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1-50 of 52
- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Anny Ondra was a Polish-Czech-Austrian-German-French singer and a film and stage actress. As a child she lived in Prague, where her father was a colonel in the Austro-Hungarian army. After graduating from convent school in Prague, she studied to be an actress with Professor Bor. She was already a star in the Czech theater when, at age 16, the teenage beauty was discovered by the film industry.
From 1920--mostly under the direction of Karel Lamac--she became a major comedic star in Czech cinema, and in 1928 she conquered German cinema. Historically, she was Alfred Hitchcock's first blonde, appearing in his film Blackmail (1929), which was England's--and Hitchcock's--first talking film (Hitchcock, knowing that not all theaters supported talkies, also shot a silent version of the film). In 1930 in Germany she created, with the help of Karel Lamac, the Ondra-Lamac Film Society, which lasted till 1936. She was in Die vom Rummelplatz (1930) ("Those of the Sideshow") but the film, was lost and remains so to this day.
She played in German-, Czech- and French-language versions of all her movies, always as the leading lady. She became an international cinema superstar and one of the most beloved of German film stars. She appeared in more than 88 films. She retired from the industry in 1957 and lived in Hollenstedt in der Lüneburger Heide, Germany (near Hamburg), with her husband, boxing champion Max Schmeling, whom she married in 1933.
She died in Hollenstedt and will never be forgotten by her fans.- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Beppe Wolgers (born John Bertil Wolgers) was a writer of children's books and also a lyricist and composer for cinema and stage. He was responsible for persuading Zarah Leander to take a leading role in the musical "Sommarnattens leende" by Steven Sondheim ("Das Lächeln einer Sommernacht", "A Little Night Music") (1966) and also wrote the lyrics for three of the musical's songs: "Jag Minns" ("I Remember"), "Liaisons" and "Det Glamorosa Livet" ("The Glamorous Life", "La Vie glamour").- Actor
- Soundtrack
Beppo Brem was a German comedian, stage and film actor. His father was a stone mason. Beppo Brem studied to become a cabinet maker and his first job to work for the Munich Kammerspiele as a stage carpenter. There he got a job on stage as an extra. After that he took acting lessons. From 1925 to 1927 he worked at the theatre in Bad Reichenhall, Bavaria, and went on to Ulm, Regensburg, Berlin and Munich. His first films were Die verkaufte Braut (1932) ("The Bartered Bride") (1932) and Muß man sich gleich scheiden lassen (1933). All together he appeared in over 200 films and did some guest appearances on TV, especially in the plays by Ludwig Thoma. Starting in 1964, he played in about 117 episodes of a crime series the title role of 'Inspector Wanninger'. Beppo Brem was married to Marga Wening from 1932 till he passed away.- Music Department
- Composer
- Actor
Bruno Balz was the greatest German lyricist (Lied-Texter) of all time. Miss Zarah Leander with the help of Michael Jary saved his life from the Nazis and get him out of a Concentration Camp during WWII. "Victor and Viktoria" was his first success in 1933. He did a lot of lyrics for Michael Jary, songs as "Der Wind hat mir ein Lied erzählt" ("Le Vent m'a dit une chanson") for the film La Habanera (1937) in which Miss Leander sold millions of Odeon records in three languages (German, Swedish and French).
Another song is "Davon geht die Welt nicht unter" ("Ce n'est pas la fin du monde"), which was an anti-Nazi song. After WWII Bruno Balz worked with Zarah in the film "Gabriella" and also wrote "Das machen nur die Beine von Dolores" ("The Legs Of Dolores", "Le Charme de Dolores") and "Wir wollen niemals auseinandergeh'n", which was meant for Zarah Leander.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Cantinflas, born Mario Moreno as the son of a Mexican postal employee, was a prolific and productive Mexican comedian/producer/writer/singer who also knew a fair bit about agriculture and medicine. He was married to Valentina Ivanova from 1936 until her death. He appeared in more than 55 films, including (as Passepartout) Around the World in 80 Days (1956).- Clara Tabody was born in Rákospalota, Hungary. She studied dancing and went to the Performing Art and Dancing Academy. Her first success she had in Budapest, Hungary, at the Király-Theater in the operetta "Kadettenliebe" ("Cadet Love"), but her big career began actually in the 30s in Berlin, Germany. She played for four years at the Metropolitan Theater. But in 1932 she played in the Fred-Raymond's Operetta "Maske in Blau" ("Mask in Blue", "Masque en bleu") opposite Wolf Albach-Retty. She married the Italian Angelo Formenti and lived in Alassio on the Italian Riviera. In the 50s she had guest appearances on the stage in Berlin. She died in Milan, Italy.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Déva-Dassy (born as Marie-Anne Lambert) was a French opera and operetta diva, the daughter of Charles Lambert, a French politician in Lyon, and Germaine Pollack, a quite famous pianist. Her stage name came from Edouard Churey and means "The Servant of God" or "The Sacred Dancer". She created a perfume called "Deva-Dassy Perfume", in 1933, in Paris, France. She also was the second female in Paris that created Laya in "Fleurs d'Hawaii" (by the composer Paul Abraham), in which she sang "Ni toi, ni moi" and a duet with Emile Rousseau called "La plus belle perle du monde", where, in return, Max Bussy sang to her "Fleur d'Hawaii". The songs were released by Disque Gramophone k-7096 (50-3376).
