Gottowt was born in Lemberg, Austria-Hungary (present-day Lviv, Ukraine) into a Jewish family.

After his education in Vienna, he joined the Deutsches Theater in Berlin in 1905, working for Max Reinhardt as an actor and director.

In 1920 he appeared in Robert Wiene's Genuine and took the main role in the early science fiction film Algol.

In 1921 he played Professor Bulwer (Abraham van Helsing) in the classic silent film Nosferatu directed by F.W.

Gottowt made also several films with his brother-in-law Henrik Galeen but, as a Jew, was banned in 1933 from working as a professional actor.