Maria Matray (born Maria Charlotte Stern; 14 July 1907 – 30 October 1993) was a German screenwriter and film actress. Matray became a

star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

of late

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

cinema.

Biography

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 in 1933, Matray, who was

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 ...

, went into exile – initially in France and Britain before moving to the United States. She developed a new career as a choreographer and writer. She later returned to Germany after the

Second World War 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 ...

, where she died in 1993. Maria Matray was born in

Niederschönhausen Niederschönhausen (, literally "Lower Schönhausen") is a locality (''Ortsteil'') within the borough (''Bezirk'') of Pankow in Berlin, Germany. It is also known as "Pankow-Schönhausen" to differ it from Hohenschönhausen in Berlin-Lichtenberg. Fr ...

. She was the daughter of engineer and later director of

AEG Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft AG (AEG; ) was a German producer of electrical equipment founded in Berlin as the ''Deutsche Edison-Gesellschaft für angewandte Elektricität'' in 1883 by Emil Rathenau. During the Second World War, AEG ...

Georg Stern and his wife Lisbeth (''née'' Schmidt), who was the younger sister of artist

Käthe Kollwitz Käthe Kollwitz ( born as Schmidt; 8 July 1867 – 22 April 1945) was a German artist who worked with painting, printmaking (including etching, lithography and woodcuts) and sculpture. Her most famous art cycles, including ''The Weavers'' and ''T ...

. Matray's older sisters were actress

Johanna Hofer Johanna Hofer (born Johanna Therese Stern; 30 July 1896 – 30 June 1988) was a German film actress. She appeared in 34 films between 1926 and 1982. Biography Hofer was born in Berlin. She was the daughter of engineer and later director of ...

and dancer Katta Sterna. Hofer's father was

and her mother was

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

Selected filmography

Actress

* '' The Master of Nuremberg'' (1927) * ''

Linden Lady on the Rhine ''Linden Lady on the Rhine'' (German:''Lindenwirtin am Rhein'') is a 1927 German silent film directed by Rolf Randolf and starring Maly Delschaft, Carl de Vogt and Alfred Solm.Thomas p.103 The film's art direction was by Gustav A. Knauer. Cas ...

'' (1927) * ''

Inherited Passions ''Inherited Passions'' (german: Vererbte Triebe) is a 1929 German silent drama film directed by Gustav Ucicky and starring Walter Rilla, Fritz Alberti Fritz Alberti (born Friedrich Wilhelm Alberti; 22 October 1877 – 15 September 1954) was a ...

'' (1929) * ''

The Son of the White Mountain ''The Son of the White Mountain'' (German: ''Der Sohn der weißen Berge'') is a 1930 German mystery romance film directed by Mario Bonnard and Luis Trenker and starring Trenker, Maria Matray and Renate Müller. It was part of the popular serie ...

'' (1930) * ''

Never Trust a Woman ''Never Trust a Woman'' (german: Ich glaub nie mehr an eine Frau) is a 1930 German musical film directed by Max Reichmann and starring Richard Tauber, Paul Hörbiger and Werner Fuetterer. It premiered on 3 February 1930.Grange p. 328 No prints o ...

'' (1930) * ''

Retreat on the Rhine ''Retreat on the Rhine'' (german: Zapfenstreich am Rhein) is a 1930 German musical comedy film directed by Jaap Speyer and starring Charlotte Susa, Hans Stüwe, and Hermann Böttcher. It was made as an operetta film which emerged as a popular gen ...

'' (1930) * '' Elisabeth of Austria'' (1931) * ''

Road to Rio ''Road to Rio'' is a 1947 American semimusical comedy film directed by Norman Z. McLeod and starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour. Written by Edmund Beloin and Jack Rose, the film is about two inept vaudevillians who stow away on ...