She did "La Belle Hélène" and also created Inès in "Farsquita", Violette in "Le Roi Bossu", a Servant in "Tarass Boulba", an Infirmière at la Salle Favart in "La Femme Nue", Charlotte in "Werther", Mignon in "Mignon" and Souzouki in "Madame Butterfly". She was also famous for the song "Dans la vie... tout s'arrange" in the Operetta "Le Sérail en folie" (Music by Marcel d'Anella and lyrics by Albert Bossy & Xavier Mericier). She played also in one film, Faut ce qu'il faut (1946), released on video as "Monsieur Bibi".- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Eduard Köck was an Austrian stage and film actor. He was born in Innsbruck, studied there at the University and played on stage. He became a member of the Exl-Bühne, which had his headquarters in Tirol and also became famous in foreign countries. His first film was in 1913. In 1943 he played in "Der ewige Klang" with Elfriede Datzig and Olga Tschechowa.- Erna Sack, "The German Nightingale" was born in Berlin in 1898 and was still a child when her voice attracted attention both at school and in the church choir in which she sang. For her parents, however, there could be no question of her training to become a singer. It was only when her fiancé, Hermann Sack, whom she married in 1921, interceded on her behalf that her parents changed their minds. Accordingly, she moved to Prague to study with her first teacher. Erna Jack finally joined the ranks of Germany's leading coloratura sopranos. By 1934 she was singing mostly at the Dresden State Opera, where she attracted the attention of Karl Böhm and, above all, Richard Strauss. Her first concert tours were to Austria, Holland, France and England (Covent Garden in 1936) and she had a contract with Telefunken Records. In 1937 she played at the State Opera House in Vienna. She also went to Rome, where she sang in Mozart's "Die Zauberflöte" with Tito Schipa. After that, she went to Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo and for the first time to the USA at Carnegie Hall with Richard Tauber and Josef Schmidt. She also sang in Italian at Chicago's Lyric Opera.
During the war, Erna Sack's career was limited almost exclusively to Germany and her allies. After the war, her career was slow to restart in Latin America, especially Brazil, Argentina, Urugay and Chile. By that time, she was a Brazilian citizen because of her husband. But it was in Canada that she enjoyed her greatest successes at this time, and for a number of years the couple lived in Montreal. In 1954 she moved on to Carnegie Hall and then ended up in Germany with the brief tour of German Democratic Republic in 1957. She also made two appearances on TV in the mid 60s and two Movies Blumen aus Nizza (1936) and Nanon (1938). - Franziska Kinz was a singer, stage and film actress. In 1924, she studied with Fritz Basil. After 4 months, he gave her a job at the Staatstheater in Munich. In 1930, she played in Darmstadt, in 1933, at the Kammerspielen, Schiller and Deutschen Theater in Berlin, and afterwards, in Vienna and Munich.
In 1929, she made her first film, _Tagebuch einer Verlorenen, Das (1929)_ ("Diary of a Lost Girl"), and her first talkie was Väter und Söhne (1930) (aka "Das Geheimnis der Ehe". Die Kellnerin Anna (1941) ("Anna la serveuse", "The Waitress Anna") included Elfriede Datzig as her daughter. She also worked in radio and she made more than 35 movies. - Actor
- Soundtrack
Fritz Imhoff, born as Friedrich Jeschke, studied at business college before taking singing and art courses. As a singer, he appeared in 1912 at the Stadttheater bei Wien. From 1920 to 1928, he played at Wiener Johann-Strauss-Theater; then six years at the Theater an der Wien, and from 1934 till 1938, at the Volksoper and in Cabarets and Varietés. In 1939 to 1944, he played at the Raimund-Theater and worked also there as the director till 1948.
He began silent movies in 1929 and made more than 100 movies during his life. He had good parts in all of his Films, but some of his funny once were in Die Fiakermilli (1953), 1. April 2000 (1952), Schwarz auf Weiß (1943) ("Black on White"), Reisebekanntschaft (1943) ("Trip Acquaintance"), Wen die Götter lieben (1942) ("Whom the Gods Love") and Hotel Sacher (1939).- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Georg Jacoby was an actor, film and theatre director. He started to play on stage in 1915 and in cinema in WWI propaganda films. After 1919, he was only a film director. In 1922, he made So sind die Männer (1923) ("The Little Napoleon"), in which Marlene Dietrich had a bit part. His first wife was Edith Meller, but in 1940, he met Marika Rökk. They got married and had one child in 1944, Gaby Jacoby, who also became an actress and singer. He made his best films with Marika during the 30s and 40s.- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Gerhard Winkler was a composer, pianist, violin player, singer, painter, stage and film actor. He studied music at the Konservatorium in Berlin and worked as a pianist in different bands throughout Germany. His first success was "Neapoleanisches Ständchen" ("Chansons Napolitaines") in 1926. From that time on he worked mostly as a composer and musician. He got many awards, among them was the 1957 Paul-Lincke Ring and the 1967 Bundesverdienstkreuz.
