Maria Schell
Encyclopedia
Maria Margarethe Anna Schell (15 January 1926, Vienna
– 26 April 2005, Preitenegg
, Carinthia
) was an Austria
n/Swiss
actress, who won the Volpi Cup
for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival in 1956 for Gervaise
.
The daughter of a Swiss author and an Austrian actress, she was the older sister of actor Maximilian Schell
, and lesser-known actors Carl Schell and Immy (Immaculata) Schell.
(1951
), So Little Time
(1952
), The Heart of the Matter
(1953
), Gervaise
(1956
), Le notti bianche
(1957
), Rose Bernd
(1957), The Brothers Karamazov (1958
) playing the role of Grushenka, The Hanging Tree
(1959
), Cimarron (1960
), and Superman (1978
). She played Mother Maria in the sequel to Lilies of the Field called Christmas Lilies of the Field
. She starred opposite such actors as Yul Brynner
, Marcello Mastroianni
, Suzy Delair
, Gary Cooper
and Marlon Brando
. She also had five guest appearances in the television series, Der Kommissar and Derrick
: Yellow He (1977) & Klavierkonzert (1978). Her final public appearance was at the premiere of her brother Maximilian's documentary film
, My Sister Maria (2002). She starred in the 1976 Broadway play Poor Murderer
.
n playwright Franz Xaver Kroetz
and has three children, made a media and Internet appearance as a spokeswoman for housewives
(If Pigs Could Fly. Die Hausfrauenrevolution, 2004).
in the Austria
n Alps
until her death from pneumonia
in Preitenegg
, Austria
on 26 April 2005, aged 79.
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
– 26 April 2005, Preitenegg
Preitenegg
Preitenegg is a town in the district of Wolfsberg in Carinthia in Austria. Preitenegg was first mentioned in 1288....
, Carinthia
Carinthia (state)
Carinthia is the southernmost Austrian state or Land. Situated within the Eastern Alps it is chiefly noted for its mountains and lakes.The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Austro-Bavarian group...
) was an Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n/Swiss
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
actress, who won the Volpi Cup
Volpi Cup
The Volpi Cups are the principal awards given to actors at the Venice Film Festival. Formal acting awards were introduced in the second festival . Initially they were called Great Gold Medals of the National Fascist Association for Entertainment. The name Volpi Cup was introduced the following year...
for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival in 1956 for Gervaise
Gervaise
Gervaise is a 1956 French film directed by René Clément based on the novel L'Assommoir by Émile Zola. It depicts a woman in the nineteenth century trying to cope with the pressure of dealing with her alcoholic husband...
.
The daughter of a Swiss author and an Austrian actress, she was the older sister of actor Maximilian Schell
Maximilian Schell
Maximilian Schell is an Austrian-born Swiss actor who won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Judgment at Nuremberg in 1961...
, and lesser-known actors Carl Schell and Immy (Immaculata) Schell.
Career
She starred in such films as Dr. HollDr. Holl
Dr. Holl is a 1951 German drama film directed by Rolf Hansen. At the 1st Berlin International Film Festival it won the Certificate of Honour award.-Cast:* Maria Schell - Angelika Alberti* Dieter Borsche - Dr...
(1951
1951 in film
The year 1951 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Sweden - May Britt is scouted by Italian film-makers Carlo Ponti and Mario Soldati-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:...
), So Little Time
So Little Time (film)
So Little Time is a 1952 British World War II romance drama, directed by Compton Bennett and starring Marius Goring and Maria Schell. The film is based on the novel Je ne suis pas une héroïne by French author Noelle Henry...
(1952
1952 in film
The year 1952 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 10 - Cecil B. DeMille's circus epic, The Greatest Show on Earth, premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City....
), The Heart of the Matter
The Heart of the Matter (film)
The Heart of the Matter is a 1953 British film based on the book of the same name by Graham Greene. It was directed by George More O'Ferrall for London Films. It was entered into the 1953 Cannes Film Festival.-Plot, cast and production:...
(1953
1953 in film
The year 1953 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*September 16 — The Robe debuts as the first anamorphic, widescreen CinemaScope film.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:A...
