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- Franz Kafka was born into a German-speaking Jewish family in Prague, Austrian Empire, in 1883. His father, Hermann Kafka, was a business owner and a domestic tyrant, frequently abusing his son. Kafka later admitted to his father, "My writing was all about you...". He believed that his father broke his will and caused insecurity and guilt, that affected his whole life. Their tensions come out in "The Trial" and in "The Castle" in form of a hopeless conflict with an overwhelming force. His mother, Julie Lowy, came from an intellectual, spiritual family of the Jewish merchant and brewer Jakob Lowy. Although her influence was diminished by his dominating father, she shared her son's delicate nature. Kafka had a few relationships with women and was engaged, but never made a family.
He finished the German National Gymnasium in 1901, and graduated from the German University in Prague as Doctor of Law in 1906. He worked for insurance companies for the rest of his life. His profession shaped the formal, cold language of his writings which avoided any sentimental interpretations, leaving it to the reader. In 1908 Kafka published eight short stories compiled under the title "Meditation". In 1911 he became interested in Yiddish theater, that absorbed him more than abstract Judaism. In 1912 he began writing "The Judgment", which was more than an autobiography, providing a therapeutical outlet for his wrecked soul. The same year he started "Metamorphosis" about a traveling salesman, who transformed into a giant bug. In 1914 he wrote "In the Penal Colony" and "The Trial", which is regarded to be his best work. His style remains unique, though literary connections may be traced to Edgar Allan Poe, E.T.A. Hoffmann and Nikolay Gogol, as well as to Chinese parables, to the Bible and Talmud.
As a Jew Kafka experienced social tensions and isolation from the German community, so very few of his writings could find readers during his life. His three sisters later died in the Nazi concentration camps. He suffered from clinical depression, social anxiety, insomnia, and tuberculosis, complicated by laryngitis, that caused him the loss of his voice before his death in 1924. He was comforted by his girlfriend Dora Diamant, who had broken away from her Hasidic shtetl in Poland. She was 19 when they met in 1923 and Kafka wrote to her parents, asking for their permission to marry her. Their answer was negative, because Kafka presented himself as a non-religious Jew. He asked Dora to destroy his manuscripts after his death, but she kept about 20 notebooks of his writings and 35 private letters, that were reportedly confiscated by the Gestapo in 1933 and are not yet recovered. His university friend Max Brod became his editor, biographer and literary agent, who preserved and published most of Kafka's works posthumously, including the unfinished novels "The Trial", "The Castle", and "America". - Actor
- Soundtrack
Joseph Egger was born on 22 February 1889 in Donawitz, Styria, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]. He was an actor, known for A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965) and Das alte Försterhaus (1956). He was married to Erna. He died on 29 August 1966 in Gablitz, Lower Austria, Austria.- Vilma Degischer was, first of all, a famous and a very good theatre actress. She was born in Vienna on November, the 17th 1911. After attending school, she wanted to be a dancer and was taught ballet by Grete Gross, Gertrude Bodenwieser and Ellinor Tordis. However, after some time, she found the acting talent in herself.
She decided to attend the Wiener Reinhardt Seminar where she learned how to be a good actress. After graduating from the seminar, she played in various Austrian and German theatres, especially in Berlin, Vienna and Salzburg. Here, it is important to mention her debut in Berlin in 1930s where she played Hermia in Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream. It was directed by Max Reinhardt.
The first turning point in her theatre career was the year 1939 when she started to actively work in the Viennese theatre "Theater in der Josefstadt." She stayed there for long and up till now her name is well remembered there. Vilma became a "salondame" and got a number of main roles in plays. Above all, it is necessary to mention such roles as Helen in "Der Schwierige", Generalin in "Der Walzer der Toreros", unforgettable Königin in "Die Jüdin von Toledo", Marie in "Das Konzert" or Mother Carmen in "Maria Pineda".
Later, in the 1940s Vilma Degischer broadened her repertoire and started to play in musicals, films, and even some mini series. Most people probably remember her portrayal of the cruel archduchess Sophie in Ernst Marischka's three parts of "Sissi" (1955, 1956, 1957) with Romy Schneider and Karlheinz Böhm. Besides, there were other roles in movies: as Livia Argan in Ernst Marischka's beautiful movie interpretation of Franz Werfel's "Der veruntreute Himmel" (1958) with Annie Rosar and Hans Holt; as sister Wilhelmina in Otto Preminger's "The Cardinal" (1963) with Romy Schneider; as Mrs. Shelby in "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (1965) and many other roles. At the end of her life, one could admire her in a minor role in the mini series "The Strauss Dynasty" (1991) by Marvin J. Chomsky with Anthony Higgins and Stephen McGann.