He was well-known in the German Schlager as an Italian-wave composer. Some of his songs are "O mia bella Napoli" (1936), "Frühling in Sorrent" (1940), "Chiantilied" (1942), "Caprifischer" (1943), "Mandolino" (1949), "Möwe, du fliegst in die Heimat" (1950), "Glaube mir" (1952), "Frauen und Wein" ("Women and Wine", "Des Femmes et du vin") (1952), "Schützenliesen" (1952), "Nicolo, Nicolo, Nicolino" (1954), and "In meiner Hängematte" ("In my Hammock", "Dans mon hamac") (1955). He also recorded "Lili Marlene".- Actress
- Soundtrack
At the age of eight, Greta Keller studied dancing and later she went to acting school. Her début was in "Pavillon" in Vienna. She also played on Stage with Marlene Dietrich in "Broadway", in which she sang and danced. She had a recording contract with Ultraphon in 1929. Her career as a singer took her from Vienna to Prague and Berlin, where she had a big success with Peter Igelhoff and Peter Kreuder.
Because of her low voice, her repertoire began with Robert-Stolz-Melodie "Adieu, mein kleiner Gardeoffizier" ("Adieu, mon petit officier"). Then she sang songs by Benatzky, Nelson, Kreuder and Igelhoff till Kästner and Tucholsky, as well as American songs. In the 30s, she became a big star even in the USA. She played on Broadway, in New York, made films with Fox Studio, sang on the radio and played with Fred Astaire and Rod McKuen, who wrote "If You Go Away" for her. She also performed "My Way", composed by Paul Anka.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Grethe Weiser (born in Hannover, Germany, as Mathilde Ella Dorothea Margarethe Nowka) was a singer, comedian, film and stage actress. She grew up in Kotsche and Dresden and went to the private school Höhere Töchter. At the age of 18 she married Josef Weiser, with whom she had a son in 1922. The family moved to Berlin, where Mr. Weiser opened a cabaret for his wife. There Grethe studied acting and singing, played first at the famous Wintergarten and at the Cabaret der Komiker. Soon she became one of the best German Couplet and Chansonnette singers. Her first silent movie was "Männer vor der Ehe" (1927), where she played a mate. Later her husband decided to leave Germany because he was Jewish and so not destroy the career of his wife. After the divorce in 1934 she met film producer Hermann Schwerin and he became her companion. Most of her films were comedies, happy humor films and full of heart. In 1960 she played on stage in Hamburg and in Berlin an der Komödie am Hebbel and at the Renaissance Theater. In 1968 she got an award called "Verdienstkreuz" from the German President. She made more than 140 movies and some of her greatest were The Divine Jetta (1937) ("The Divine Jetta") (1937), Die große Liebe (1942) ("The Great Love")(1942) in which she met the great Zarah Leander and became her life long friend, Gabriela (1950) with Zarah Leander, Fanfaren der Liebe (1951) ("Fanfares of Love") (1951) which was remade in the USA with Marilyn Monroe as "Some Like It Hot", Der Onkel aus Amerika (1953) ("Uncle from America") (1953) opposite Hans Moser, and Casino de Paris (1957).- Gustav Diessl was an Austrian artist, film and stage actor. He studied art, painting and sculpture in Vienna. From 1921 he worked in Berlin as an actor for G.W. Pabst in his silent film, "Abgründe" (1928). In 1929 he played in The White Hell of Pitz Palu (1929) ("The White Hell of Pitz Palu"). After that he became famous in USA, but returned to Germany after making only one film in Hollywood. He also played in Italian films. After a short-lived first marriage, he cohabited with Camilla Horn for a couple of years, but in 1938 he married opera star Maria Cebotari, with who he had two sons; one of them lives today in England and the other one in New Zealand. Gustav Diessl died, much too young,in Vienna.
- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Hanns Eisler was a German-Austrian-American composer and lyricist. He was known for his "Das Lied von der Moldau" ("La Chanson du Moldau", "The Song of the Moldau") used in the TV film Schweyk im zweiten Weltkrieg (1961) and also sang by Zarah Leander on TV. He did so many more songs in Hollywood, France, Austria and Germany.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Hans Jaray was a writer, singer, film and stage actor. After finishing school, he went to the Academy for Music and Art, in Vienna. His stage debut was in 1923, in Wiener Volkstheater and from 1930 to 1938, he played at the Theater in der Josefstadt. The first play he wrote was "Boulevard-Komödien". His two first movies were The Love of Jeanne Ney (1927) (The Love of Jeanne Ney) and Schwiegersöhne (1926). In 1933, he played 'Franz Schubert' in Leise flehen meine Lieder (1933) ("Unfinished Symphony", aka "Lover Divine", "La Symphonie inachevée").
After that, he was not often in Germany because he went back to Austria in order to emigrate to the USA in 1938. There, he played in New York on Broadway. His two Hollywood films were Lydia (1941) and Carnegie Hall (1947). After WWII, he came back to Vienna and worked there on stage, cinema and as a Professor at the Reinhardt-Seminar. Some of his last films were Frühlingsstimmen (1952) and Fedora (1978) by 'Billy Wilder', with Hildegard Knef, Henry Fonda and Michael York. He also wrote many stage plays and books.- Hans Olden was an Austrian singer, stage and film actor. From 1909, he studied acting in Vienna with Otto Rub. He worked as a singer and Heurigenunterhalter. In 1911 he made his theater debut at the Deutschen Theater in Hermannstadt and also played in Karlsbad, Teplitz-Schönau, Graz and Prague (Cz.). From 1928 to 1938 he played at the Theater in der Josefstadt and the Deutschen Volkstheater in Vienna. His first movie was The Great Love (1931). Among his 73 movies he played with Elfriede Datzig in Meine Tochter lebt in Wien (1940) ("My Daughter Lives In Vienna", "Ma Fille est millionaire") (1940). He also worked for television and went back to the stage at the Renaissance and Volkstheater in Vienna. He died after a long illness in the house of his parents in Franzhausen.
