Fritzi Massary (31 March 1882 – 30 January 1969) was an Austrian-American

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

singer and actress.

Early life and career

Fritzi Massary was born Friederike Massaryk in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

on 31 March 1882. She was one of the leading operetta singers in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, she performed for the soldiers of the Imperial German Army in theatres in occupied Belgium.'Das Koniglich Preussische Reserve Infanterie Regiment Nr.15', Major von Forstner (Published 1929), P.272. In 1920, she worked with the composer Oscar Straus, and performed in several of his operas, including ''

Der letzte Walzer ''Der letzte Walzer'' (''The Last Waltz'') is a Viennese operetta in three acts, with music by Oscar Straus, to a libretto by Julius Brammer and Alfred Grünwald. It opened at the in Berlin on 12 February 1920 and starred Fritzi Massary. It w ...

Emigration to England and America

Massary was of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

familial extraction, and had converted to the

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

religion in 1903. In late 1932 she departed Germany due to the rising persecution of the Jewish population by the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

, shortly before they seized dictatorial power in a paramilitary revolution and declared the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. Traveling through Austria and Switzerland she went to

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, where she was befriended by

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...

and starred in his theatrical musical ''

Operette This is a glossary list of opera genres, giving alternative names. "Opera" is an Italian word (short for "opera in musica"); it was not at first ''commonly'' used in Italy (or in other countries) to refer to the genre of particular works. Most c ...

'' in 1938. In February 1939, shortly before the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

engulfed Europe, she moved to

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. B ...

, United States.

Later life

Beginning in 1952, she regularly spent summers in Germany. She had originally been suggested by

Cecil Beaton Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton, (14 January 1904 – 18 January 1980) was a British fashion, portrait and war photographer, diarist, painter, and interior designer, as well as an Oscar–winning stage and costume designer for films and the theat ...

for the role of 'The Queen of Transylvannia' in the 1964 musical film ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons f ...

'' but she demanded too much pay and the part went to

Bina Rothschild Baroness Veronika von Goldschmidt-Rothschild, also known as Bina Rothschild and Veronika Rothschild (née Countess Katharina Eleonore Veronika Irma Luise Henckel von Donnersmarck; 8 February 1902 – 6 October 1965), was a German aristocrat and ac ...

. She continued to reside in Beverly Hills until her death in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

on 30 January 1969.

Personal life

Massary was married twice, first to an eye doctor

Bernhard Pollack Bernhard Pollack (14 August 1865 – 3 March 1928 in Berlin) was a German neuroanatomist and ophthalmologist practicing in Berlin. He held the post of Professor of Ophthalmology at the Humboldt University of Berlin, Friedrich Wilhelm University in ...

. With Karl-Kuno Rollo Graf von Coudenhove (1887–1940), she had her only child, Elisabeth Maria Karl (called Liesl) (1903–1979). Liesl later married the author

Bruno Frank Bruno Frank (June 13, 1887 – June 20, 1945) was a German author, poet, playwright, screenwriter, and humanist. Biography Frank was born in Stuttgart. He studied law and philosophy in Munich, where he later worked as a dramatist and novelist ...

. Though Coudenhove was Liesl's father, Massary was never married to him. Massary's second marriage, in 1917, was to the Austrian actor Max Pallenberg (1877–1934), who died in a plane crash in Karlsbad in 1934.

Selected filmography

* '' The Tunnel'' (1915) * '' The Rose of Stamboul'' (1919)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Massary, Fritzi 1882 births 1969 deaths Musicians from Vienna Austro-Hungarian Jews Austrian operatic sopranos Jewish opera singers German emigrants to the United States Converts to Protestantism from Judaism 20th-century Austrian women opera singers