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1-50 of 57
- Actress
- Writer
- Soundtrack
A charming, elegant, and exceedingly popular international film star with a gentle, understated beauty, actress Lilli Palmer was born as Lilli Marie Peiser on May 24, 1914, in Posen, Prussia. She was the daughter of Rose Lissman, an Austrian Jewish actress, and Alfred Peiser, a German Jewish surgeon. In addition to her native German, she grew up becoming fluent in French and English as well. Of her two sisters, older sister Irene Prador became an actress and singer in her own right. Lilli studied drama in Berlin and made her theatrical debut there in 1932 at age 18. Within a short time, however, the family was forced to flee their native homeland with the rise of Hitler and settled in Paris. Eventually Lilli moved to England to rebuild the career she had started on stage and film.
She made her British movie debut co-starring in the "B" mystery drama Crime Unlimited (1935), playing the distaff member of a syndicate of jewel thieves who becomes a romantic pawn for a policeman (Esmond Knight) who has infiltrated the crime ring as a plant. Throughout the rest of the decade she upped the value of her name in both "A" and "B" material, notably Alfred Hitchcock's Secret Agent (1936), Silent Barriers (1937) and The Man with 100 Faces (1938) where she provided the usual element of feminine mystery.
Lilli's career took a major upswing during the early to mid 1940s. Several of her pictures centered around the omnipresent war, particularly Thunder Rock (1942), her film career-maker), which starred Michael Redgrave as an anti-fascist journalist who retreats to Canada, and Notorious Gentleman (1945), with Rex Harrison as a idle bounder who sees the error of his ways and becomes a war sacrifice. This was Lilli's first movie with husband Harrison; they married in 1943 and she bore him a son, Carey Harrison, the following year. Carey grew up to became a writer and director.
The family moved to America in 1945 to further their careers. Rex and Lilli became a prominent acting couple, appearing together on the early 50s Broadway stage with "Bell, Book and Candle" (1950), "Venus Observed" (1952) and "The Love of Four Colonels" (1953), the last mentioned directed by Harrison. In movies, they co-starred in the murky crimer The Long Dark Hall (1951) and the vastly superior The Four Poster (1952), which later gave rise to the musical adaptation "I Do! I Do!". Lilli was award the Venice Film Festival Award for this performance and represented herself well with other handsome male acting partners, notably Gary Cooper in her debut American film Cloak and Dagger (1946) and John Garfield in the classic boxing film Body and Soul (1947), leaving audiences enthralled with one of its newer foreign imports. At one point, she was given her own own (short-lived) TV show to host, The Lilli Palmer Show (1951).
Somewhat typecast by this time as heartless cads and opportunists on film, "Sexy Rexy", as husband Harrison was known in the tabloids, developed quite a reputation off-camera as well. A particularly disastrous romance with actress Carole Landis led to that actress's tragic suicide in 1948. Lilli took the high road and came off the better for it in the public's eye. She eventually called it quits, however, with both Harrison and Hollywood and returned to Europe in 1954. In 1956 Lilli filmed Between Time and Eternity (1956) [Between Time and Eternity] and fell in love with handsome Argentine co-star Carlos Thompson, who had developed matinée idol status in Germany. They married in September of 1957, several months after her divorce from Harrison became final. This marriage endured.
Lilli matured gracefully in films, the epitome of poise and class, but she lost any potential for top stardom after leaving Hollywood. She made international productions for the rest of her career, primarily German and French, but they did not live up to her early successes and were not seen all that much outside of Europe. She managed to work, however, opposite a "Who's Who" of European male stars of the time, including Curd Jürgens, James Mason, Louis Jourdan, Jean Gabin, Jean Marais, Jean Sorel, Gérard Philipe and Klaus Kinski. Of those few movies she made in Hollywood, she played the prickly wife of Clark Gable, who has a May-December affair with young Carroll Baker in But Not for Me (1959); was a sparkling and witty standout in the ensemble cast of The Pleasure of His Company (1961); and proved quite moving in the William Holden spy thriller The Counterfeit Traitor (1962). On TV here, she was touchingly effective as Mrs. Frank in a production of The Diary of Anne Frank (1967) with Max von Sydow, and enjoyed one of her last roles in the acclaimed miniseries Peter the Great (1986).
