Elisabeth Bergner was an internationally reputed film and stage actress.This biography provides detailed information about her childhood, life, acting career, achievements and timeline.
Elisabeth Bergner
@Theater Personalities, Family and Childhood
Aug 22, 1897
Biography
Personal Details
- Birthday: August 22, 1897
- Died on: May 12, 1986
- Nationality: British
- Famous: Film & Theater Personalities, Actresses, Theater Personalities
- Spouses: Paul Czinner (m. 1933–1972)
- Birth Place: Drohobych, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Drohobych, Ukraine)
- Gender: Female
Elisabeth Bergner born at
Drohobych, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Drohobych, Ukraine)
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Birth Place
In 1933 she got married to film director Paul Czinner in London. The couple became British citizens in 1938.
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Personal Life
In 1939 before the September 1 attack by Germany on Poland, her mother and Theodora joined her in London. While staying in London she financially aided many relatives and friends.
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Personal Life
On May 12, 1986, she died in her London residence after suffering from cancer. Her cremation was performed on May 15, 1986, at ‘Golders Green Crematorium’ and her ashes were interred in West Cloister.
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Personal Life
She was born on August 22, 1897, in Drohobych, Austro-Hungarian Empire, to Emil Ettel and his wife Anna Rosa (née Wagner). Her father was a merchant.
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Childhood & Early Life
She was raised in Vienna along with her elder sister Theodora (Lola) and her younger brother Friedrich.
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Childhood & Early Life
At first she attended a private acting school in 1911 and thereafter she attended the Academy for Music and the Performing Arts from 1912 to 1915.
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Childhood & Early Life
She was introduced to the young poet Albert Ehrenstein by one of her friends and it was through Ehrenstein that she got her first theatre work in Innsbruck that saw her marking her debut in stage acting in October 1915. Soon she landed up with a major part in Ibsen’s ‘A Doll’s House’.
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Career
Ehrenstein who was called Xaverl by Bergner fell in love with her and wrote several poems for her. Although once she promised him a child, Bergner later changed her decision and often maintained distance from him. However their friendship continued.
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Career
She relocated to Zurich in 1916 and performed roles like Annchen in Max Halber’s ‘Jugend’ and Ophelia in Alexander Moissi’s ‘Hamlet’ in the famous ‘Stadttheater’. The famous Albanian stage actor Alexander Moissi also fell in love with her ardently but she did not reciprocate.
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Career
Moving on with her career she went to Vienna where she had a stint as a model of the gifted but depressed expressionist sculpture Wilhelm Lehmbruck, who fell in love with her but met with rejection. Lehmbruck soon took his own life which shocked Bergner.
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Career
The theatre audience were enchanted with the series of excellent performances of Bergner starting with the first of her androgynous trouser roles as Rosalind in ‘As You Like It’, which gave her much recognition. Her other notable performances that followed were as Elfie in ‘Schloss Wetterstein’, Cassandra in ‘The Trojan Women’ and Lulu in ‘Erdgeist’.
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Career
A city park in Steglitz-Zehlendorf is named after her.
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Trivia