- Hans Stüwe was a German singer, film and opera director, radio performer, stage and film actor. He was born in Halle (Saale), Germany, and studied music, acting and singing. As a singer he made his debut at the Stadttheater in Königsberg and moved to Berlin to play on stage. His first one was "Des Königs befehl" (1926), which made him a big star. He was the partner of Zarah Leander in "Es war eine rauschende Ballnacht" ("It Was a Gay Ballnight") (1939), "Der Weg ins Freie" ("The Way to Freedom", "Le Chemin de la liberté") (1941), "Damals" ("At That Time", "Le Foyer perdu") (1943) and "Ave Maria" (1953). He also had some good parts in "Am Brunnen vor dem Tore" (1952), "Komm zurück..." ("J'attendrai") (1953) and "Blaue Jungs" ("Seamen") (1957) made on location in Hawaii and Tahiti. He died at the age of 75 in Berlin, Germany.
- Actor
- Director
- Production Manager
Hans Unterkircher's stage appearances began after his study in Conservatorium of Vienna. He played in Vienna, in the Province and at the Max Reinhardt Theater in Berlin. In 1914, Reinhardt asked him to go to New York City. There he played at the Irving Place Theater. Mr. Carl Laemmle gave him a job in 1916 and a contract with the Universal International Studio in Hollywood. He played then with Stars like Edith Roberts, Mae Murray and Theda Bara. He also discovered the young, good-looking and without money Italian, Rudolph Valentino.
In 1918, he went back to Europe against the wish of his protector. He was also a film and stage actor, and made Operettas. We can mention the great "Wunderbar" with Zarah Leander, in film and later in TV, always with elegance and charm.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Hansi Knoteck was a singer, stage and film actress. Her great aunt was actress Katharina Schratt (1855-1940). She originally trained as a ballet dancer, then later studied at the Academy of Music and Art in Vienna. Her first engagement was in Mährisch-Ostrau, Marienbad and Leipzig.
She first appeared in the cinema while living in Berlin, and altogether featured in more than 36 movies. She was married to Viktor Staal from December 24, 1940 until his death in 1984. They had one son (Hannes, 1942).
During WWII, she and her husband were members of the anti-Nazi German-Austrian underground.- Heidemarie Hatheyer was an Austrian actress, singer and cabaret artist. She was born in Villach, Carinthia, Austria. After finishing high school she started to be a journalist but went instead to Vienna to play at the cabaret "Atelier am Naschmarkt". In 1936 she had her first stage engagement at the Theater an der Wien with Zarah Leander in "Axel an der Himmelstür" with music by Ralph Benatzky and lyrics by Paul Morgan and Hans Weigel.
In 1937 she worked at the Kammerspiele, Munich. And in 1942 an der Staatstheater Berlin. Luis Trenker discovered her for his film Der Berg ruft! (1938) , in which she became the leading lady. After that she signed a contract with Tobis Films. She played in Die Geierwally (1940) and I accuse (1941). After the war, because of her acting in this last Nazi-propaganda film, she was forbidden to play in cinema. Nevertheless, she played on stage in Germany, Switzerland and Vienna. From 1949 she was allowed to play again in cinema and on TV. In 1952 she married the author Curt Riess.
In the 60s she got many awards. In 1984 she got the German Filmband in Gold for her work in the German cinema and in 1989 the Filmband in Gold for acting in 1989 "Martha Jellneck". - Actor
- Soundtrack
Hermann Brix was a singer, stage and film actor. He studied medicine and Germanistik in high school and university. Then he took private acting school. By 1936 he made his debut in Prague. From there he gained a contract with the Kamerspiele Theater in Munich. In 1939 he played Emperor Franz Joseph in "Maria Ilona". After the premiere of that film in Vienna, he signed a contract with Tera Film, but, nevertheless, he was more interested in stage theater and radio. He began to work on novels and in 1966 he got the title of Professor. From then on he worked as a professor and lived in Innsbruck, Tirol, Austria.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Jeanne Aubert was the daughter of a French Aristocrat and a Flower-girl. At the age of 5, she had already worked as an extra in 'Le Chatelet'. As a teenager, she studied voice and music. In 1924 she played in "Mistinguett" at the Casino de Paris. In 1925, the song "Si tu vois ma tante" made her une grande Chanteuse in Paris. Under the name of Jane Aubert, she appeared in 1927 on "Paris aux Etoiles", the Moulin Rouge's magazine. In 1929, she made her first silent movie, La Possession (1929), with Francesca Bertini. Nelson Morris from Chicago, USA, went to see her 52 times and eventually brought her to the USA and married her. But the marriage failed and they were divorced because he forbade her to go on stage. After that she began a new career in the USA and did a lot of musical comedies in Broadway: "Princess Charming", "America's Sweetheart", "The Laugh Parade", "Ballyoo" with Bob Hope, "Melody" with Gypsy Rose Lee.
