actor, theater manager, b. Austria. He was educated in Salzburg. He migrated to the U.S. in 1847, and in 1848 settled permanently in Milwaukee. Encouraged by his uncle, Joseph Kurz, who was the first German theater owner in Milwaukee, in 1852 Henry Kurz began giving dramatic performances in the German language. The popularity of these presentations assured the continuance of German-language drama in Milwaukee, and Kurz soon became popular as an actor and comedian. In 1868 he built the Milwaukee Stadt theater, the first building specifically designed for German drama in the Midwest. Kurz continued his active career in Milwaukee German dramatics for nearly forty years. W. Hense-Jensen, Wis. Deutsch-Amerikaner (2 vols., Milwaukee, 1900-1902); R. A. Koss, Milwaukee (Milwaukee, 1871); Milwaukee Germania Abend Post, Mar. 16, 1906; Milwaukee Sentinel, Mar. 16, 1906.

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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]