On 27 July 1907 he sang at the premiere of the Der fidele Bauer by Leo Fall in Mannheim.
On 23 December 1908 he appeared on stage for the first time in Vienna at the Carltheater in Fall's Die geschiedene Frau.
He made contact early on with the new medium of film, in which he worked as actor, director and screenwriter.
With Hans Moser he made such well-known films as Wir bitten zum Tanz (1941) and Der Herr Kanzleirat (1948).
During World War II he was married for a short time to his third wife, Juliane.