Julius Urgiß

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}

{{Short description|German screenwriter, musician and film critic (1873–1948)}}

{{Infobox writer

| name = Julius Urgiß

| image = JuliusUrgiss.jpg

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1873|08|6}}

| birth_place = Anklam, Pomerania, Prussia

| death_date = {{death_date_and_age|df=yes|1948|3|12|1873|8|6}}

| death_place = New York City, New York, U.S.A.

| occupation = Screenwriter, journalist, film critic, theatre critic, music critic, writer, biographer

| nationality = German

| spouse = Gerty Lewin

| children = Eva Kayser

| genre = screenplays, reviews

| notableworks = Skandal um Eva, Die Straße, The Eleven Schill Officers

}}

Julius Urgiß (6 August 1873{{Cite web |title=Julius Urgiß {{!}} filmportal.de |url=https://www.filmportal.de/person/julius-urgiss_8fcb8e59a17a4a7eaa563411d9a0b2ee |access-date=2024-05-21 |website=www.filmportal.de}} – 12 March 1948{{Cite web |date=2012-11-03 |title= |url=https://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~alcalz/aufbau/1948/j14a12s02560036.gif |access-date=2024-05-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103054826/https://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~alcalz/aufbau/1948/j14a12s02560036.gif |archive-date=3 November 2012 }}) was a German-Jewish screenwriter, musician,{{Cite book |last=Downs |first=Winfield Scott |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c5AbAQAAMAAJ&q=urgiss |title=Encyclopedia of American Biography: New Series |date=1968 |publisher=American Historical Society |language=en}} and film critic.

He began his career as the author of various literary contributions. He worked as a senior journalist at the Berlin film journal Der Kinematograph, writing film reviews.{{Cite web |title=Hollywood in Berlin |url=https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft0199n61t&chunk.id=d0e1898&toc.depth=1&toc.id=ch1&brand=ucpress |access-date=2024-05-21 |website=publishing.cdlib.org}} He wrote a biography of the silent-film star Henny Porten.

In 1918, he began his career as a screenwriter. For seven years from 1919, he collaborated with Max Jungk, and in 1928 he worked with Friedrich Raff. Urgiss provided material for comedies, dramas, historical materials and literary adaptations. After the Nazis came to power in 1933, he emigrated from Germany and lived in New York until his death in 1948.

He was married to the German soprano Gerty Lewin (1879–1927{{Cite web |date=2018-04-22 |title= |url=http://individual.utoronto.ca/graeme/genealogy/Lewin_Gerty/Obituary.jpg |access-date=2024-05-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180422133210/http://individual.utoronto.ca/graeme/genealogy/Lewin_Gerty/Obituary.jpg |archive-date=22 April 2018 }}). They had one daughter, Eva Agathe Urgiss{{Cite web |date=2018-06-21 |title=Einstein's last great problem: who owns his house? {{!}} The Independent |website=Independent.co.uk |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/einsteins-last-great-problem-who-owns-his-house-1280177.html |access-date=2024-05-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180621073139/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/einsteins-last-great-problem-who-owns-his-house-1280177.html |archive-date=21 June 2018 }} (1911–1999), who married Albert Einstein's biographer and former step-son-in-law Rudolf Kayser.{{Cite book |last1=Reiser |first1=Anton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qjHPAAAAMAAJ |title=Albert Einstein: A Biographical Portrait |last2=Kayser |first2=Rudolf |date=1930 |publisher=A. & C. Boni |isbn=978-1-258-17219-0 |language=en}}{{Cite web |title= |url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/digital/collections/rbml/lehman/pdfs/0264/ldpd_leh_0264_0027.pdf |access-date=2024-05-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240510133251/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/digital/collections/rbml/lehman/pdfs/0264/ldpd_leh_0264_0027.pdf |archive-date=10 May 2024 }}