Elsa Galafrés (sometimes spelt Elza) (23 May 1879-1977) was a German stage and film actress.

Early life

Galafrés was born in Berlin. She trained as a

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

, and debuted as a concert pianist at the age of 14 on 1 December 1893, together with the Berlin Philharmonic. Although this performance was well received, she did not pursue a career in music, instead deciding to become an actor.

Theatre career

At the age of fifteen, Galafrés gave recitations at a charity concert in Havelberg. She took lessons from the actress and singer Ottilie Genée and caught the interest of the director

Friedrich Haase Friedrich Haase (1 November 1827 – 17 March 1911) was a prominent German actor and theatre director. He was born in Berlin, the son of a valet to King Frederick William IV, who was his godfather. __NOTOC__ Career Haase trained under Ludwi ...

, who hired her to play Ellen Friborg in ''Am Spieltisch des Lebens'' at a guest performance in

Halle Halle may refer to: Places Germany * Halle (Saale), also called Halle an der Saale, a city in Saxony-Anhalt ** Halle (region), a former administrative region in Saxony-Anhalt ** Bezirk Halle, a former administrative division of East Germany ** Hall ...

in December 1894. Her first engagement was at the Hoftheater in Berlin, where she debuted as Perdita, one of the main characters in Shakespeare's ''

The Winter's Tale ''The Winter's Tale'' is a play by William Shakespeare originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, many modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some criti ...

''. In 1896 she played the Queen in

Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friends ...

's ''

Don Carlos ''Don Carlos'' is a five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French-language libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle, based on the dramatic play '' Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien'' (''Don Carlos, Infante of Spain'') by Friedri ...

'' at the city theater in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

, and as an 18-year-old she was engaged by a theater in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

, where she remained for three years. In the 1910s she also appeared on film: in the Austrian horror film '' Trilby'', based on the popular novel ''Trilby'' by George du Maurier, and ''Durch Nacht zum Licht'', directed by Carl Schönfeld.

Personal life

Galafrés was married three times. In 1910 she married the violinist and composer

Bronisław Huberman Bronisław Huberman (19 December 1882 – 16 June 1947) was a Polish violinist. He was known for his individualistic interpretations and was praised for his tone color, expressiveness, and flexibility. The '' Gibson ex-Huberman Stradivarius'' ...

, with whom she had a son, Johannes. The marriage was passionate but often tempestous, and in 1913 she sought a divorce in order to marry the Hungarian pianist and composer Ernst von Dohnányi. Both Huberman and Dohnányi's first wife refused to grant their spouses a divorce, but the couple lived together in Budapest, where their son Matthew was born in 1917. In 1919 their respective divorces were granted, they got married in June of that year, and Dohnányi adopted Johannes. They were married until 1949, although by that time they had been separated for several years. After the divorce from Dohnányi, Galafrés emigrated to Canada, where she met her third husband, the physician Clifton Stewart. The couple lived near

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

until her death in 1977.

Filmography

* 1912: ''Trilby'' * 1915: ''Durch Nacht zum Licht''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Galafres, Elsa 20th-century German actresses German women pianists German silent film actresses 1879 births 1977 deaths Actresses from Berlin German emigrants to Canada