He served as a second lieutenant for the infantry during World War I.
After the war he accepted a job at a bank in Cologne and beside it he took acting lessons at Georg Kiesau.
He made his stage debut in Mühlhausen in 1921, other engagements followed in Aachen, Cologne and Stuttgart. In 1926 he was engaged to the Munich Kammerspiele and was very successful there.
After the war he concentrated exclusively to the theater and continued his career in Munich.
He had to cut out the film project "Der Apfel ist ab" (48) for health reason. Shortly afterwards he died in Munich.
He married the actress Heli Finkenzeller in 1937. Together they had two children: Gabriela (Gaby Dohm) and Michael Dohm.