Elisabeth Bergner

BIOGRAFÍA DE ELISABETH BERGNER

Bergner, Elisabeth

ACTOR (AUSTRIAN EMPIRE)
BORN 22 Aug 1897, Drohobycz, Galizien (now Drogobych, Ukraine) - DIED 12 May 1986, London
REAL NAME Ettel, Elisabeth
GRAVE LOCATION London: Golders Green (Ashes scattered in Section 1-L)

Elisabeth Bergner grew up in Vienna. She made her theatre debut in Innsbruck in 1915. In 1916 she obtained a contract in Zurich, where she played Ophelia next to the famous Alexander Moissi, who fell in love with her. She rejected him as a lover (allthough she liked him very much and it seems she played with his feelings). The next stage in her career was was Vienna, where she posed as a model for the highly talented but deeply unhappy sculptor Wilhelm Lehmbruck. Lehmbruck fell madly in love with her. She rejected him and his suicide soon afterwards shocked her. After performing in Vienna and Munich she came to Berlin in 1921. There she played in productions by Max Reinhardt and became a very popular actress.

During her early years as an actress she was often helped by the poet and critic Albert Ehrenstein, whom she called "Xaverl". Ehrenstein was also in love with her. At one time she promised him a child, but soon she changed her mind. Ehrenstein wrote numerous poems for her, but often she kept him at a distance. However, their friendship lasted and they continued to exchange letters.

In 1923 she made her film debut in "Der Evangelimann". In 1924 Paul Skinner gave her a role in "Nju". This was the beginning of a succesful collaboration in professional as well as private life. Her most succesful silent movie was "Fraulein Else" (1928).

Bergner and Skinner were both Jews and after the Nazi's came to power they emigrated to Vienna and then London, where they were married. She learned English and was able to continue her career. In London she befriended G.B. Shaw and J.M. Barrie, who after a long pause started writing again, especially for her. The resulting play, "The Boy David" was not succesful. During her London years she sent much of her money to relatives and friends in need. Among them Ehrenstein, who never seemed able to make any money for himself and always needed her financial assistance.

In 1940 Bergner and Szinner moved to the USA. Her movie about "Catherine the great" (1934) was forbidden in Germany because there were Jews in it. Her part as Gemma Jones in "Verlass mich niemals wieder" ("Escape me never", 1935) earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. Bergner's only Hollywood movie "Paris Calling" (1941) failed to attract attention.

After the war she worked in New York until she returned to England in 1950 and continued to live there. She gave much acclaimed bible readings in Israel in English, German and Hebrew. Back in Europe she resumed her stage career in Germany and in 1959 she stunned audiences and critics in Berlin with her performance in "Geliebter Lugner", a German version of Jerome Kilty's "Dear Liar", a play based on the letters exchanged between G.B. Shaw and actress Stella Campbell. In 1961 she also returned to the movies and in 1970 she debuted as a director. Her last stage appearance took place in 1973 (Paul Czinner had died in 1972).

In 1978 a volume of memoirs was published in which she shared some of her secrets with the public, but certainly not all of them. In 1979 she received the Ernst-Lubitsch Prize and in 1982 the Eleonora Duse Prize Asolo. She discussed a possible return to Vienna with Bruno Kreisky, but she died from cancer at her home in London in 1986. In Seglitz (Berlín) a city park was named after her.

Related persons
• was written about by Eloesser, Arthur
• knew Kokoschka, Oskar
• worked as a model for Lehmbruck, Wilhelm
• has a connection with Otto, Hans
• was directed by Reinhardt, Max
• was a friend of Schnitzler, Arthur
• knew Wedekind, Frank

Events
1929/3/28: Performance of Frank Wedekind's "Der Maquis von Keith" in honour of the recently deceased Albert Steinruck
It took place at the Schauspielhaus at the Gendarmemarkt in Belrin. Director was Leopold Jessner and Heinrich Mann speeched. Among the participating actors were Heinrich George, Werner Krauss, Carola Neher, Tilla Durieux, Jakob Tiedtke, Conrad Veidt, Max Pallenberg, Elisabeth Bergner, Paul Wegener, Hans Albers, Kathe Dorsch and Veit Harlan.

Sources
• Bergner, Elisabeth, Bewundert viel und viel gescholten, Elisabeth Bergners unordentliche Erinnerungen, Bertelsmann, Munchen, 1978
• Volker, Klaus, Elisabeth Bergner, das Leben einer Schauspielerin, ganz und doch immer unvollendet, Hentrich, Berlin, 1990
• Elisabeth Bergner
• Bergner, Elisabeth eigentlich E. Ettel

De niña era muy imaginativa y los padres, que vivian en Viena, la llevaron a psicoterapia con los Dres. Sigmund Freud y Jacob Levy Moreno padres del Psicoanalisis y del Psicodrama respectivamente, los tres judios. De ambos tiene muy buen recuerdo, pero fue Moreno, que nacio tambien en Galitzi (Imperio Austro - Hungaro) quien animo a sus padres a que desarrollara su creatividad como actriz. Fue la gran dama del teatro aleman, como Sarha Berhard en el frances o Maria Guerrero en el español.

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