Vilma Degischer died on May, the 3rd 1992 at the age of 80. She was married once to the actor Hermann Thimig with whom she had two daughters. In her long career, she was awarded with the "Ehrenkreuz für Wissenschaft und Kunst erster Klasse", "Kainz Medaille" and was given a title "Kamerschauspielerin".
People who remember her know how much she appreciated elegance, perfection of acting, good manners, and culture. She will always be remembered by people who share her values. A great actress from a great country! - Actress
- Soundtrack
Marika Rokk was born in Cairo on the 3rd of November 1913. As a child she moved to Hungary. In Paris at the Moulin Rouge she started her career as a dancer, soon moving on to Broadway New York City, USA.
She made her first films Why Sailors Leave Home (1930) in London, & also Kiss Me Sergeant (1930) in London, U.K.
After that she made 2 very fine films in Hungary, her home.
Miss Rokk made her first German film: Light Cavalry (1935) in 1935 it made her a Star overnight. Soon she married German Film Director Georg Jacoby and her 2nd German film was Der Bettelstudent (1936), directed by him.
In 1939 she made It Was a Gay Ballnight (1939) with superstar Zarah Leander and started filming the first German color film Frauen sind doch bessere Diplomaten (1941) which was finished and released two years later.
The couple had one child, Gabriele Jacoby. Miss Rökk also married Fred Raul. She retired from films in the 1960s but continued to perform in Operetta's like "Die Blume von Hawaii" & others on the stage across Europe before retiring to Baden, Austria. She died of a heart attack May 16, 2004.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
After school, he attended the Academy for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, which he successfully completed. In 1924, Fritz Eckhardt had his first engagement at the Wilhelma Theater in Stuttgart, where his father was director. Just two years later he made his screen debut in the silent film "Rosenkavalier". A few roles at smaller theaters followed until he came to "Lieber Augustin" in 1936. In addition to his work as an actor, Eckhardt began writing and directing plays.
During the war years of the Second World War from 1939 onward, Fritz Eckhardt anonymously wrote pieces for the "Wiener Werkel", the only cabaret in Vienna during the time of the Nazi regime under Adolf Hitler. Banned from working because of his half-Jewish descent, he fled to America for a while, where he mainly wrote radio plays. After the end of the war in June 1945, Eckhardt, together with Carl Merz and Kurt Nachtmann, managed to reopen the "Lieber Augustin". Carl Merz took over management in the following years. From 1946 to 1948, Fritz Eckhardt directed the Vienna "Kunsttheater".
He also took part in the "Kleine Brettl" in 1947 and wrote some pieces for cabarets in German-speaking countries. Fritz Eckhardt became a sought-after actor and author in post-war cinema. He became a popular series actor and therefore known to a wider audience through his role in "Hello... Hotel Sacher, Portier!". Eckhardt also wrote scripts, including for "The Leitner Family", for some of his "Tatort" episodes and for "Swabian Stories". One of his most successful films was "When the Father with the Son..." with Heinz Rühmann from 1955.
This was later followed by the role of Inspector Marek in "Tatort", where he was very popular with his audience. During his life he wrote over 30 plays and more than 200 film and television scripts. In 1989, Eckhardt published his autobiography under the title "I like to remember". The book "An actor must be able to do everything" followed in 1992. In 1993 his wife died, whose death he was unable to overcome. This was followed by health problems, because of which he had to undergo several operations.
Fritz Eckhardt died on December 31, 1995 in Klosterneuenburg near Vienna.- Annemarie Düringer was born on 26 November 1925 in Basel, Switzerland. She was an actress, known for Veronika Voss (1982), The Devil Strikes at Night (1957) and Vor Sonnenuntergang (1956). She died on 26 November 2014 in Baden, Lower Austria, Austria.
- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Wolfgang Liebeneiner was a German-Austrian film director, stage and film actor. He was born as Wolfgang Georg Louis Liebeneiner in Liebau, Lower Silesia, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire (now Lubawka, Poland). His father was in the textile business. Wolfgang was sent to the cadet schools in Wahlstatt (now Legnickie Pole) and Berlin-Lichterfelde, and went for further schooling to Berlin-Zehlendorf. After graduating, he studied philosophy, German studies and international history in Innsbruck (Austria), Berlin and Munich. He became a professor of the Economy Spielschar. From 1930 till 1934 he played at the capital's "Deutsches Theater". In 1935 he married actress Ruth Hellberg, but the marriage went on the rocks. From 1936 till 1944 he was a member of the "Preußisches Staatstheater" in Berlin. From 1938 to 1943 he was an art director at the Film Academy in Babelsberg (now district of Potsdam). In 1942 to 1945 he was leader of the UFA Studio. He usually played young lovers in about 20 films. He also had bit parts in films that he directed. Afterwards he also worked for TV films and series.