The final decade and a half played out rather routinely with supporting roles in such films as diverse as Oedipus the King (1968), De Sade (1969), and The Boys from Brazil (1978). She demonstrated her writing talents with her popular bestselling biography "Change Lobsters and Dance" in 1975, and later published a novel "The Red Raven" in 1978. Dying of cancer in 1986 at age 71 in Los Angeles, Lilli's surviving second husband Thompson, who had abandoned acting in the late 60s and turned to turned TV writing/producing, committed suicide four years later back in his native Argentina.- Reizl Bozyk was born on 13 May 1914 in Bromberg, Province of Posen, Kingdom of Prussia [now Bydgoszcz, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Poland]. She was an actress, known for Crossing Delancey (1988), Law & Order (1990) and Catskill Honeymoon (1950). She was married to Max Bozyk. She died on 30 September 1993 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Peter Berling was born on 20 March 1934 in Obrawalde, Meseritz, Posen-West Prussia, Prussia, Germany [now Obrzyce, Miedzyrzecz, Lubuskie, Poland]. He was an actor and producer, known for Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972), Fitzcarraldo (1982) and The Name of the Rose (1986). He died on 21 November 2017 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Coming from an aristocratic Prussian family, Paul von Hindenburg joined the Prussian army as a young man, retiring as a general in 1913 at age 66. Recalled to duty during World War I, he was placed in command of the German forces at the battle of Tannenberg in 1914 against the Russians which, due to a combination of his skillful tactics and staggeringly incompetent leadership on the part of the Russian generals, resulted in a disastrous defeat for the Russian army, which lost an estimated 350,000 men. In 1916 he was made supreme commander of all German forces. He retired from the army again in 1919, but in 1925 returned to public life as a candidate for President of Germany, and won the election. He ran for re-election in 1932, not so much because he wanted to but because he was considered the only candidate who could beat Adolf Hitler, which he proceeded to do. Hindenburg had little use for Hitler and the Nazi party and did what he could to thwart their grab for power, but it was too little too late--in 1933, due to the Nazi party's gains in local and national elections and their majority of seats in the German parliament, Hindenburg appointed Hitler as Chancellor, and later he signed the Enabling Act of 1933, which granted sweeping powers to the government formed by Hitler. Frustrated, frail and in poor health, Hindenburg died the next year.
- Editor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Producer
Lothar Wolff was born on 13 May 1909 in Bromberg, Posen, Germany [now Bydgoszcz, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Poland]. He was an editor and assistant director, known for Martin Luther (1953), Fortress of Peace (1965) and Man on a String (1960). He died on 2 October 1988 in New York City, New York, USA.- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Max Marcin was born on 5 May 1879 in Posen, Prussia, Germany [now Poznan, Wielkopolskie, Poland]. He was a writer and director, known for King of the Jungle (1933), Silence (1931) and The Love Captive (1934). He was married to Clara May Mings. He died on 30 March 1948 in Tucson, Arizona, USA.- George Adamski was born on 17 April 1891 in Bromberg, Posen, Germany [now Bydgoszcz, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Poland]. He died on 23 April 1965 in Maryland, USA.
- Kazimierz Wichniarz was born on 18 January 1915 in Posen, Prussia, Germany [now Poznan, Wielkopolskie, Poland]. He was an actor, known for The Promised Land (1975), The Deluge (1974) and Haslo Korn (1968). He died on 26 June 1995 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.
- Director
- Cinematographer
Ottomar Anschütz was a German inventor, photographer, and chronophotographer. Between 1864 and 1868, he studied photography under some of the well-known photographers of the time. He received recognition for his photograph of John of Saxony on horseback in 1867, and then took over his father's company in Lissa, mainly working as a portrait photographer and as a decorative painter. In 1881, he made his first instantaneous photographs. In 1882, he developed his portable camera and made a name for himself with sharp photographs of imperial military demonstrations in Breslau the same year, and gained more fame with pictures of flying white storks in 1884 - the first photographs of birds on the wild. In 1885, he made his first chronophotographs of horses. The quality of his pictures was generally regarded to be much higher than that of the chronophotography works of Eadweard Muybridge and Étienne-Jules Marey. In 1886, he developed the Electrotachyscope, an early device that displayed short motion picture loops with 24 glass plate photographs on a 1.5 meter wide rotating wheel that was hand-cranked to the speed of circa 30 frames per second. Each image was illuminated by a sparking spiral Geissler tube and displayed on a small opal glass window in a wall in a darkened room for up to seven spectators. Different versions were developed and shown at many international exhibitions, fairs, conventions and arcades from 1887 until at least 1894, and probably inspired many other pioneers in the history of film technology.- Make-Up Department
- Actor
Eric Rzepecki was born in 1913 in Posen, Prussia, Germany [now Poznan, Wielkopolskie, Poland]. He was an actor, known for O Bem-Amado (1973), Locomotivas (1977) and O Espigão (1974). He died on 27 March 1993.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Ernst von Klipstein was born on 3 February 1908 in Posen, Prussia, Germany [now Poznan, Wielkopolskie, Poland]. He was an actor, known for Die Flucht nach Holland (1967), Danke, es geht mir gut (1948) and Zwei blaue Augen (1955). He was married to Deli-Maria Teichen, Lotte Koch, Elisabeth Biebl and Marianne Kehlau. He died on 22 November 1993 in Hamburg, Germany.- Günther von Kluge was born on 30 October 1882 in Posen, Prussia, Germany [now Poznan, Wielkopolskie, Poland]. He was married to Mathilde Marie von Briesen. He died on 19 August 1944 in near Metz, Lorraine, France.
