Max Schreck was born in Berlin. He worked in an apprenticeship until joining Max Reinhardt's group of Germany's most talented actors. He played mostly out-of-the-norm and horror movie characters. Max was married to an actress named Fanny Normann. He made his film debut in "Der Richter Von Zalamea". One day, the great Friedrich Wilhelm (FW) Murnau was talking with Max Reinhardt. Reinhardt introduced Schreck to Murnau. Murnau saw talent in Schreck and hired him to play Graf (Count) Orlok in the fledgling Prana Film's first production, "Nosferatu; Eine Symphonie Des Grauens" (Nosferatu; A Symphony Of Horror). His performance as the bald, bat-eared, close fanged Orlok remains one of the most frightening film characters in history. Max performed in many other films including "Die Strasse" (The Street) and "Der Tunnel" (The Tunnel) before his death from a heart attack on February 19, 1936.

In the film Batman Returns (1992), Christopher Walken played a villain named Max Shreck"Schreck" is German for "terror".Uncle of Gisela Uhlen , granduncle of her daughters Barbara Bertram and Susanne Uhlen and great-granduncle of Florian and Christopher Steinberger and/or Uhlen.An oft-told legend is that Schreck's otherworldly performance as Nosferatu was due to the fact that he was in reality a vampire. Actor Willem Dafoe portrayed him as such, playing the vampire Count Orlok in Shadow of the Vampire (2000).