When GÖTTINGEN was German Hollywood: The "Sternchen" of Filmaufbau GmbH
List activity
145 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
215 people
- Actress
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Maria Schell studied in a religious institution in Colmar (Haut-Rhin, France). She received a dramatic training in Zurich, Switzerland. To pay her studies, she was a secretary there. Besides being a film star; Maria appeared in plays in Zurich, Basel, in Vienna (Josefstad Theater), Berlin, Munich (Kammerspiel Theater), at the Salzburg Festival and went on provincial tours from 1963. Among the plays she performed there were such classics as William Shakespeare's "Hamlet", Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's "Faust" and such modern classics as "Pygmalion" by George Bernard Shaw.BAFTA Award nominee 1954 (The Heart of the Matter) and 1957 (Gervaise)- Actress
- Soundtrack
Hilde Krahl was born on 10 January 1917 in Brod, Austria-Hungary [now Slavonski Brod, Croatia]. She was an actress, known for Das Glas Wasser (1960), No Greater Love (1952) and Träumerei (1944). She was married to Wolfgang Liebeneiner. She died on 28 June 1999 in Vienna, Austria.- Actor
- Director
- Production Designer
Karl John was born on 24 March 1905 in Cologne, Germany. He was an actor and director, known for Sorcerer (1977), The Longest Day (1962) and Liebe '47 (1949). He died on 22 December 1977 in Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany.- 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).- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Complete with waxed moustache and monocle, bald, straight-backed Hubert von Meyerinck looked every inch a poster boy for Prussian militarism. A practised condescension and raspy, sometimes shrill delivery further added to this image. In fact, his grandfather had been a commanding general and his father an army major and landowner. "Hubsie" himself was supposedly destined for a career in the clergy. When he began to take acting classes, it was much to the chagrin of his conservative parents. Invalided out of military service in World War I due to a lung condition, he made his theatrical bow in Berlin in 1917. Following that, he spent two years at the Hamburg Kammerspiele (1918-20) before returning to Berlin for engagements on the legitimate stage and in cabaret, famously partnering an as yet 'undiscovered' Marlene Dietrich in the 1927 revue "Es liegt was in der Luft". He also enhanced his theatrical reputation with prominent roles as Mephisto in "Faust" and as Mack the Knife in Brecht's "Threepenny Opera".
On the rare occasions he played the outright villain, "Hubsie" could be genuinely menacing. However, more often then not, the German cinema's busiest character actor used undeniable comic talent to parody his image and appearance. Audiences loved him as oily swindlers, impoverished aristocrats out to marry for money, bigamists, effete movie folk or obtuse officials. Despite at times overplaying his outrageous personae, he improved many a lesser picture by his quirky, scene-stealing antics. A shortlist of his more memorable efforts should include Die verliebte Firma (1932), When Love Sets the Fashion (1932), Bel Ami (1939), Der tolle Bomberg (1957), Ein Mann geht durch die Wand (1959), The Haunted Castle (1960) and Billy Wilder's madcap farce One, Two, Three (1961). Between 1965 and 1969, "Hubsie" was given carte blanche to do his shtick as bumbling "Clouseau"-like Scotland Yard chief Sir Arthur in five enjoyably campy Edgar Wallace crime thrillers. He also continued to augment his prolific screen acting portfolio (294 appearances!) with frequent returns to the stage, his last being as ensemble member of the Thalia Theater in Hamburg from 1966 until his death from pneumonia in May 1971.- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Erich Ponto was born on 14 December 1884 in Lübeck [now Schleswig-Holstein], Germany. He was an actor and writer, known for The Third Man (1949), Sky Without Stars (1955) and Schneider Wibbel (1939). He was married to Tony Kresse. He died on 4 February 1957 in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Willy Fritsch was born on 27 January 1901 in Kattowitz, Upper Silesia, Germany [now Katowice, Slaskie, Poland]. He was an actor, known for Woman in the Moon (1929), Inglourious Basterds (2009) and Amphitryon (1935). He was married to Dinah Grace. He died on 13 July 1973 in Hamburg, Germany.- Hannelore Schroth was born on 10 January 1922 in Berlin, Germany. She was an actress, known for The Captain from Köpenick (1956), Emil of Lonneberga (1971) and A Glass of Water (1958). She was married to Peter Köster, Hans Hass and Carl Raddatz. She died on 7 July 1987 in Munich, Bavaria, West Germany.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Heli Finkenzeller was born on 17 November 1911 in Munich, Germany. She was an actress, known for Suchkind 312 (1955), Der erste Frühlingstag (1956) and Opernball (1939). She was married to Alfred Bittins and Will Dohm. She died on 14 January 1991 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.- 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.- Margarete Haagen was born on 29 November 1889 in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany. She was an actress, known for Die falsche Braut (1945), Die Mädels vom Immenhof (1955) and Ferien auf Immenhof (1957). She died on 19 November 1966 in Munich, Bavaria, West Germany.