She made also two movies in Long Island: "The Mysterious Kiss" and "The Dream Of The Ocean". In 1935, she made her Parisian comeback. With "C'est une petite étoile", "Solitude" and "Je t'aime c'est tout" she had a big success. At the ABC Theater, she appeared with Fréhel in 1937. One of her biggest musicals was in London, "Anything Goes", with music by Cole Porter. She also appeared in Belgium, Italy, Egypt and Switzerland (Geneva).
Between 1935 and 1966, she made more than a dozen excellent films. During WWII, she appeared 630 times in "La Veuve joyeuse" at the Mogador Theater and also in two others theaters. After 1945, she played at ABC in "Tout pour elle", "Le prince endormi" with Pierre Blanchard, "Court circuit", Adorable Julia" with Madeleine Robinson, "Saison d'amour", "Les hommes préfèrent les blondes" ("Gentlemen Prefer Blondes") and "Après la chute" by Arthur Miller with Annie Girardot. Finally, she left the stage and made appearances on TV: "Sénéchal le magnifique", "Les Croulants se portent bien", "Les Saintes Chéries", "Madame vous etes libre..." and "La Femme de Jean" by Yannick Bellon. Madame Aubert never lost her elegance, charisma and Shine.- Josef Eichheim was a German singer, comedian, stage and film actor. In 1905 he moved to Switzerland where he studied acting in Zurich; his training there was instrumental in helping him to find work.
In 1932 he played at the Munich Kammerspiele and Bayerischen Staatstheater, and in all appeared in about 67 movies including Rosen in Tirol (1940) ("The Bird Seller", "Le Marchand d'oiseaux") (1940) and Die falsche Braut (1945) ("The False Bride", "La Fausse fiancée") opposite Elfriede Datzig. During the war, Goebbels asked him to play in "Jud Süss"; however, Eichheim declined.
In 1945 he was imprisoned by the American Military Police in Internierungslager Emmering, near Fürstenfeldbruck. There he became ill and was moved to a hospital in Haar, near Munich, where he died November 14, 1945, still unaware of why he had been imprisoned. - Actress
- Soundtrack
Käthe von Nagy wanted to get married at the age of 16, therefore, her parents put her in the Santa Chrisitana Convent, near Vienna. After that, she worked in her father's office and besides started to secretly write short stories for newspapers. In Budapest, she studied acting, dancing and singing, but her parents were not very happy. In 1926, she went to Berlin to make movies. She got a small part in the film _Männer von der Ehe (1927)_ and _Wien, du Stadt meiner Träume (1927)_ "Vienna, City of My Dreams". In 1930, she went into talkies with Der Andere (1930). She also made the French version of "Bomben auf Monte Carlo" (1931). In the German film, Anna Sten played the part. In 1938, she played in "Finale" ("Die Unruhigen Mädchen", "Les Sourires de Vienne"). After that she made 6 films in France. Her last one was Die Försterchristl (1952), alongside Johanna Matz. She died of cancer in Hollywood.- Lars Kåge was a Swedish-European singer, stage and film actor, who recorded "White Christmas" in the Swedish language.
Frank Adam wrote the music, and J. Hochmuth and H. Werner the lyrics of the song "Braunes Fischermädchen aus Hawaii" (Metropolitan Records, Vienna) for Lars. - Actress
- Soundtrack
Liane Haid was a prima ballerina, dancer, singer, stage and film actress. As a child, she studied voice and dancing and played at the Viennese Open Ballet. She worked in Budapest and Vienna as a dancer. On stage, she was in Berlin and Vienna. She also made close to a hundred movies - silents and talkies. She was the first female star of Austria. She was married three times. The last one was Swiss Dr. Carl Spycher, with which she had one son, the jazz musician, Pierre Spycher. She lived with her family near Bern, Switzerland, where she died at the age of 105 years young.- Actress
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Liselotte Malkowsky was a German-Danish singer in the class of 'Zarah Leander', Lale Andersen and Édith Piaf. She was in the German-Austrian underground against the Nazis in WWII. Right after the war, she worked for the USO in West-Germany as a singer and recorded many records for Polydor. Some of her songs in German are: "Aloha Oe", "Chanson des adieux", "La Seine", "Auf der Reperbahn Nachts um Halb eins", "La Paloma" and so many more.- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Lothar Brühne was a German composer who wrote songs for cinema in the 30s and 40s. Some of his biggest are "La Habanera", "Der Blaufuchs" ("La Belle Hongroise", "The Blue Fox") and "Romanze in Moll" ("Romance in a Minor Key"). Some of his hits and evergreens are "Der Wind hat mir ein Lied erzählt" (1937) ("Le vent m'a dit une chanson") sang by Zarah Leander in three languages (German, French and Swedish) and sold over millions of Odeon records, "Kann der Liebe Sünde sein" ("Quand on aime, fait-on mal ?"), "Von der Pusta will ich traümen bei Zigeuner Musik" ("Vers la Puszta", "De la Puszta quiero Sonar", "Jag om pusztan ofta drömmer"), and so many more.- Ludwig Ganghofer was a German Heimat-writer. More than 34 of his novels were made into films. He was born in Kauftbeuren, Bavaria, Germany, as the son of the Bavarian Ministerialrat August Ganghofer and Caroline (born as Louis). After graduating from high school he worked as a mechanic in Augsburg. Then he studied literature and philosophy in Munich and Berlin. In 1879 he was promoted in Leipzig and in 1880 he wrote his first play, "Der Hergottschnitzer von Ammergau", inspired by the Volksschauspieler Ensemble at the Gärnerplatztheater in Munich. The premiere of the play in Berlin was a big success. In 1881 he worked in Vienna, Austria. In 1882 he married Catharina Engel and had four children. Between 1886 and 1891 he worked for the "Wiener-Tagblatts". In 1894 he settled down in Munich. In 1898 he founded the Litterary Society in Munich. In 1899 he published the book "Das Schweigen im Walde", in 1900 "Der hohe Schein", in 1908 the novel "Waldrausch" and from 1909 to 1911 he worked on his biography "Lebenslauf eines Optimisten" ("Diary of an optimist").
