Wera Engels
Encyclopedia
Wera Engels was a German actress.
Wera Engels was a daughter of a German Admiral
and Governor
of the then German colony
Tsing-tau-China
. After successful leading roles in productions of the well-established German UFA
-studios in Babelsberg
as well as in France
, Engels was invited to Hollywood. Producers saw her as a cheap alternative to Greta Garbo
and Marlene Dietrich
. She was contracted with RKO. Engels was given roles under Walter Futter and M.H. Hoffman. She became best friends with the silent movie super star Mary Pickford
. By 1935 she returned to Germany, but left soon thereafter, because of the decline of the German movie industry caused by the Nazi
propaganda machine. Back in Hollywood dated Gary Cooper
for a while but married the Lithuania
n-born actor/writer Ivan Lebedeff
. After Lebedeff's death in 1953 of Angina pectoris, she moved back to Europe, where she stayed with several friends in London
and Stockholm
before she went back to Germany. She lived the rest of her life with Erna Hoffmann (widow of Heinrich Hoffmann
, Hitler's
friend and personal photographer) in the Munich
area.
Wera Engels was a daughter of a German Admiral
Admiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
and Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
of the then German colony
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
Tsing-tau-China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. After successful leading roles in productions of the well-established German UFA
Universum Film AG
Universum Film AG, better known as UFA or Ufa, is a film company that was the principal film studio in Germany, home of the German film industry during the Weimar Republic and through World War II, and a major force in world cinema from 1917 to 1945...
-studios in Babelsberg
Potsdam-Babelsberg
Babelsberg is the largest district of the Brandenburg capital Potsdam in Germany. The affluent neighbourhood named after a small hill on the Havel river is famous for Babelsberg Palace and Park, part of the Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as for Studio...
as well as in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Engels was invited to Hollywood. Producers saw her as a cheap alternative to Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo , born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, was a Swedish film actress. Garbo was an international star and icon during Hollywood's silent and classic periods. Many of Garbo's films were sensational hits, and all but three were profitable...
and Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
. She was contracted with RKO. Engels was given roles under Walter Futter and M.H. Hoffman. She became best friends with the silent movie super star Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford was a Canadian-born motion picture actress, co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
. By 1935 she returned to Germany, but left soon thereafter, because of the decline of the German movie industry caused by the Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
propaganda machine. Back in Hollywood dated 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...
for a while but married the Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
n-born actor/writer Ivan Lebedeff
Ivan Lebedeff
Ivan Lebedeff was a Russian film actor. He appeared in 66 films between 1926 and 1953.He was born in Ushpol , Lithuania, then part of the Russian Empire, on June 18, 1894, and died in Los Angeles, California, from a heart attack.He migrated to the United States in 1925 and in 1930 was recorded at...
. After Lebedeff's death in 1953 of Angina pectoris, she moved back to Europe, where she stayed with several friends in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
before she went back to Germany. She lived the rest of her life with Erna Hoffmann (widow of Heinrich Hoffmann
Heinrich Hoffmann
Heinrich Hoffmann was a German photographer best known for his many published photographs of Adolf Hitler.-Early life and career:...
, Hitler's
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
friend and personal photographer) in the Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
area.
Filmography
- 1927 Mädchenhandel - Eine internationale Gefahr
- 1927 Luetzows wilde verwegene Jagd
- 1927 Du hast geliebt am schoenen Rhein?
- 1928 Das Spreewaldmädel
- 1928 Befehl zur Ehe
- 1929 The Streets of London
- 1930 L'anglais tel qu'on le parle
- 1930 Der Greifer
- 1931 Le parfum de la dame en noirLe Parfum de la dame en noirLe Parfum de la dame en noir may refer to several French films:* Le Parfum de la dame en noir * Le Parfum de la dame en noir * Le Parfum de la dame en noir...
- 1931 Kinder des Glücks
- 1932 Der HexerThe Sorceror (film)The Sorceror is a 1932 German drama film directed by Martin Frič and Karel Lamač. It is a German screen adaptation of Edgar Wallace's thriller The Ringer, and is not to be confused with the 1964 remake of the same title, Der Hexer.-Cast:...
- 1932 Lumpenkavaliere
- 1933 The Great Jasper
- 1934 Fugitive Road
- 1935 Sweepstake Annie
- 1935 Together We Live
- 1935 The Great Impersonation
- 1935 Hong Kong Nights
- 1936 Wolga-Wolga
- 1937 Man spricht über Jacqueline