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Theo Lingen was born on 10 June 1903 in Hanover, Germany. He was an actor and director, known for M (1931), The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) and Till Eulenspiegel: Wie Eulenspiegel sich einmal erbot, zu fliegen (1936). He was married to Marianne Zoff. He died on 10 November 1978 in Vienna, Austria.- Actress
- Soundtrack
New trends in post-war German cinema saw a shift away from the glamorous divas or idealised motherhood figures of the 1930s and 40s towards uncomplicated, wholesome, vivacious, perhaps tomboyish girl-next-door types. Germanic features were no longer strictly required. Dimple-cheeked, dark-haired Sonja Ziemann with her grey/green eyes and Bardot mouth became the paragon of the new fun-loving heroine for undemanding romantic fare or the ever popular 'Heimatfilm'.
Sonja Alice Selma Toni Ziemann was born in Eichenwalde, near Berlin, the daughter of a tax advisor. She learned ballet under Hilde Altmann-Vogt and Tatjana Gsovsky and began her career as a showgirl in revues and operettas, singing and dancing at the Metropol Theater. There, the director Peter Paul Brauer 'discovered' her for the screen. Sonia made her movie debut in a 1942 musical comedy and was thereafter groomed by Germany's pre-eminent film company Ufa (headquartered in Babelsberg) as an up-and-coming starlet. She appeared in a few undemanding supporting roles and made a brief return to the stage in the immediate aftermath of World War II. After toiling for several more years in assorted musicals and comedies without making too much of a ripple, she hit the big time with The Black Forest Girl (1950). The first motion picture to be shot in colour after the war, it ended up topping the popular charts and became the highest grossing picture of the year. Sonja garnered the first of two Bambi Awards but found herself effectively typecast. Further Heimatfilms and operettas followed which built on her pairing with Austrian matinee idol Rudolf Prack , lauded as Germany's most popular screen couple. Grün ist die Heide (1951) was the biggest of the Ziemann-Prack blockbusters, scoring an audience of 16 million viewers nationwide.
"All my roles were kitsch" she declared in a 1961 American interview. Indeed, many of those roles had relied on her camera-proof looks and patented profile. Eventually, Sonja took steps to shed her "snow white and marzipan" image and moved on to dramatic character roles. Her first was a Polish-West German co-production, The Eighth Day of the Week (1958), based on a story and screenplay by Polish author Marek Hlasko (who became her second husband in 1962). The rest of the decade completed her breakout from typecasting through a variety of roles and genres, some filmed at home, others in England or the U.S.. She now had leading roles in realistic wartime dramas based on factual events (Stalingrad: Dogs, Do You Want to Live Forever? (1959), Strafbataillon 999 (1960), The Bridge at Remagen (1969)), thrillers (Rebel Flight to Cuba (1959), Journey Into Nowhere (1962), Frühstück mit dem Tod (1964)) and crime dramas (Das Messer (1971)). There was even a comedy (of sorts) with Sonja billed second in the cast behind Terry-Thomas (as a 'germ detective') in A Matter of WHO (1961), shot by MGM at Elstree.
Sonja's screen acting took a backseat during the 70s with a return to the stage at theatres in Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich. Having moved to Switzerland, she became an honorary member of the Zurich Schauspielhaus in 1981. Three years after the death of Hlasko in 1969 she married the actor Charles Regnier. Sonja Ziemann died on February 17 2020 in Munich at the age of 94.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Josef Meinrad was born on 21 April 1913 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]. He was an actor and director, known for Sissi - Die junge Kaiserin (1956), Die Fledermaus (1983) and Dulcinea del Toboso (1964). He was married to Germaine Renée Clement. He died on 18 February 1996 in Großgmain bei Salzburg, Austria.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Susi Nicoletti was born on 3 September 1918 in Munich, Germany. She was an actress, known for Feuerwerk (1976), Confessions of Felix Krull (1957) and Die Spur der Leidenschaft (1961). She was married to Ernst Hauessermann and Ludwig Ptack. She died on 5 June 2005 in Vienna, Austria.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Dorit Kreysler was born on 5 December 1909 in Mödling, Lower Austria, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]. She was an actress, known for Die Fledermaus (1946), Maiden vs. Monk (1934) and Zwölf Herzen für Charly (1949). She was married to Timothé Stuloff. She died on 16 December 1999 in Graz, Austria.- Actor
- Director
- Soundtrack
Rudolf Schündler was born on 17 April 1906 in Leipzig, Germany. He was an actor and director, known for The Exorcist (1973), The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) and Gruß und Kuß vom Tegernsee (1957). He was married to Christine Laszar. He died on 12 December 1988 in Munich, Bavaria, West Germany.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Albert Florath was born on 14 December 1888 in Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He was an actor, known for Liebe, Tod und Teufel (1934), Berlin-Alexanderplatz: The Story of Franz Biberkopf (1931) and Donogoo Tonka (1936). He was married to Elz Rothenaicher. He died on 10 March 1957 in Gaildorf, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Hans Richter was born on 12 January 1919 in Nowawes, Germany. He was an actor and director, known for Vatertag (1955), Hurra - die Firma hat ein Kind (1956) and The Punch Bowl (1944). He was married to Ingeborg Bieber. He died on 5 October 2008 in Heppenheim, Hesse, Germany.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Louise Ullrich was born in Vienna, the daughter of a major in the Austro/Hungarian Army. She studied at the Kunstakademie, and, while still a teenager, was contracted for two years by the Wiener Volkstheater where she enjoyed her first success on the stage. In late 1932, Louise received an engagement from the Lessing Theater in Berlin to co-star opposite Werner Krauss in 'Rauhnacht'. During one of her performances she was spotted by actor and film-maker Luis Trenker who cast her in the leading role of Erika in Der Rebell (1932). While Louise was inevitably secondary to both star and scenery, the picture did provide a stepping stone to further opportunities. In the Max Ophüls-directed Playing at Love (1933) she had second billing behind established star Magda Schneider (mother of Romy) and the following year appeared in the title role of Erich Waschneck's Regine (1935).
Other prestigious films with budding star Louise were to come: Viktoria (1935), a romance based on a novel by Knut Hamsun; and Annelie (1941), a family movie which earned the film studio Ufa the then record sum of six and a half million Reichsmark and garnered Ullrich the Coppa Volpi award in Venice. Her films also established her as an actress of stature - not of the conventional leading lady variety, not particularly ornamental or even especially beautiful - but of the ideal 'girl next door' type: tomboyish, spirited, charming and witty. Alternatively -- as in 'Annelie' -- she would embody the archetypal mother figure (resonating significantly with wartime filmgoers) or a weak-willed , sad wife (as in the title role of Henrik Ibsen's Nora (1944)). Audiences and critics alike applauded her performances and Louis B. Mayer even offered her a contract at MGM in 1938 which Louise declined. Instead, she traveled to South America where she met her future husband, Count Wulf Dietrich zu Castell, director of Munich-Riem airport.
After the war, Louise Ullrich made a seamless transition to character roles, dividing her time between stage and screen. One of her notable film appearances during this time was as Cornelie in Harald Braun's Keepers of the Night (1949). Though she had misgivings about the maudlin sentimentality and melodramatics of the screenplay (stating in her autobiography that it wouldn't have mattered to her whether she got the part or not!), the critic Gunter Groll praised her performance as more mature and defined while always retaining her distinguishing genuine qualities. In the 1960's, she made a number of television appearances (including a series by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, in which she played a strong-willed grandmother) and in 1973 published her memoirs. Louise Ullrich spent most of her remaining years writing and painting. One of her last works was an Australian travel memoir, published in 1985. The popular actress died of cancer in January that year.- Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Additional Crew
Hans Nielsen was born on 30 November 1911 in Hamburg, Germany. He was an actor and assistant director, known for Titanic (1943), Mistress of the World (1960) and Treasure of the Aztecs (1965). He was married to Anna Katharina Elisabeth Novian and Annemarie Giersch. He died on 11 October 1965 in West Berlin, West Germany.- Actor
- Soundtrack
René Deltgen was born on 30 April 1909 in Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg. He was an actor, known for The Tiger of Eschnapur (1959), No Way Back (1953) and Journey to the Lost City (1960). He was married to Anita Irene Wapordjieff and Elisabeth Scherer. He died on 29 January 1979 in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Dieter Borsche was born on 25 October 1909 in Hannover, Germany. He was an actor and director, known for Die große Versuchung (1952), Fanfaren der Liebe (1951) and No Greater Love (1952). He was married to Ursula Willick, Monika Drum and Ursula Poser. He died on 5 August 1982 in Nuremberg, Bavaria, West Germany.- Angelika Meissner was born on 25 November 1939 in Berlin, Germany. She was an actress, known for Ferien auf Immenhof (1957), Die Mädels vom Immenhof (1955) and Hochzeit auf Immenhof (1956). She died on 10 January 2018 in Berlin, Germany.
- Käthe Haack was born on 11 August 1897 in Berlin, Germany. She was an actress, known for Emil and the Detectives (1931), The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1943) and Meine vier Jungens (1944). She was married to Heinrich Schroth. She died on 5 May 1986 in West Berlin, West Germany.