In 1917 he issued three stories "Neue Büte", "Die Depesche" and "Das Falsche Mass". He died in 1920 in his home at Tegensee. - Actor
- Director
- Writer
Luis Trenker (born in St-Ulrich, southern Tyrol (now Italy) as Alois Franz Trenker) was a film director, singer, author, ski champion and mountain climber, wood-carver, stage and film actor. He went to school in Bolzano to become a carver artist. From 1912 to 1914 he studied Architecture.
He fought in WWI as an officier in the Dolomite. After that, he made a documentary film "Wunder des Schneeschuhs" (1921) with Arnold Fanck. In 1934 he worked in Hollywood, but went back to Europe. In 1966 he worked for TV with the ski champion Toni Sailer in "Luftsprünge". He lived with his wife in Meran, kept an office in Munich, wrote his Memories ("Alles gut gegangen" ("Everything went swell")). He died on Pneumonia and heart attack in a hospital in Bolzano.- Actress
Ma Ma Loa (born as Leilani Hia'a Kalaeloa) was a Hawaiian chanteuse, songwriter, recording artist, composer and Hula dancer. Her mother was Esther Lu'ukia Hia'a Kaluhiokalani. Ma Ma Loa was married to Kamuela Price, and later Raymond R. Mitchell. She was educated at Thomas Jefferson Elementary, Royal High School, Brigham Young University Hawaii at Laie, University of Hawaii. In 1925 at a very young age, she debuted at the Halemaumau Crater in Hawaii; she was dedicated by her father to Pele, the firey goddess of the volcano, as a dancer to the gods. It is said that Ma Ma Loa possessed the mana or spirit of the fire goddess. Her Waikiki debut was at the opening night at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, on 1 February 1927, where she danced the hula. She worked with Alfred Apaka at the Lexington Hotel in New York City. She danced and sang in shows with Bing Crosby. She performed with the late Ray Kinney as one of his Aloha Maidens, danced, sang, and acted as a comic as well. Her performing took her across the country during WWII entertaining at Annapolis, Maryland; Paris Island, SOuth Carolina, and at various military bases. Ma Ma Loa worked with Hawaii's great Lena Machado, with whom she sung "Song Bird of Hawaii" in the same range contralto. She performed also with the outstanding steel guitarist Tommy Castro. More recently on May 3, 1998, Ma Ma Loa performed notably the Hula to Paul Abraham's "Die Blume von Hawaii" ("The Flower of Hawaii", "Fleur d'Hawaii"), a German-French operetta from the 1930s. Accompanied by Bandmaster Aaron Mahi and the Royal Hawaiian Band at a Kapiolani Park Concert, the spirited Ma Ma Loa danced to the entire medley of songs from the operetta.
She was also the first model used for John Kelley Sr.'s painting "Leilani on the Beach". She was the first woman who recorded "The Lord's Prayer" in Hawaiian and English languages.- Actor
- Camera and Electrical Department
Ray Mala hailed from Alaska, and portrayed Inuits and also Hawaiian characters in films. He appeared in more than 25 movies, such as Eskimo (1933), Last of the Pagans (1935)--based on the book "Typee" by Herman Melville-- The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1938), from which a 29-cent postal stamp was put out in the US, Honolulu Lu (1941), Red Snow (1952) and many more.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Manuela was a German composer, guitarist and singer. She worked first of all in a factory and later became a lead singer in many bands. She was discovered in 1962 in a Berlin nightclub. A year later she made the German cover-version "Blame it on the Bossa-Nova" (Eydie Gorme). She went to Hollywood to study English with actress Kim Novak. She made a come-back in the middle of the 80s with "Blame it on the Bossa-Nova", "Ich gehe noch zur Schule", "Schwimmen lernt man in See", "Schneeman", Küsse untern Regenbogen", "Monsieur Dupont", "Wenn es Nacht wird in Harlem", "Auf der Stufen zur Akropolis", "Seemann-Sailor" and "Wenn ich erst wieder Boden spür?".- Actor
- Writer
- Composer
Max Hansen was born in Mannheim, Germany, but was raised by his step parents in Munich. His mother was a Danish Actress, Eva Haller, his father's name was von Waldheim. In his school days, he already sang at the Opera House, so he earned the nickname "The Little Caruso" ("Der kleine Caruso"). Later he studied Music and Voice and got a job at the Simplizissimus Cabaret in Munich. From 1914 he played Operettas in Vienna and became a good friend of Franz Lehár. After that he worked in Berlin at the Metropole Theater and became there a superstar of operettas, revues, cabaret and radio. He began acting in five silent films, from 1926 to 28. His first talkie was Wien, du Stadt der Lieder (1930) ("Vienna, City of Song") (1930). In 1932 he played opposite Gitta Alpar in She, or Nobody (1932) ("She, or Nobody").
