 1940.

He watched us, listened to us, adjusted to us, meanwhile executing his actions with only a small part of his playing energy.

Bassermann died on 16 May 1952, at or near Zurich Airport, soon after his flight from the United States had arrived.