Background
Kainz was born in the town of Moson (German: Wieselburg), then in the Austrian Empire, today part of Mosonmagyaróvár, Hungary, where his father worked as a railroad official
Kainz was born in the town of Moson (German: Wieselburg), then in the Austrian Empire, today part of Mosonmagyaróvár, Hungary, where his father worked as a railroad official
He was highly active in theatres in Austria and Germany from 1873–1910. In 1867 the family returned to Vienna, where Josef started his performance career at the age of 15, followed by engagements at theatres in Maribor (Marburg an der Drau), Leipzig and Meiningen. From 1880 he worked with Ernst von Possart at the National Theatre Munich and became one of the favourite actors of King Ludwig II of Bavaria appearing in private performance exclusively for the monarch"s delight.
Three years later Kainz joined the ensemble of the newly established Deutsches Theater in Berlin, where he gained immense popularity with performances of Hamlet, Richard II, Schiller"s Don Carlos and as Franz Moor in The Robbers.
With director Ludwig Barnay he went to the Berliner Theater in 1888, both men however soon came into conflict with each other, which earned Kainz a professional disqualification on German stages for breaking his contract. He toured abroad for several years until in 1892 he was able to return to the Deutsches Theater.
Kainz died of cancer in Vienna aged 52, only a few days after he was appointed director of the Burgtheater. His mortal remains are buried at the Döbling cemetery.