), Gervaise
Gervaise
Gervaise is a 1956 French film directed by René Clément based on the novel L'Assommoir by Émile Zola. It depicts a woman in the nineteenth century trying to cope with the pressure of dealing with her alcoholic husband...
(1956
1956 in film
The year 1956 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 5 - The Ten Commandments opens in cinemas and becomes one of the most successful and popular movies of all time, currently ranking 5th on the list of all time moneymakers * February 5 - First showing of documentary films by...
), Le notti bianche
Le notti bianche
Le Notti Bianche is a 1957 Italian film directed by Italian neorealist Luchino Visconti. The movie takes its title and basic plot from Fyodor Dostoevsky’s 1848 short story, White Nights.-Plot:...
(1957
1957 in film
The year 1957 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 21 - The movie Jailhouse Rock, starring Elvis Presley, opens.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue-Awards:...
), Rose Bernd
Rose Bernd (film)
Rose Bernd is a 1957 German drama film directed by Wolfgang Staudte. It was entered into the 1957 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Maria Schell - Rose Bernd* Raf Vallone - Arthur Streckmann* Käthe Gold - Henriette Flamm* Leopold Biberti - Christoph Flamm...
(1957), The Brothers Karamazov (1958
1958 in film
The year 1958 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 16- "In the Money" by William Beaudine is released on this date. It would be the last installment of The Bowery Boys series which began back in 1946....
) playing the role of Grushenka, The Hanging Tree
The Hanging Tree
The Hanging Tree is a 1959 movie directed by Delmer Daves. Karl Malden took over directing duties for several days when Daves fell ill. The film stars Gary Cooper, Maria Schell, George C...
(1959
1959 in film
The year 1959 in film involved some significant events, with Ben-Hur winning a record 11 Academy Awards.-Events:* The Three Stooges make their 190th and last short film, Sappy Bull Fighters....
), Cimarron (1960
1960 in film
The year 1960 in film involved some significant events, with Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho the top-grossing release in the U.S.-Events:* April 20 - for the first time since coming home from military service in Germany, Elvis Presley returns to Hollywood, California to film G.I...
), and Superman (1978
1978 in film
The year 1978 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 1 - Bob Dylan's film Renaldo and Clara, a documentary of the "Rolling Thunder Revue" tour premieres in Los Angeles, California....
). She played Mother Maria in the sequel to Lilies of the Field called Christmas Lilies of the Field
Christmas Lilies of the Field
Christmas Lilies of the Field is a 1979 made-for-TV sequel to the classic film Lilies of the Field. In this sequel, directed by Ralph Nelson, Homer Smith returns to the Arizona desert where he had built the chapel for the nuns. This time Smith is played by Billy Dee Williams instead of Sidney Poitier...
. She starred opposite such actors as Yul Brynner
Yul Brynner
Yul Brynner was a Russian-born actor of stage and film. He was best known for his portrayal of Mongkut, king of Siam, in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor for the film version; he also played the role more than 4,500 times on...
, Marcello Mastroianni
Marcello Mastroianni
Marcello Vincenzo Domenico Mastroianni, Knight Grand Cross was an Italian film actor. His honours included British Film Academy Awards, Best Actor awards at the Cannes Film Festival and two Golden Globe Awards.- Personal life :...
, Suzy Delair
Suzy Delair
Suzy Delair is a vivacious French entertainer who starred in many different films. Her real name is Suzanne Pierrette Delaire....
, Gary Cooper
Gary Cooper
Frank James Cooper, known professionally as Gary Cooper, was an American film actor. He was renowned for his quiet, understated acting style and his stoic, but at times intense screen persona, which was particularly well suited to the many Westerns he made...
and Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
. She also had five guest appearances in the television series, Der Kommissar and Derrick
Derrick
A derrick is a lifting device composed of one tower, or guyed mast such as a pole which is hinged freely at the bottom. It is controlled by lines powered by some means such as man-hauling or motors, so that the pole can move in all four directions. A line runs up it and over its top with a hook on...