In 1944 he married Yugoslavian actress Hilde Krahl, whom he met during the filming of Yvette (1938). They have had two daughters, of which Johanna also became an actress. Wolfgang Liebeneiner died in Mödling near Vienna, Austria.- Actress
- Director
- Costume Designer
Sissy Löwinger was born on 22 June 1941 in Graz, Styria, Austria. She was an actress and director, known for Naughty Roommates (1969), Zwei Männer und kein Mann (1976) and Das Dorf ohne Moral (1960). She was married to Hans-Peter Blechinger, Peter Rapp, Herbert Hisel and Rudi Grimas. She died on 25 September 2011 in Altlengbach, Lower Austria, Austria.- Actor
- Soundtrack
This corpulent, balding character actor was a ubiquitous presence in German-speaking films for almost half a century. So much so, that a contemporary critic referred to him as 'the king of the supporting roles'. A baker's son, Sima had at first aspired to become a writer. When this somehow failed to materialise, he went on to study drama at Vienna Conservatory. His first theatrical engagement in 1919 took him to the Deutsche Theater in Prague. Afterwards, he was to divide his time on stage between Vienna and Berlin. From 1927, Sima came under the auspices of Max Reinhardt, who was astute enough to recognise his singular comic talent and had him cast in satirical or comedic roles.
Sima's screen career commenced in 1921. He made limited headway until the arrival of sound. All of a sudden, he started to average several films per year, often acting in commercially successful pictures like Die Fledermaus (1931), So ein Flegel (1934), Liebe, Tod und Teufel (1934), Glückskinder (1936), Gasparone (1937), Frau im Strom (1939) and Jenny und der Herr im Frack (1941). His stock-in-trade character was the surly curmudgeon: sometimes villainous, cigar-chewing and choleric, sometimes shifty and scheming, all the while deceptively amiable. At other times, he provided effective, often scene-stealing comedy relief, as pompous, easily deflatable editors, industrialists or burgomasters. Sima continued, unabated, during the post-war era, alternating comedies with romantic melodramas. In 1967, he was forced into retirement following a heart attack, retreating to his horse-breeding stud near Vienna.
During the national socialist era, Sima's stance towards the ruling regime seemed ambivalent. On the one hand, he vociferously applauded Austria's 'Anschluss' with Germany. He went as far as to join the NSDAP, ostensibly, in order to continue performing. On the other hand, Sima appears also to have been associated with at least one resistance cell during the 1940's. Perhaps, that curious ambiguity accounted for his receiving the one major award of his prolific career, the Filmband in Gold, only just prior to his death in June 1969.- Judith Holzmeister was born on 14 February 1920 in Innsbruck, Tyrol, Austria. She was an actress, known for Maria Stuart (1959), Don Carlos (1960) and Eroica (1949). She was married to Bruno Dallansky and Curd Jürgens. She died on 23 June 2008 in Baden, Lower Austria, Austria.
- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Hans Holt was born on 22 November 1909 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]. He was an actor and writer, known for Wen die Götter lieben (1942), The Mozart Story (1948) and The Trapp Family (1956). He was married to Renate Bremer. He died on 3 August 2001 in Baden, Lower Austria, Austria.- Proficient in Greek and Latin and self-taught in classic literature, Sonja Sutter was a captivating actress who achieved dramatic depths on both stage and screen during a career which commenced in 1951. A banker's daughter, she had completed a rudimentary education in her home town (Freiburg) where she also made her theatrical debut. She was 'discovered' for the screen by Luis Trenker during an audition for a Heimatfilm and passed along to the director Slatan Dudow who gave her a pivotal role in his post-war drama Frauenschicksale (1952). Affiliated with both East and West German cinema, Sutter then appeared in several prestige pictures, including Das Schweigen im Walde (1955) and Die Barrings (1955). Not until five years later did she get another opportunity to demonstrate her talent as the titular star of Lissy (1957), directed by Konrad Wolf. This anti-fascist drama, chronicling the lives of a working class family in 1930's Berlin under the Nazis, became one of Wolf's most famous films and was also the high point of Sutter's film career. Perhaps too closely identified with a particular type of character, she received fewer film offers from the West in the 60's. The creation of the Berlin Wall effectively ended her association with DEFA. Returning to the stage, Sutter became an ensemble member of the iconic Vienna Burgtheater in 1959. Her tenure with the company lasted four decades, with as many as seventy leading roles to her repertoire. She also regularly performed at the Salzburg Festival, her roles ranging from Strindberg's "Queen Christina" and Schiller's "Intrigue and Love" (Kabale und Liebe) to Gute Werke in Hugo von Hofmannsthal's medieval play "Everyman". Towards the end of her career, she concentrated increasingly on TV work, often guesting as genteel ladies in popular crime shows like Tatort (1970), Derrick (1974) and The Old Fox (1977).
- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Director, painter, and author Peter Patzak was born in Vienna, Austria where he studied psychology and art history. His first art exhibition was held under the patronage of Albert Paris Gütersloh. In the mid-1960's he was invited to participate in the Films of Art show in New York. From 1968 to 1970 he worked on experimental and short films in New York where he became friends with Paul Morrissey. Today his body of work includes one hundred feature and television films including Kassbach by Author Helmut Zenker, The Unicorn by Martin Walser, Frau Berta Garlan by Arthur Schnitzler, and Wahnfried - Richard and Cosima, the official selection for the Cannes Film Festival. Following his return to Vienna, Patzak directed his first feature film, Die Situation, in 1972. He held a professorship at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna since 1990, and in 2008 became Head of the Institute for Film and Television from which he retired in 2013.
Peter Patzak made television history with his anarchistic parody of the crime genre in Kottan Ermittelt, which ran from 1976 to 1983. He is the recipient of many awards including the Adolf Grimme Prize, the Goldene Kamera, the Goldene Romy, the Berlin and Moscow Film Festival Prizes for Kassbach, the 1996 Russian Filmmakers Prize in Moscow for Shanghai 1937, and the UNESCO Prize for Gelobtes Land. Patzak was honored with retrospectives of his extensive and multifaceted career at festivals including the Cinématèque Francaise (Laudatio Jean-Jacques Annaud) and the Max Ophüls Festival. Other retrospectives took place at the Carnegie Hall Cinema in New York, in Jerusalem (in conversation with Philip Roth), at the Austrian Film Days in Berlin, and at festivals in Cairo, Damascus, and Shanghai. In 2002 Peter Patzak received the Canal Grande Award for best director in Venice for his adaptation of Die Wasserfälle von Slunj based on the novel of the same name by Heimito von Doderer. The film also received the Austrian National Education Prize. In 2003 Patzak won the Emerging Maverick Director's Award for Zodiac Sign at the San Jose Film Festival. In 2010 he was honored with a retrospective by the Filmarchiv Austria accompanied by a comprehensive monograph with an introduction by Marin Scorsese.
Patzak's painting career began as early as 1961 with regular exhibitions that he titled, The Physicists' Halftime, Communication Machines and TV-Images, The Color White, Body Serviettes and Tablecloths, Traces and Shrines, Shanghai Notebook, Le Porte Delle Vecchie, and Finestre von Vedute. Since 2007 he has created following series: Die ungleichen Stunden, Stimmen aus dem Lupanar, Das Buch der Nikarete, Rectinas Briefe. His latest exhibitions were all titled Daten and included the series Briefe nach Perigord, Gate to the Garden, and Briefe an Eve.