He left Germany in 1933 for Vienna and to play in Switzerland, Amsterdam, Oslo and Helsinki. On a late summer day in 1936, while she was in Copenhagen, Swedish singer Zarah Leaner received a telephone call from Max Hansen. He asked her if she spoke German and she replied that she did. Next he wanted to know if she would take the female lead in "Axel an der Himmels Tür" ("Axel at the Gate of Heaven"), an Operetta with music by Ralph Benatzky. Hansen, in collaboration with Paul Morgan and Hans Weigel, was producing the Operetta in Theater an der Wien. Zarah was so excited to get her first German speaking role that she accepted the part without even asking how much money they were offering her. In 1949 Max Hansen visited Hamburg, in 1951 he played in Berlin and Scandinavia. He died in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1961.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Michael Schulz-Dornburg was a German child star who played in only one movie, La Habanera (1937) as Juan de Avila, son of Astree Sternhjelm (Zarah Leander) and Don Pedro de Avila (Ferdinand Marian). He died on the Russian Front during WWII.- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Manager
Michiko Tanaka was one of the most internationally famous Japanese actresses of all time. It helped that she spoke several languages perfectly. She was also an opera singer and music professor.
She came from a painter's family in Tokyo and got her education in Hiroshima, Japan. Her uncle was the Japanese Ambassador to Austria, so in 1929 she moved to Vienna to study Violin, Music and Voice. There she married the wealthy Julius Meinl and made her debut in 1930 in "Die Geisha" (music by Sidney Jones, with which she had a sensational success. She also played on stage in the Opera "Madame Butterfly" with Richard Tauber. After that she toured Tokyo, Buenos Aires and other cities around the world. In 1935 she made her first film, Letzte Liebe (1935) ("Last Love") with Erich Bassermann. In 1936, Paul Abraham wrote for her the Operetta "Dschainah, das Mädchen aus dem Tanzhaus", which she played at the Theater an der Wien. In the '30s she moved to Paris. While in France, MGM made her the offer to play a Chinese character, O-Lan, in "The Good Earth" in Hollywood, but local Chinese people didn't want a Japanese woman in this role and made a demonstration, so that Michiko didn't get the part. Instead, Luise Rainer, an Austrian actress, got the role and won the Oscar for Best Actress. After that, still in Paris, Michiko made Yoshiwara (1937) and Tempête sur l'Asie (1938) ("Storm Over Asia").
There, she met German superstar 'Victor de Kowa', they fell in love and got married in 1941, with the permission of Mr. Julius Meinl, who was the best man for the wedding. Then the couple moved to Berlin. Besides her work on the stage, Michiko Tanaka was a great performer as a Liedersängerin and specialized in the field of the Deutschen Kunstliedes. Right after WWII she created a Japanese embassy in Berlin and made Anonyme Briefe (1949), Skandal in der Botschaft (1950) ("Scandal at the Embassy") (1950), _Madame Butterfly (1954)_, Das kommt nicht wieder (1958) (cinema documentary) and Girl from Hong Kong (1961) ("Girl from Hong Kong") (1961). After the death of her husband, she worked in Berlin as a Music Pédagogue. Later she retired in Munich, where she died in May, 1988.- Maria von Tasnady was a singer, stage and film actress. After making her stage debut at the Staatstheater in Oldenburg, she played at the Schillertheater in Berlin. In the following years, she frequently appeared in movies, which were directed by her husband 'Geza von Rádvanyi', and hosted shows for Radio Free Europe.
- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Nico Dostal was an Austrian composer of operettas and film music. He did 16 operettas and more than 20 film scores. In 1943 he composed the music of the film "Das Lied der Wüste" ("The Desert Song", "La Chanson du désert") (1939) (songs for Zarah Leander "Fatme, erzähl' mie ein Märchen", "Sagt dir eine schöne Frau veilleicht" and "Ein paar Tränen werd' ich weinen um dich"), and later "Schwarz auf weiß" ("Black on White", "Blanc et noir") (1943) (songs for Elfriede Datzig and Hans Holt "Da schau, ein Rauchfangkehrer", with lyrics by Fritz Koselka). Nico Dostal was married to opera singer Lillie Claus and died in Salzburg in 1981.- Nora Gregor was an operetta diva, stage and film actress. She made her debut in Graz, Austria, and from there went to the Volksbühne an das Raimund-Theater in Vienna. She also worked at the Reinhardt Bühne in Berlin. From 1930 to 1933 she lived in Hollywood and also in Berlin. She made her first silent movie in 1921 and her first talkie in 1930 (Olympia (1930)). In 1937 she worked at the Burgtheater in Vienna and emigrated to Switzerland, France and Chile, where she died in Vina del Mar.