: Yellow He (1977) & Klavierkonzert (1978). Her final public appearance was at the premiere of her brother Maximilian's documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
, My Sister Maria (2002). She starred in the 1976 Broadway play Poor Murderer
Poor Murderer
Poor Murderer was a 1976 Broadway play written by Pavel Kohout that premiered at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on October 20, 1976 and closed on January 2, 1977 after 87 performances.-Setting:...
.
Family
Schell was married twice, first to Horst Hächler and second to Veit Relin. Her daughter by her second marriage, actress Marie Theres Relin (born 1966), who was married to BavariaBavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
n playwright Franz Xaver Kroetz
Franz Xaver Kroetz
Franz Xaver Kroetz is a German author, playwright, actor and film director. His plays have been translated and performed internationally.-Life:Kroetz attended an acting school in Munich and the Max-Reinhardt-Seminar in Vienna...
and has three children, made a media and Internet appearance as a spokeswoman for housewives
Housewife
Housewife is a term used to describe a married woman with household responsibilities who is not employed outside the home. Merriam Webster describes a housewife as a married woman who is in charge of her household...
(If Pigs Could Fly. Die Hausfrauenrevolution, 2004).
Death
Maria Schell lived reclusively in ill health in CarinthiaCarinthia (state)
Carinthia is the southernmost Austrian state or Land. Situated within the Eastern Alps it is chiefly noted for its mountains and lakes.The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Austro-Bavarian group...
in the Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
until her death from pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
in Preitenegg
Preitenegg
Preitenegg is a town in the district of Wolfsberg in Carinthia in Austria. Preitenegg was first mentioned in 1288....
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
on 26 April 2005, aged 79.
Posthumous
Upon her death, Maximilian Schell released a statement, saying in part: "Towards the end of her life, she suffered silently and I never heard her complain. I admire her for that. Her death might have been for her a salvation. But not for me. She is irreplaceable."Autobiographical works
- 1985: Die Kostbarkeit des Augenblicks. Gedanken, Erinnerungen. Langen Müller, München, ISBN 3784420729.
- 1998: „... und wenn’s a Katz is!“ Mein Weg durchs Leben. Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach, ISBN 3404127846.
selected filmography
- NapoléonNapoléon (1955 film)Napoléon is a 1955 French historical epic film directed by Sacha Guitry that depicts major events in the life of Napoleon I of France.The film is notable for its use of location shooting for numerous scenes, especially at the French estates of Malmaison and Fontainebleau, the Palace of Versailles,...
(1955) - La ProvocationLa ProvocationLa Provocation is a French drama film from 1970. It was directed by André Charpak, written by André Charpak and Jean Verdun, starring Jean Marais and Maria Schell.- Cast :* Jean Marais : Christian* Maria Schell : Jeanne* Corinne Le Poulain : Isabelle...
(1970) - The TwistThe Twist (film)The Twist is a 1976 film co-written and directed by Claude Chabrol. Its title in French is Folies bourgeoises .-Plot:...
(1976)
Further reading
- Mato Weiland: Maria Schell. Die autorisierte Maria Schell-Story. Massimo-Verlag, Wien 1959 ÖNB
- Herbert Spaich: Maria Schell – ihre Filme – ihr Leben. [Heyne-Bücher, 32] Heyne-Filmbibliothek, 99, München 1986, ISBN 3-453-86101-9
- Hermann Josef Huber: Heitere Starparade. 300 Anekdoten von Hans Albers bis Maria Schell. Herder Taschenbuch Verl., Freiburg/Br., Basel, Wien 1989 UBS
- Maximilian Schell, Gero von Boehm, Thomas Montasser: Meine Schwester Maria. Europa-Verlag, Hamburg 2004, ISBN 3-203-82037-4
- Maja Keppler (Red.), Deutsches Filmmuseum [Frankfurt, Main] (Hrsg.): Maria Schell, [eine Ausstellung des deutschen Filmmuseums 31. Januar bis 17. Juni 2007 Frankfurt am Main, Juli bis Oktober 2007 auf dem Schloss Wolfsberg, Kärnten (Österreich)]. Schriftenreihe des Deutschen Filmmuseums: Kinematograph, 22, Frankfurt am Main 2006, ISBN 3-89487-551-8
