Grete Natzler (19 June 1906 – 10 June 1999) was an Austrian

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

and

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

tic

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 ...

. Born 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 ...

, she was the daughter of actress Lilli Meißner and actor and opera singer Leopold Natzler (1860–1926). Two of her younger sisters were also actors and singers. Her sister, Alice Maria ('Lizzi'), performed under the stage name of Litzie Helm, and

Hertha Natzler Hertha ('Hati') Natzler (1911–1985) was a stage and film actress in Austria active from 1928 until 1936. Origin in Austria Hertha Natzler (also Herta Natzler) was born on in Vienna as the daughter of actor, opera singer and playwright Leopo ...

performed under her own name. Grete began her career on the stage in her native country and in Germany as a performer in

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

s. In the early 1930s she appeared in films in both Germany and England, including ''

The Scotland Yard Mystery ''The Scotland Yard Mystery'' is a 1934 British crime film directed by Thomas Bentley and starring Sir Gerald du Maurier, George Curzon, Grete Natzler, Belle Chrystall and Wally Patch. The screenplay concerns a criminal doctor who operates a ...

'' (1933) and in several film versions of German operettas. After moving to the United States in the late 1930s, she signed a contract with

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

and adopted the pseudonym Della Lind. She is perhaps best known for portraying the role of Anna Albert in the 1938

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American Double act, comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–19 ...

film '' Swiss Miss''. She was married to compose
Franz Steininger
(1906–1974). Her cousin was actor

Reggie Nalder Reggie Nalder (born Alfred Reginald Natzler; 4 September 1907 – 19 November 1991) was a prolific Austrian film and television character actor from the late 1940s to the early 1990s. His distinctive features—partially the result of disfigur ...

Selected filmography

* ''

Father Radetzky ''Father Radetzky'' (German: ''Vater Radetzky'') is a 1929 Austrian war film directed by Karl Leiter and starring Karl Forest, Otto Hartmann and Theodor Pištěk. It is a biopic of the nineteenth century Austrian soldier Joseph Radetzky von Ra ...

'' (1929) * '' Josef the Chaste'' (1930) * ''

Vienna, City of Song ''Vienna, City of Song'' (German: ''Wien, du Stadt der Lieder'') is a 1930 German musical comedy film directed by Richard Oswald and starring Charlotte Ander, Paul Morgan and Igo Sym.Prawer p.9 It was shot at the Babelsberg Studios in Berlin. ...

'' (1930) * ''

Dolly Gets Ahead ''Dolly Gets Ahead'' (german: Dolly macht Karriere) is a 1930 German musical film directed by Anatole Litvak and starring Dolly Haas, Oskar Karlweis, and Grete Natzler. It was shot at the Babelsberg Studios in Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the ...

'' (1930) * '' The Stranger'' (1931) * '' The Duke of Reichstadt'' (1931) * '' A Night in Paradise'' (1932) * '' Melody of Love'' (1932), 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 ...

* ''

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

'' (1934) * ''

'' (1934), with Sir

Gerald du Maurier Sir Gerald Hubert Edward Busson du Maurier (26 March 1873 – 11 April 1934) was an English actor and manager. He was the son of author George du Maurier and his wife, Emma Wightwick, and the brother of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies. In 1903, he ...

* ''

The Student's Romance ''The Student's Romance'' is a 1935 British musical film directed by Otto Kanturek and starring Grete Natzler, Patric Knowles and Carol Goodner.Wood p.88 It was based on the musical '' I Lost My Heart in Heidelberg'', and was part of a trend of ...

'' (1935) * '' Swiss Miss'' (1938), with

References

External links

* * 1906 births 1999 deaths Austrian operatic sopranos Austrian film actresses Musicians from Vienna Actresses from Vienna 20th-century Austrian actresses 20th-century Austrian women opera singers {{Austria-opera-singer-stub