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Actor
Horst von Harbou was born in 1879 in Hutta, Posen, Germany. He was an actor, known for M (1931), Ronny (1931) and Mein Herz ruft nach dir (1934). He died in 1953 in Potsdam, Germany.- Ulrike Blome was born on 7 May 1944 in Posen, Prussia, Germany. She was an actress, known for Der Raub der Sabinerinnen (1971), Die Melchiors (1972) and Ciuleandra (1985). She died on 17 February 2021 in Berlin, Germany.
- Erwin Hartung was born on 4 March 1901 in Bromberg, Posen, Germany [now Bydgoszcz, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Poland]. He was an actor, known for Tante Gusti kommandiert (1932), Der Mann mit der Pranke (1935) and The Counterfeit Bill (1935). He was married to Mara Jakisch. He died on 25 January 1986 in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
- Actor
- Production Manager
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Bruno Lopinski was born on 15 November 1877 in Posen, Prussia, Germany [now Poznan, Wielkopolskie, Poland]. He was an actor and production manager, known for Blinde Passagiere (1936), Under Sealed Orders (1938) and Ihr größter Erfolg (1934). He died on 3 August 1961 in Weimar, German Democratic Republic.- Vera Schweiger was born on 9 July 1941 in Posen, Prussia, Germany. She is an actress, known for Tatort (1970), Das gefrorene Herz (1980) and Kaiser und eine Nacht (1985).
- Lucjana Bracka was born on 7 September 1897 in Posen, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire [now Poznan, Wielkopolskie, Poland]. She was an actress, known for Kariera (1955), Szczesciarz Antoni (1961) and Wyrok (1962). She died on 4 January 1966 in Warsaw, Warszawskie, Polish People's Republic [now Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland].
- Horst Budjuhn was born on 30 July 1910 in Bromberg, Posen, Germany [now Bydgoszcz, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Poland]. He was a writer, known for Die mißbrauchten Liebesbriefe (1940), Im Weissen Rössl (1952) and Constable Studer (1939). He died on 24 December 1985 in Locarno, Switzerland.
- Harald Sawade was born on 16 January 1914 in Posen, Prussia, Germany [now Poznan, Wielkopolskie, Poland]. He was an actor, known for Sag' die Wahrheit (1946), The Girl from Flanders (1956) and Bomben auf Monte Carlo (1960). He died on 28 December 1967 in Berlin, Germany.
- Writer
- Director
Robert Misch was born on 6 February 1860 in Zarczyn, Bromberg, Posen, Germany. He was a writer and director, known for Das Geheimnis der Wera Baranska (1919), Wenn Du eine Tante hast (1925) and Die tugendhafte Tänzerin (1922). He was married to Margarete Kastner. He died on 27 November 1929 in Berlin, Germany.- Ben Wagin was born on 25 March 1930 in Jastrow, Posen-West Prussia, Germany. He was an actor, known for Wir - zwei (1970), Chapeau claque (1974) and III nach neun (1974). He died on 28 July 2021 in Berlin, Germany.
- Lore Kornell was born on 29 December 1895 in Posen, Prussia, Germany. She was a writer, known for Bei Tag und Nacht (1964), Bäume sterben aufrecht (1958) and Keine Angst vor der Hölle? (1965). She died on 1 February 1981 in Munich, Bavaria, West Germany.
- Director
- Writer
Romuald Gantkowski was born on 14 July 1903 in Posen, Prussia, Germany [now Poznan, Wielkopolskie, Poland]. He was a director and writer, known for Geniusz sceny (1938), Hearts Aflame (1937) and Dziewczyna szuka milosci (1938). He died on 17 March 1989 in Hollywood, California, USA.- Janina Lukowska was born on 21 June 1907 in Posen, Prussia, Germany [now Poznan, Wielkopolskie, Poland]. She was an actress, known for Border Street (1948), Miasteczko (1960) and Bitwa o Kozi Dwór (1962). She died on 28 November 1962 in Lódz, Lódzkie, Poland.