A fictitious character from the film and play Sunset Boulevard Probably born in Germany or Austria, he was the first husband of Norma Desmond, silent screen star. He also directed many of her early films. He ranked, by his own admission, along with such greats as DeMille and D.W.Griffith. Ultimately, he served as her Butler, protector and enabler of her delusional world played out in a faded Hollywood Mansion. Max was a hopeless romantic encased in a rigid, austere shell. His feelings only escape when he remembers her glory days in the movie through his dialogue and in the play through his songs, Greatest Star of All and New Ways to Dream . Finally, reality destroys their mutual fantasy when Norma shoots and kills a young writer she had been trying to seduce through the initial pretense of hiring him to edit her screenplay, which she wrote as a vehicle for her comeback. Max watches helplessly as police and press descend upon the Mansion. Max gets Norma to go along by pretending they are a camera crew and Mr. DeMille is directing her Final Scene. One can imagine that Max visited her in prison faithfully and maintained the Mansion as a home for aged actors.. Show less «