'' (1931) * '' The Ringer'' (1932) * ''

Secret Agent Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

'' (1932) * ''

Distorting at the Resort ''Distorting at the Resort'' (german: Lügen auf Rügen) is a 1932 German comedy film directed by Victor Janson and starring Maria Matray, Paul Hörbiger, and Otto Wallburg. It was shot at the Tempelhof Studios in Berlin. The film's sets were de ...

'' (1932) * '' A Man with Heart'' (1933)

Screenwriter

* '' Murder in the Music Hall'' (dir. John English, 1946) * '' Invitation Playhouse: Mind Over Murder: The Last Act'' (dir.

William Asher William Milton Asher (August 8, 1921 – July 16, 2012) was an American television and film producer, film director, and screenwriter. He was one of the most prolific early television directors, producing or directing over two dozen series. Wit ...

, 1952, TV series episode) * ''Der König mit dem Regenschirm'' (dir. , 1954, TV film) — based on an operetta by

Ralph Benatzky Ralph Benatzky (5 June 1884 – 16 October 1957), born in Mährisch Budwitz ( Moravské Budějovice) as Rudolph Franz rantišekJosef Benatzky, was an Austrian composer of Moravian origin. He composed operas and operettas, such as '' Casanova ...

* ''Abschiedsvorstellung'' (dir. , 1955, TV film) * '' My Father, the Actor'' (dir.

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'' (19 ...

, 1956) * ''

The Night of the Storm ''The Night of the Storm'' or ''Tempestuous Love'' (german: Wie ein Sturmwind) is a 1957 West German drama film directed by Falk Harnack and starring Lilli Palmer, Ivan Desny and Willy A. Kleinau.Bock & Bergfelder p. 357 It was made at the Span ...

'' (dir.

Falk Harnack Falk Harnack (2 March 1913 – 3 September 1991) was a German director and screenwriter. During Germany's Nazi era, he was also active with the German Resistance and toward the end of World War II, the partisans in Greece. Harnack was from a fam ...

, 1957) — based on a novel by Klaus Hellmer * ' (dir.

Erik Ode Erik Ode (born Fritz Erik Signy Odemar, 6 November 1910 – 19 July 1983) was a German director and actor who was most famous for playing Kommissar ''Herbert Keller'' in the German television drama '' Der Kommissar'' (The Police Inspector). He mar ...

, 1958) * ' (dir.

Axel von Ambesser Axel Eugen Alexander von Oesterreich (22 June 1910 – 6 September 1988), better known as Axel von Ambesser, was a German playwright, actor and film director. Ambesser's father was Alexander Constantin von Oesterreich. Ambesser was born in Hambur ...

, 1959) * '' The Night Before the Premiere'' (dir.

Georg Jacoby Georg Jacoby (23 July 1882 – 21 February 1964) was a German film director and screenwriter.Profile
, bfi.org.uk; accessed ...

, 1959) * ' (dir.

, 1959) — based on a play by and * ''Waldhausstraße 20'' (dir. , 1960, TV film) * ''

The Happy Years of the Thorwalds ''The Happy Years of the Thorwalds'' (German: ''Die glücklichen Jahre der Thorwalds'') is a 1962 West German drama film directed by Wolfgang Staudte and , starring Elisabeth Bergner, Hansjörg Felmy and Dietmar Schönherr.Bock & Bergfelder p.40 ...

'' (dir. Wolfgang Staudte, , 1962) — based on ''

Time and the Conways ''Time and the Conways'' is a British play written by J. B. Priestley in 1937 illustrating J. W. Dunne's Theory of Time through the experience of a moneyed Yorkshire family, the Conways, over a period of nineteen years from 1919 to 1937. Wide ...

'' by

J. B. Priestley John Boynton Priestley (; 13 September 1894 – 14 August 1984) was an English novelist, playwright, screenwriter, broadcaster and social commentator. His Yorkshire background is reflected in much of his fiction, notably in ''The Good Compa ...

