Born in Wurzburg, Germany, actor Paul Panzer played romantic leads in early American silent films, but he will always be best remembered as the deliciously villainous guardian in the 1914 serial The Perils of Pauline. His success in that role led him to play villains in many subsequent films. In 1946, he played a bit part in the fictionalized biopic of Pearl White. It was his final role on film.