Ernst Hofmann was born on December 7, 1880 in Berlin,Germany as Ernst Carl Heinrich Hofmann von Schönholtz. He was an actor andproducer, known for Emerald of Death (1919), MarieAntoinette - Das Leben einer Königin (1922)and Die Fledermaus (1923). Regarded as one of the mostattractive actors in the 1910's, he first worked at the Deutsches Theater inBerlin before he began his film career in the 1910's with performances in Die Insel der Seligen (1913), as well asthe box-office hits Satanas (1919)and Herrin der Welt (1920). In 1919,he produced Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau's first film, Der Knabe in Blau/Der Todessmaragd (1919) and also assumed theleading role. He became a very busy actor in the 1920's and took part in manywell-known productions. When the advent of sound, he ended his film career. ErnstHofmann published, under his pen name Ernst Hofmann von Schönholtz, severalentertainment and crime novels. He was married to Hedda and died on April 27,1945 in Potsdam, Germany during the fights for Berlin.
Ross-Verlag in Berlin was a Germanpublishing house specialized in photographs and photo postcards of artists. Theowner of the company was Heinrich Ross (b. 10 August 1870; d. after 1954 asemigrant in the USA).