1918 first acting activities at the Fronttheater Friedrichsort near Saarbrücken. 1919-1920 apprenticeship at the Schauspielschule Düsseldorf with Paul Henckels, Peter Esser and Elsa Dalands. 1920-1921 occupation as an actor at the Stadttheater Halberstadt, 1921-1922 at the Stadttheater Kiel. 1922-1928 stage director at the Kammerspiel Hamburg under the general direction of Erich Ziegel. 1928-1932 work at the Deutsches Theater with Max Reinhardt, part-time stage director at the Krolloper, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, the Städtische Oper in Berlin, among others. 1934-37 artistic director of the Preußischen Staatstheater, general director there until 1945.

1943 military service as a private at the air force in Holland, several months imprisonment in Russian camps. 1946-47 director at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin. 1947-51 general director of the Städtische Bühnen Düsseldorf. Foundation of the limited company of the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus. 1951-55 managing and artistic director of the limited company of the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus. 1955-1963 work at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg.