Elisabeth Bergner
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| Elisabeth Bergner | |
 Elisabeth Bergner, 1935 |
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| Birth name | Elisabeth Ettel |
| Born | July 22, 1897 Drohobycz, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Drogobych, Ukraine |
| Died | May 12, 1986 (aged 88) London, England |
Elisabeth Bergner was born Elisabeth Ettel on August 22, 1897, in Drohobycz, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Drogobych, Ukraine).
She began acting in Innsbruck at the age of 15. In Vienna, she worked as an artist's model, posing for sculptor Wilhelm Lehmbruck, who fell in love with her. She eventually moved to Munich and then Berlin.
In 1923 she made her film debut in Der Evangelimann. With the rise of Naziism, Bergner and her husband, Paul Czinner, both Jews, moved to London. Her Catherine the Great was banned in Germany because of her religion. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for Escape Me Never (1935).
She temporarily returned to Germany in 1954, where she acted in movies and on the stage; the Berlin district of Steglitz named a city park after her. Later she moved to London, where she died on May 12, 1986, aged 88.
[edit] All About Eve
Bergner is considered by several critics to be the inspiration for the character of Margo Channing in Joseph L. Mankiewicz classic film, All About Eve.
Bergner had a true life incident about a real-life would-be Eve Harrington that she recounted to writer Mary Orr (1910 - 2006). Ms. Orr published a piece about the matter for Cosmopolitan and named it The Wisdom of Eve, in which Eve does not get a comeuppance (as was required by the Hollywood Production Code for the film), but gets away with everything and is last seen heading to Hollywood with a "thousand dollar a week contract in her pocketbook."
[edit] Bibliography
- Anne Jespersen: Toedliche Wahrheit oder raffinierte Taeuschung. Die Frauen in den Filmen Elisabeth Bergners. In: Michael Omasta, Brigitte Mayr, Christian Cargnelli (eds.): Carl Mayer, Scenar[t]ist. Ein Script von ihm war schon ein Film - "A script by Carl Mayer was already a film". Synema, Vienna 2003, ISBN 3-901644-10-5 (German/English)