Peter Patzak also served as author, co-author, and producer of many of his films. Several of his books were made into audio books, including his 2005 novel Der Geist der Farbe. His play, Akte - im Schweigen vermählt premiered in 2008 at Vienna's Stadttheater. In October of 2008 a prose version of the theater script appeared in the Ralph Klever Verlag. Other publications include Full Circle, and Walter Schurian's Bild, Film, Schrift, which investigates the correlation between Peter Patzak's artistic, filmic, and literary work.- Camera and Electrical Department
Götz Hirt-Reger was born in 1921 in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. He is known for Mitteldeutschland unterm Hakenkreuz (2017), Die Kriegsberichter (1998) and Der gescheiterte Blitzkrieg (1998). He died in 2008 in Baden, Lower Austria, Austria.- Actress
- Additional Crew
Elisabeth Stiepl was born on 27 February 1921 in Vienna, Austria. She was an actress, known for Der Mörder mit dem Seidenschal (1966), Hannerl: Ich tanze mit Dir in den Himmel hinein (1952) and Where the Lark Sings (1956). She was married to Karl Schwetter. She died on 4 May 2007 in Neulengbach, Lower Austria, Austria.- Director
- Cinematographer
- Writer
Kurt Mündl was born on 8 June 1959 in St. Pölten, Lower Austria, Austria. He was a director and cinematographer, known for Hogi's Family ...eine total stachelige Angelegenheit (2009), Sisi ... und ich erzähle euch die Wahrheit (2012) and Pielach - The Enchanted Valley (2006). He died in December 2019 in Kirchstetten, Lower Austria, Austria.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Jochen Brockmann was born on 14 September 1919 in Sternberg, Germany. He was an actor, known for The Tiger of Eschnapur (1959), Journey to the Lost City (1960) and The Indian Tomb (1959). He was married to Elisabeth. He died on 27 June 1990 in Horn, Lower Austria, Austria.- Actor
- Composer
Johannes Thanheiser was born on 4 December 1925 in Vienna, Austria. He was an actor and composer, known for Revanche (2008), Braunschlag (2012) and North Face (2008). He was married to Mueh. He died on 17 June 2014 in St. Pölten, Lower Austria, Austria.- Rosa Albach-Retty was born on 26 December 1874 in Hanau, Hesse, Germany. She was an actress, known for Geld auf der Straße (1930), Dreimal Hochzeit (1941) and Episode (1935). She was married to Karl Albach. She died on 26 August 1980 in Baden, Lower Austria, Austria.
- Director
- Writer
- Cinematographer
Ferry Radax was born on 20 June 1932 in Vienna, Austria. He was a director and writer, known for Testament (1968), Das Floß (1954) and Jenseits von Österreich (1990). He died on 9 September 2021 in Baden, Lower Austria, Austria.- Actor
- Director
- Soundtrack
Kurt Sobotka was born on 9 March 1930 in Vienna, Austria. He was an actor and director, known for Die große Glocke (1969), Dolce Vita & Co (2001) and Guglhupf (1978). He was married to Gertraud Killinger. He died on 8 September 2017 in Mödling, Lower Austria, Austria.- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Carl Loubé was born on 13 January 1907 in Mährisch Kromau, Moravia, Austria-Hungary [now Moravský Krumlov, Czech Republic]. He was a composer and actor, known for Die Deutschmeister (1955), Geheimnis einer Ärztin (1955) and Waltz King (1955). He was married to Lucie. He died on 12 December 1983 in Klosterneuburg, Lower Austria, Austria.- Make-Up Department
Maria Fischer was born on 6 December 1919 in Horn, Lower Austria, Austria. She was married to Josef Fischer. She died on 17 June 2007 in Horn, Lower Austria, Austria.- Gustav Maran was born on 8 January 1854 in Vienna, Austrian Empire [now Austria]. He was an actor, known for Filmposse (1914) and Dominik, wo ist die Tänzerin (1916). He died on 19 July 1917 in Sulz im Wienerwald, Lower Austria, Austria-Hungary [now Austria].
- Eva May was born Eva Maria Mandel on May 29, 1902 in Vienna, Austria. Her mother was actress Mia May and her father was producer and director Joe May. Eva made her film debut in her father's 1914 German film The Black Triangle. At the age of sixteen she married director Erik Lund. The couple worked together in numerous films including The Foolish Heart, Black Pearls, and The Bride Of The Incapacitated. She was directed by her father again in the 1920 drama The Legend Of Holly Simplicity,. The press called her "The German Mary Pickford". Unfortunately Eva developed a reputation for being difficult to work with. The young actress was also jealous of her mother's beauty and greater success. She divorced Erik in 1922 and married director Lothar Mendes. They split up a year later.
In 1923 she costarred with Lya De Putti in Die Fledermaus and with Conrad Veidt in Paganini. Her third marriage, to director Manfred Noa, only lasted a few months. Eva started dating producer Rudolf Sieber. When he left her for Marlene Dietrich she slashed her wrists. It was one of several suicide attempts she had made. Then she fell in love with director Fritz Mandl (who was also her second cousin). She was devastated when he refused to marry her. On September 10, 1924 the twenty-two year old committed suicide by shooting herself in the head. In her hand she clutched a photo of Fritz Mandl. Eva left a note that said "Fritz family object - always there is something to mar my happiness - Life is not worth living". Thousands of friends and fans attended her funeral in Vienna. She was cremated and her ashes were given to her parents.