Fern Andra

Fern Andra
Born Vernal Edna Andrews
November 24, 1893
Watseka, Illinois, U.S.
Died February 8, 1974 (aged 80)
Aiken, South Carolina, U.S.
Occupation Actress, writer, film director/producer
Years active 1913–1930
Spouse(s) General Samuel Edge Dockrell (1938–1973; his death)
Ian Keith (1932/1934–19??; divorce)
Kurt Prenzel (1923/24–19??; divorced)
Baron Friedrich von Weichs (19??–1917; his death)

Fern Andra (November 24, 1893[1] – February 8, 1974) was an American actress, film director, script writer and producer. Next to Henny Porten and Asta Nielsen she was one of the most popular and best-known actresses in German silent films of the 1910s.

Biography

Born as Vernal Edna Andrews in Watseka, Illinois in 1893, the daughter of a William P. Andrews and Sarah Emily Evett, also known as Sadie. When her father died in 1898, Sadie remarried Frank St. Clair, a vaudeville actor, circus performer and tight-rope walker. Andra was already appearing in public in a tightrope act by the age of four. She later trained in song and dance. As early as 1899, in New York, she made her first film, a version of Uncle Tom's Cabin.

She remained however with the circus, with which she embarked on an extensive tour across the United States, Canada and Europe. For a time, she was a member of Bird Millman's acclaimed troupe of wire artists.[2] In Berlin she met Max Reinhardt, who gave her acting lessons. In 1913, aged 19, she appeared in her first German film, Das Ave Maria. Still only moderately well-known, she made her only Austrian film in 1915: Zwei Freunde. From 1916-18 she appeared almost exclusively on camera with Alfred Abel. In 1920 she starred in Robert Wiene's expressionist horror film Genuine. In the mid-1920s she lost her public appeal in Germany.

On July 4, 1922, she was involved in the Hamburg-Berlin mail plane accident. The pilot, World War I flying ace Lothar von Richthofen, was killed. Andra was initially misreported as dead,[3] but survived. Her companion, director Georg Bluen, also survived and continued working with her until 1925.[4]

From 1928 she worked in the UK and the US, later expanding her range to include radio and television.

Marriages

Fern Andra was married four times; all of the unions were childless:

Death

Fern Andra died in Aiken, South Carolina, on February 8, 1974, aged 80.

Selected filmography

References

  1. ↑ Born in 1893 per the 1900 United States Census, June 1, 1900, which gives her age as of her last birthday as six years old
  2. ↑ “Marriages: Millman-[O’Day]; Fern Andra,” Billboard, May 10, 1924, p. 114
  3. ↑ New York Times/Chicago Tribune (July 5, 1922) Fern Andrea, Formerly of Illinois, Killed [sic] by Fall-Richtoff, Airman, Also Killed Hamburg-Berlin mail plane accident for original article
  4. ↑ Stars and Stripes Forever: "Von Richthofen's mother, actress Fern Andra meet November 14, 1954; Retrieved November 17, 2016
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