German actress
Brigitte Helm
Born Brigitte Gisela Eva Schittenhelm
(1908-03-17 ) 17 March 1908Died 11 June 1996(1996-06-11) (aged 88) Occupation Actress Years active 1927–1935; 1978 Spouse(s)
Richard Weisbach
(
m. 1928;
div. 1934)
[1]
Dr. Hugo Kunheim
(
m. 1935; died 1986)
Children 4
Brigitte Helm (born Brigitte Gisela Eva Schittenhelm , 17 March 1908 – 11 June 1996) was a German actress, best remembered for her dual role as Maria and her double named
Futura , in
Fritz Lang 's 1927
silent film ,
Metropolis .
Early life
Brigitte Gisela Eva Schittenhelm was born on 17 March 1908 in Berlin, the daughter of Gretchen Gertrud Martha Schittenhelm (née Tews) and Edwin Alexander Johannes Schittenhelm.[
citation needed ]
Helm took an interest in acting as a child, and by age 12 was taking the lead in school plays.
[2]
Career
Helm's first movie role was that of Maria in
Metropolis , which she began work on while only 17 years old. She signed a ten-year contract with
UFA in 1925.
[3] After Metropolis , Helm made over 30 other films, including
talking pictures , before retiring in 1935. Her other appearances include
The Love of Jeanne Ney (1927),
Alraune (1928),
L'Argent (1928), Gloria (1931),
The Blue Danube (1932),
L'Atlantide (1932), and
Gold (1934). Helm was considered for the title role in
Bride of Frankenstein before
Elsa Lanchester was given the role.
Personal life
Helm was involved in several traffic accidents, and was briefly imprisoned.
[4]
[5] According to the
Nazi Party 's Press Chief
Obergruppenführer
Otto Dietrich 's book, The Hitler I Knew ,
Adolf Hitler saw that
manslaughter charges against her from an automobile accident were dropped.
[6]
Helm married her second husband, Dr. Hugo Kunheim, an industrialist, after her film contract expired in 1935.
[7]
[8] Helm stated that she retired from films because she was "...disgusted with the Nazi takeover of the film industry..."
[9] In 1935, she moved to Switzerland, where she had four children with Kunheim. In her later years, she refused to grant any interviews concerning her film career.[
citation needed ]
Helm died, 11 June 1996, in
Ascona ,
Switzerland .
[4]
Selected filmography
Metropolis (1927), director:
Fritz Lang
At the Edge of the World , (Am Rande der Welt , 1927), director:
Karl Grune
The Love of Jeanne Ney (Die Liebe der Jeanne Ney , 1927), director:
G.W. Pabst
Alraune (1928), director:
Henrik Galeen ; title role
The Devious Path also known as Abwege (1928) director: G.W. Pabst
Yacht of the Seven Sins (Die Yacht der sieben Sünden , 1928), directors:
Jacob Fleck ,
Luise Fleck
L'Argent (1928), director:
Marcel L'Herbier
Scandal in Baden-Baden (Skandal in Baden-Baden , 1929), director:
Erich Waschneck
Manolescu (1929), director:
Victor Tourjansky
The Wonderful Lies of Nina Petrovna (Die wunderbare Lüge der Nina Petrowna , 1929), director:
Hanns Schwarz
The Singing City (Die singende Stadt , 1930), director
Carmine Gallone
Alraune (1930), director:
Richard Oswald ; title role
Gloria (1931), director:
Hans Behrendt
Gloria (1931), director:
Yvan Noé
In the Employ of the Secret Service (Im Geheimdienst , 1931), director:
Gustav Ucicky
The Blue Danube (1932), director:
Herbert Wilcox
The Countess of Monte Cristo (Die Gräfin von Monte-Christo , 1932), director:
Karl Hartl
The Mistress of Atlantis (Die Herrin von Atlantis , 1932) director: G.W. Pabst
Three on a Honeymoon (Hochzeitsreise zu dritt , 1932), director: Erich Schmidt
Honeymoon Trip (Voyage de noces , 1933), directors:
Germain Fried ,
Joe May , Erich Schmidt
The Marathon Runner (Der Läufer von Marathon , 1933), director:
Ewald André Dupont
Spies at Work (Spione am Werk , 1933), director:
Gerhard Lamprecht
The Star of Valencia (L'Étoile de Valencia , 1933), director:
Serge de Poligny
Goodbye, Beautiful Days (1933), director:
André Beucler
Happy Days in Aranjuez (Die schönen Tage von Aranjuez , 1933), director:
Johannes Meyer
Inge and the Millions (Inge und die Millionen , 1933), director:
Erich Engel
Gold (1934), director:
Karl Hartl
The Island (Die Insel , 1934), director: Hans Steinhoff
Count Woronzeff (Fürst Woronzeff , 1934), director:
Arthur Robison
An Ideal Husband (Ein idealer Gatte , 1935), director:
Herbert Selpin
Wie im Traum (1978, short), director: Egon Haase
References
Notes
^
"Brigitte Helm" . The Androom Archives . April 19, 2020. Retrieved October 28, 2020 .
^
"Movie Program" .
^ Curtis, James (June 1, 1998). James Whale: A New World of Gods and Monsters . Boston: Faber and Faber. pp. 243–44.
ISBN
978-0571199389 .
^
a
b Sudendorff, Werner (June 18, 1996).
"Obituary: Brigitte Helm" .
The Independent . London. Retrieved October 28, 2020 .
^ Staedeli, Thomas.
Portrait of the actress Brigitte Helm
Archived February 3, 2012, at the
Wayback Machine . Cyranos.ch. Retrieved on 2013-11-02.
^ Dietrich, Otto (2010).
The Hitler I Knew: Memoirs of the Third Reich's Press Chief . New York: Skyhorse Publishing. p. 182.
ISBN
978-1602399723 .
^
"Die gefährliche Blondine" (in German).
Sueddeutsche Zeitung . 17 May 2010.
^ Hull, David Stewart (1969).
Film in the Third Reich, 1933-1945 . University of California Press. p. 127. Retrieved October 28, 2020 .
^ Thomas Jr., Robert Mcg. (June 14, 1996).
"Brigitte Helm, 88, Cool Star Of Fritz Lang's 'Metropolis' " .
The New York Times . p. B17.
Further reading
External links
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