Max Schreck
Max Schreck as Count Graf Orlock in
Nosferatu:
eine Symphonie des Grauens (The Undead: A Symphony of Horror).
This German film from 1922 was basically Bram Stoker's
Dracula with
the names changed. Stoker's widow filed a copyright infringement suit and
in 1925 the court ordered the film company to turn over all it's money
to her and to destroy all copies of the film. Fortunately, at least one
copy survived.