Anny Ahlers (21 December 1902 – 14 March 1933) was a German actress and singer. She was born in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Career

She was born to Wilhelm Ahlers and his wife Augusta Victoria (Lieberg). Her father was an Army officer and her maternal grandmother was English. Ahlers began her career at the age of four, appearing as a dancer in

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclis ...

acts. At seven she studied at the Operatic School of Dancing in Hamburg. Her breakthrough role was in the operetta ''

Casanova Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (, ; 2 April 1725 – 4 June 1798) was an Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice. His autobiography, (''Story of My Life''), is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of information about the c ...

'', composed by

Ralph Benatzky Ralph Benatzky (5 June 1884 – 16 October 1957), born in Mährisch Budwitz ( Moravské Budějovice) as Rudolph Franz rantišekJosef Benatzky, was an Austrian composer of Moravian origin. He composed operas and operettas, such as '' Casanova ...

. This role established her popularity in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

. In December 1931, she appeared with

Richard Tauber Richard Tauber (16 May 1891 – 8 January 1948) was an Austrian tenor and film actor. Early life Richard Tauber was born in Linz, Austria, to Elisabeth Seifferth (née Denemy), a widow and an actress who played soubrette roles at the local theat ...

in an operetta by

Erich Wolfgang Korngold Erich Wolfgang Korngold (May 29, 1897November 29, 1957) was an Austrian-born American composer and conductor. A child prodigy, he became one of the most important and influential composers in Hollywood history. He was a noted pianist and compo ...

at the Admiralspalast in Berlin. This was called 'Das Lied der Liebe' and was based on the Johann Strauss operetta Das Spitzentuch der Königin. ef: Daniel O'Hara, Richard Tauber: A new Chronology, Saltburn, 2013 This ran until March 1932, after which she went to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England to appear with

Heddle Nash William Heddle Nash (14 June 189414 August 1961) was an English lyric tenor who appeared in opera and oratorio. He made numerous recordings that are still available on CD reissues. Nash's voice was of the light tenor class known as "tenore di g ...

in the operetta ''

The Dubarry ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' at

Her Majesty's Theatre Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established t ...

[Ref: Eleanor Allen, Heddle Nash: Singing against the Tide, Jubilee House, London, 2010. On 14 March 1933, while appearing in London, she died in controversial circumstances after jumping out her flat window in an apparent suicide. Her death has been blamed both on morphine that she had taken while suffering from tuberculosis, and on sleeping pills she was taking due to insomnia.

Filmography

*''Casanova'' (1928) *''Madame Pompadour (1931 film), Madame Pompadour'' (1931) - Die Marquise von Pompadour *' (1931) - Alexandra *'' The True Jacob (1931 film), The True Jacob'' (1931) - Yvette *''Kabarett-Programm Nr. 5'' (1931, short) *''Die Liebesfiliale'' (1931) - Madame Irene *'' The Company's in Love'' (1932) - Peggy Barling

External links

* *
Portrait by Laszlo

References

1902 births 1933 deaths Actresses from Hamburg German film actresses 20th-century German actresses Suicides by jumping in England Burials at the Ohlsdorf Cemetery 20th-century German women singers 1933 suicides {{Germany-film-actor-stub