Genia Nikolajewa (1904–2001) was a Russian-born German actress who made films in several countries, notably in Germany where she appeared in films such as

Robert Siodmak Robert Siodmak (; 8 August 1900 – 10 March 1973) was a German film director who also worked in the United States. He is best remembered as a thriller specialist and for a series of films noirs he made in the 1940s, such as ''The Killers'' (194 ...

's 1932 comedy '' Quick''Alpi p.345 in a succession of supporting or minor roles. She later moved to Hollywood. She was sometimes credited as ''Genia Nikolaieva'' or ''Eugenia Nikolajewa''.

Life

Nikolaieva was born in St Petersburg to German-Russian parents, but moved to Germany at an early age. She starred in a series of stage

revues A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own durin ...

which led to her being employed by the film industry. Because she was considered "Half-Jewish" (cf.

Mischling (; " mix-ling"; plural: ) was a pejorative legal term used in Nazi Germany to denote persons of mixed "Aryan" and non-Aryan, such as Jewish, ancestry as codified in the Nuremberg racial laws of 1935. In German, the word has the general denota ...

) by the Nazis, she found it increasingly difficult to gain roles following the

Nazi 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 ...

takeover of Germany and in 1938 she went into exile in Hollywood. As well as making occasionally films, she also worked for

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

in an administrative role. In 1937, she married the

film editor Film editing is both a creative and a technical part of the post-production process of filmmaking. The term is derived from the traditional process of working with film which increasingly involves the use of digital technology. The film ed ...

Carl Forcht.

Selected filmography

* ''

Shooting Festival in Schilda ''Shooting Festival in Schilda'' (German: ''Schützenfest in Schilda'') is a 1931 German comedy film directed by Adolf Trotz and starring Sig Arno, Fritz Kampers and Eugen Rex. It was shot at the Halensee Studios in Berlin.Klaus p.257 Cast * Si ...

'' (1931) * '' Quick'' (1932) * '' A Shot at Dawn'' (1932) * ''

Scandal on Park Street ''Scandal on Park Street'' (german: Skandal in der Parkstraße) is a 1932 German film directed by Franz Wenzler and starring Camilla Spira, Fritz Kampers, and Kurt Lilien. It was shot at the Johannisthal Studios in Berlin Berlin ( , ) is t ...

'' (1932) * '' A Mad Idea'' (1932) * '' The First Right of the Child'' (1932) * '' The Ugly Girl'' (1933) * '' The Grand Duke's Finances'' (1934) * ''

Love and the First Railway ''Love and the First Railway'' (german: Die Liebe und die erste Eisenbahn) is a 1934 German historical film, historical comedy film directed by Robert Neppach and starring Jakob Tiedtke, Ida Wüst, and Karin Hardt. The plot revolves around the Be ...

'' (1934) * '' The Brenken Case'' (1934) * ''

Artist Love ''Artist Love'' (german: Künstlerliebe) is a 1935 German historical drama film directed by Fritz Wendhausen and starring , Wolfgang Liebeneiner and Olga Chekhova. The film's sets were designed by the art director Werner Schlichting. Synopsis I ...

'' (1935) * '' Fresh Wind from Canada'' (1935) * '' The Bird Seller'' (1935) * '' Ninety Minute Stopover'' (1936) * ''

A Woman of No Importance ''A Woman of No Importance'' by Oscar Wilde is "a new and original play of modern life", in four acts, first given on 19 April 1893 at the Haymarket Theatre, London. Like Wilde's other society plays, it satirises English upper-class society. It ...

'' (1936) * '' The Unexcused Hour'' (1937) * '' Escape from Yesterday'' (1938) * ''

Adventure in Diamonds ''Adventure in Diamonds'' is a 1940 American crime film directed by George Fitzmaurice and starring George Brent, Isa Miranda, John Loder and Nigel Bruce. It was also released under the alternative title of ''Diamonds are Dangerous''. Critics n ...

'' (1940) * '' The Lady Has Plans'' (1942)

References

Bibliography

* Alpi, Deborah Lazaroff. ''Robert Siodmak: A Biography''. McFarland, 1998.

External links

* 1904 births 2001 deaths German film actresses Russian film actresses Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Germany Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States Actresses from Saint Petersburg Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Jewish Russian actors 20th-century German women {{Russia-actor-stub