rippert was born in offenbach am main, germany, and began his career as a stage actor, working in theatres in baden-baden, forst (lausitz), bamberg and in berlin. in 1906, he acted his first film in baden-baden for the french gaumont film company. in 1912 he appeared (complete with stick-on beard) as the millionaire isidor straus in "in nacht und eis", one of the first films about the sinking of the "titanic". the film was made by continental-kunstfilm of berlin, where rippert continued to work as a director, making some ten motion pictures between 1912 and 1914. however, his reputation as one of the pioneers of german silent film rests on some of his later achievements, for example "homunculus" and "the plague of florence".