His mother's family came from Brno, Moravia. His father had been
manager at the Österr. Postsparkasse. His first wife had been the
actress, Grit Haid, sister of the actress, Liane Haid. Grit (or Gretel)
died in 1938 in an aircrash, when she had to leave Vienna. Josef Than
(better known as Pepi Than), came from France to the USA, where he
married his second wife Marina Novikowa.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Edith.hausenblas@utanet.at
In 1931 Than founded ABC-Film in Berlin to produce his own scripts. He
emigrated to Austrra in 1934, where he set up ABC-Film, Vienna. In 1938
Than moved to Paris,where he founded Taris-Film. He entered the United
States in 1942 via North Africa after escaping Nazi-occupied
France.