Geraldine Sherman (born Geraldine Judith Schoenmann) known as Dena Hammerstein, is a British actress and writer, and theatre producer. She was the third wife of

James Hammerstein James Blanchard Hammerstein (March 23, 1931 – January 7, 1999) was an American theatre director and producer. Life and career Hammerstein was the son of interior designer Dorothy Hammerstein (née Blanchard) and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II ...

, and after his death became president/CEO of James Hammerstein Productions Ltd.

Early life

Sherman was born in Staines,

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

. Her parents were refugees from Czechoslovakia. Her father Kurt Wilhelm Schoenmann was born in

Teplitz Teplice () (until 1948 Teplice-Šanov; german: Teplitz-Schönau or ''Teplitz'') is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 49,000 inhabitants. It is the second largest Czech spa town, after Karlovy Vary. The hist ...

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

The

Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia ( cs, České království),; la, link=no, Regnum Bohemiae sometimes in English literature referred to as the Czech Kingdom, was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Central Europe, the predecessor of the modern Czec ...

was 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 ...

until both were dissolved in 1918 at the end of

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 ...

, when Bohemia became part of

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

in 1915. He married Edith Peller, later coming to Britain to escape

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 ...

persecution, but was interned in March 1940 because his nationality was Austrian. He was then transported to Australia on the infamous 1940 ''Dunera'' voyage, and held in Loveday and Tatura

internment camps Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...

until 1942. Notes:

Actress

Writer

''When It's Over'', by Geraldine Sherman and

Eduardo Machado Eduardo Oscar Machado (born June 11, 1953) is a Cuban playwright living in the United States. Notable plays by Machado include ''Broken Eggs'', ''Havana is Waiting'' and ''The Cook''. Many of his plays are autobiographical or deal with Cuba in s ...

: :

Long Wharf Theatre Long Wharf Theatre is a nonprofit institution in New Haven, Connecticut, a pioneer in the not-for-profit regional theatre movement, the originator of several prominent plays, and a venue where many internationally known actors have appeared. Fou ...

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

: playreading 1985–1986, workshop 1986–1987 :

Finborough Theatre The Finborough Theatre is a fifty-seat theatre in the West Brompton area of London (part of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) under artistic director Neil McPherson. The theatre presents new British writing, as well as UK and world p ...

, London, 23 October – 16 November 1991 ''Thin Ice'', 1995 film

Theatre producer

Philanthropist

Dena Hammerstein worked as a volunteer in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

hospitals for over 15 years, and in 2003 received the United Hospital Funds New Leadership Group's Humanitarian Award.Board of ''Only Make Believe''
/ref> She is Founder of Only Make Believe, a non-profit organisation that creates and performs interactive theatre for children in hospitals and care facilities, inspired by her early work as an actress in the UK touring special-needs schools.

Personal life

In 1970, a choreographer friend invited her to holiday in New York where she met Jamie Hammerstein. Married theatre director

who directed her in ''Butley'', and has one son Simon Hammerstein (born 1977).

Notes

References

External links

*
Geraldine Sherman at BFI
* *

Pictures

Extra in ''A Hard Day's Night'': Girl Outside Secondhand Shop, 1964
fro
''A Hard Day's Night'' Cast and ExtrasPublicity photo for ''King of the River'', 1966Publicity photo for ''Take a Girl Like You'', 1970Dena in 2013Dena
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherman, Geraldine Living people Actresses from London British film actresses British television actresses British stage actresses Hammerstein family (show business) Theatre managers and producers British people of Czech-Jewish descent Women theatre managers and producers Year of birth missing (living people)