- Louÿs' refined evocations, not to say re-inventions, of the society of Hellenistic Greece proved extremely popular in both France and the English speaking world, especially due to the somewhat risque nature of such works as Aphrodite (1896) and Les Chansons de Bilitis (1894). He lived his entire life in Paris, travelling occasionally around the Mediterranean coast where so many of his works of art were set. He had close friends among the writers of his day but otherwise kept among himself rather apart from literary cliques except for that of Mallarme.
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Ralph Marterie (born as Ralph Martire in Naples, Italy) was a trumpet player. As a child he came to the USA and got his first job in a band in Ohio. In 1937 he played for the radio and in 1949 he created his own big band. His hits were "Crazy Man", "Pretend", "Caravan", "Lili Marlene" and "Skokiaan", recorded for Mercury Records, Musico and United Artists.
Some of his lead singers were Vic Damone, Rusty Draper and the Harmonicats. Marterie and his band was very active up till the 60s. He also had bit parts as a musician in some movies.- Actress
- Director
Rosa Valetti was born Rosa Alice Vallentin, the daughter of industrialist Felix Vallentin and his wife, Bertha. Her brother was actor Hermann Vallentin, who emigrated to Mandatory Palestine. She first appeared on the Berlin stage and later also in Paris, Brussells and Vienna. During the First World War, she worked with Ludwig Roth, her first husband, at the Residenz-Theater in Berlin. She also worked as a director and acted in many theaters. A meeting with Kurt Tucholsky gave her an opportunity to work in cabaret, firstly in "Schall und Rauch." Valetti produced her own cabaret show "Café Grössenwahn" in 1920, then "Die Rampe" in 1922, and "Comedia Valetti" in 1923.
Valetti played in many cabarets around Europe and appeared in the premiere of "Die Dreigroschenoper" ("The Three Penny Opera"). In all, she appeared in more than 40 films, including in 1930 's "Der Blaue Engel" (The Blue Angel) with Marlene Dietrich. In 1933, she left Nazi Germany for Vienna and worked until 1935 at the Theater at der Josefstadt, also making guest appearances in Prague, Czechoslovakia. In 1934, she moved back to Berlin and then in 1936 to Palestine. She died the following year in Vienna. Her only child, her daughter Elisabeth, an actress known as Lisl Valetti, emigrated to the USA.- Actor
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- Director
Rossano Brazzi was an Italian stage and film actor. He was married to Lydia Brazzi until her death, and to Ilse Fischer, his second wife, until his death.
He's most familiar to English-speaking audiences for his role as Emile De Becque in South Pacific (1958), playing opposite Mitzi Gaynor.
He died in Rome of complications following a neural virus, on December 24, 1994.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Rosy Barsony (born as Miss Schustek) was a child actress, dancer and soubrette. In 1931, in Berlin, she appeared in Paul Abraham's operettas "Viktoria und ihr Husar" ("Victoria and Her Hussar"), "Die Blume von Hawaii" ("The Flower of Hawaii", "Fleur d'Hawai") and Ball im Savoy (1935) ("Ball At The Savoy", "Bale au Savoy").
During her acting career, she was cast in more than 15 movies. Married to Oszkár Dénes, she lived and worked in Italy, travelling to Vienna in 1956 to appear in several stage plays and operettas. She later worked in Paris for French television, and in 1959 played at the Stadttheater Klagenfurt, Austria.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Ulla Billquist was a Swedish chanteuse like the Norwegian Kirsten Heiberg and always in the shadow of the great Zarah Leander, and never really made it that big. She made one musical film during WWII, Gatans serenad (1941). She also sang for the soldiers, who loved her very much. Unfortunately, the good die young.- Ulla Jacobsson was an International Swedish Actress and became world-famous with the film One Summer of Happiness (1951) (English title: "One Summer of Happiness", German title: "Sie tanzte nur einen Sommer") and Smiles of a Summer Night (1955) ("Smiles of a Summer Night"), which Zarah Leander made as a musical in Vienna and also the Swedish version in Stockholm. She became better known in the UK for her part of the daughter of a missionary (played by Jack Hawkins) in Zulu (1964). She married an Austrian doctor and lived in Vienna, where she died of cancer in 1982.
- Austrian-born Walter Szurovy began his acting career on the Vienna stage, and played in Karlsbad, Iglau, Maehrisch Ostrau and in 1937 at the Theater in Prague, Czechoslovakia. He appeared in various European films: Not a Word About Love (1937) (Czech; German title "Kein Wort von Liebe"), Life's Mirror (1938) (German; US title "Life's Mirror"), People in the Valley (1938) (Czech-Austrian), Hotel Sacher (1939) with Elfriede Datzig and the US film To Have and Have Not (1944) based on the book by Ernest Hemingway, starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. In 1941 he founded the Polk-Szurovy Agency in Hollywood. From 1947 he worked as personal manager to his wife, Metropolitan Opera star Risë Stevens. In 1950 he took a small part in a West German film, Fall 7:9 (1951). He and his wife are the parents of film and television actor Nicolas Surovy, born in 1946.