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IMDbPro

Margit Saad(1929-2023)

  • Actress
  • Director
  • Writer
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Margit Saad in Kovaa peliä Hongkongissa (1958)
After pulling a racetrack robbery, repeat offender Johnny Bannion hides the loot in a farmer's field but the police and the local mob come looking for Johnny and the money.
Play trailer3:05
Sementtiviidakko (1960)
1 Video
12 Photos
A star of German post-war cinema, Dority Margit Saad was born in Munich, the daughter of Lebanese linguist Fuad Jabbour Saad and his wife Agnes, a language teacher. After matriculating, Margit took acting classes at the Otto Falckenberg Academy, financing her studies by working as a model. Tall, blond and undeniably photogenic, she soon graced several magazine covers. One of these led to her screen debut in 1951. During the next two years, she also made her stage bow at the Düsseldorfer Kabarett. Margit was 'discovered' there by the director Robert A. Stemmle and promptly assigned her first starring role in the musical Südliche Nächte (1953). For much of the remaining decade, she was typed in undemanding fare as naïve ingénues or exotic love interest in operettas (Mustalaisparooni (1954)), lightweight comedy (Man ist nur zweimal jung (1958)) Heimatfilms (Drei Birken auf der Heide (1956)) and schmaltzy romances (Drei Mädels vom Rhein (1955)).

With public tastes tending towards more sophisticated material, Margit was finally able to escape her typecasting: first up, as a gangster's moll in the popular caper comedy Kovaa peliä Hongkongissa (1958), starring opposite O.W. Fischer. Next came a first-billed role as a boutique owner acting as banker for a gang of drug smugglers in Heiße Ware (1959). This was followed by Joseph Losey 's British noir drama Sementtiviidakko (1960) which had Margit cast as the girlfriend of ruthless Soho villain Johnny Bannion (played by Stanley Baker in one of his best roles). Among her other international appearances were episodes of The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre (1959) and Pyhimys (1962) and she was rather incongruously cast as General Carla of the 'Women's Army of Parazuella' in The Magnificent Two (1967), a so-so comedy with the duo of Morecambe & Wise.

Margit made many stage appearances in both Germany and Austria. Possibly her greatest theatrical success was in the title role of Irma La Douce opposite Harald Juhnke, which premiered in Baden-Baden in 1961. From 1971, she was also active as a director of television documentaries. She made four TV movies based on literary works, beginning with Abenteuer aus dem Englischen Garten (1984) for which she also co-authored the screenplay.

Margit Saad was married to French director, stage and costume designer Jean-Pierre Ponnelle. She held French citizenship but resided in Munich where she died on August 7 2023, aged 94.
BornMay 30, 1929
DiedAugust 7, 2023(94)
BornMay 30, 1929
DiedAugust 7, 2023(94)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank

Photos12

Margit Saad in Was die Schwalbe sang (1956)
Margit Saad in Nyrkkejä ja silmäniskuja (1959)
Margit Saad and Stuart Whitman in Pako läpi linjojen (1970)
Karin Heske, Margit Saad, and Irene Borinski in Nyrkkejä ja silmäniskuja (1959)
Stanley Baker and Margit Saad in Sementtiviidakko (1960)
Margit Saad
Margit Saad
Margit Saad in Sementtiviidakko (1960)
Margit Saad in Heiße Ware (1959)
Margit Saad in The Rebel (1961)
Peter Nestler and Margit Saad in Nyrkkejä ja silmäniskuja (1959)

Known for:

Robin Hood, der edle Räuber (1966)
Robin Hood, der edle Räuber
8.5
TV Movie
  • Königin Eleonor
  • 1966
Playback (1962)
Playback
6.9
  • Lisa Shillack
  • 1962
Billy Kearns in Bob Morane (1964)
Bob Morane
8.8
TV Series
  • Actress
Sementtiviidakko (1960)
Sementtiviidakko
6.8
  • Suzanne
  • 1960

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actress

  • Howalds Fall (1990)
    Tatort
    7.0
    TV Series
    • Inge Zimmermann
    • 1982
  • Jahreszeiten der Liebe
    TV Movie
    • . (Ep.: Geige am Straßenrand)
    • 1979
  • Eine schöne Wirtschaft
    TV Series
    • Vera
    • 1976
  • Die Fälle des Herrn Konstantin
    TV Series
    • Vera Morena
    • 1974
  • Engadiner Bilderbogen
    TV Series
    • 1974
  • Pako läpi linjojen (1970)
    Pako läpi linjojen
    5.1
    • Karen Gerhardt
    • 1970
  • Lukas Ammann and Wolfgang Völz in Graf Yoster gibt sich die Ehre (1967)
    Graf Yoster gibt sich die Ehre
    8.0
    TV Series
    • Clarissa
    • 1968
  • Rikosmuseo kertoo (1963)
    Rikosmuseo kertoo
    9.0
    TV Series
    • Anna Groth
    • 1968
  • The Magnificent Two (1967)
    The Magnificent Two
    5.2
    • General Carla
    • 1967
  • Vakooja SS-tukikohdassa (1966)
    Vakooja SS-tukikohdassa
    5.6
    • Baroness
    • 1966
  • Robin Hood, der edle Räuber (1966)
    Robin Hood, der edle Räuber
    8.5
    TV Movie
    • Königin Eleonor
    • 1966
  • Blue Light (1966)
    Blue Light
    7.5
    TV Series
    • Baroness
    • 1966
  • Pinkas Braun and Werner Umberg in Jörg Preda (1966)
    Jörg Preda
    8.2
    TV Series
    • Verlaine
    • 1966
  • Billy Kearns in Bob Morane (1964)
    Bob Morane
    8.8
    TV Series
    • 1965
  • Michael Rennie in Harry Lime - kolmas mies (1959)
    Harry Lime - kolmas mies
    7.8
    TV Series
    • Magda Ratteau
    • 1965

Director

  • Die Erzählung der Magd Zerline
    TV Movie
    • Director
    • 1990
  • Das Lied der Taube
    TV Movie
    • Director
    • 1989
  • Die Geschichte vom guten alten Herrn und dem schönen Mädchen
    TV Movie
    • Director
    • 1985
  • Abenteuer aus dem Englischen Garten
    TV Movie
    • Director
    • 1984
  • Kein Kommentar
    TV Series
    • Director
    • 1974–1977

Writer

  • Die Geschichte vom guten alten Herrn und dem schönen Mädchen
    TV Movie
    • Writer
    • 1985
  • Abenteuer aus dem Englischen Garten
    TV Movie
    • Writer
    • 1984
  • Kein Kommentar
    TV Series
    • Writer
    • 1974–1977

Videos1

Trailer
Trailer 3:05
Trailer

Personal details

Edit
  • Alternative names
    • Marguerite Saad
  • Born
    • May 30, 1929
    • Munich, Germany
  • Died
    • August 7, 2023
    • Munich, Germany(Undisclosed)
  • Spouse
    • Jean-Pierre Ponnelle1957 - August 11, 1988 (his death, 1 child)
  • Publicity listings
    • 3 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Directed by her husband Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, she appeared in "On ne badine pas avec l'amour" at the Staatstheater Stuttgart, in "Les Caprices de Marianne" at the Baden-Baden Theater and in Purcell's opera Fairy Queen at the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich.

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