* ''

Das Kriminalmuseum ''Das Kriminalmuseum'' was a German television series. It ran from 1963 to 1970 on ZDF and was one of its first programs. Each episode began with a tracking shot through an unspecified crime museum, stopping at one of the displays, whose story w ...

'' (1963–1968, TV series, 4 episodes) * '': Der Fall Krantz'' (dir.

Georg Tressler Georg Tressler (January 25, 1917 – January 6, 2007) was a Vienna-born German film actor and film director. Also known as George Tressler, Hans Tressler, Hans Dressler, Hans Georg Keil and Hans Sternbeck (per IMDb). The son of actor Otto T ...

, 1964, TV series episode) * ''Der Prozeß Carl von O.'' (dir. , 1964, TV film) — (

docudrama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television and film, which features dramatized re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of documentary and drama and "a fact-based representation of real event". Docudramas typic ...

about the Weltbühne-Prozess) * ' (1964–1965, TV series, 3 episodes) * ''Ein langer Tag'' (dir. Lothar Kompatzki, 1964, TV film) * ''Der Fall Harry Domela'' (dir.

Wolfgang Schleif Wolfgang Schleif (14 May 1912 – 21 August 1984) was a German film director, screenwriter and film editor. Life and career Wolfgang Schleif studied philosophy, psychology and pedagogy at the University of Leipzig. In 1934 he passed the State ...

, 1965, TV film) — (docudrama about Harry Domela) * ''Klaus Fuchs: Geschichte eines Atomverrats'' (dir. , 1965, TV film) — (docudrama about Klaus Fuchs) * ' (dir.

Peter Beauvais Peter Beauvais (September 9, 1916, Weißenstadt, Germany – December 17, 1986, Baden-Baden, Germany) was a German television film director and scriptwriter. As a director for three decades, he helped pioneer and significantly influenced the devel ...

, 1965, TV film) — (docudrama about

Bernhard Lichtenberg Bernhard Lichtenberg (; 3 December 1875 – 5 November 1943) was a German Catholic priest who became known for repeatedly speaking out, after the rise of Adolf Hitler and during the Holocaust, against the persecution and deportation of the Jews ...

) * ''Oberst Wennerström'' (dir.

Helmut Ashley Helmut Ashley or Helmuth Ashley (17 September 1919 – 2 July 2021) was an Austrian cinematographer, television and film director. Ashley turned 100 in September 2019 and died in Munich in July 2021, at the age of 101. Selected filmography Fi ...

, 1965, TV film) — (docudrama about Stig Wennerström) * ''Der Mann, der sich Abel nannte'' (dir. , 1966, TV film) — (docudrama about

Rudolf Abel Rudolf Ivanovich Abel (russian: Рудольф Иванович Абель), real name William August Fisher (11 July 1903 – 15 November 1971), was a Soviet intelligence officer. He adopted his alias when arrested on charges of conspiracy by ...

) * ''Standgericht'' (dir. Rolf Busch, 1966, TV film) * ' (dir.

August Everding August Everding (; 31 October 1928; Bottrop, Germany – 26 January 1999; Munich) was a German opera director and administrator. He studied at the Universities of Bonn and Munich, where launching his career in the 1950s. He was a member of the Ro ...

, 1966, TV film) — (docudrama about the

Wall Street Crash of 1929 The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange colla ...

) * ''Der Fall Lothar Malskat'' (dir. Günter Meincke, 1966, TV film) — (docudrama about

Lothar Malskat Lothar Malskat (May 3, 1913 – February 10, 1988) was a German painter and art restorer who repainted medieval frescoes of the Marienkirche in Lübeck, critically damaged during WWII. Life and career Malskat was a painter from Königsber ...

) * ''Das Millionending'' (dir.

, 1966, TV film) — based on a story by * ''Der Panamaskandal'' (dir.

Paul Verhoeven Paul Verhoeven (; born 18 July 1938) is a Dutch director, producer and screenwriter, active in the Netherlands, France and the United States. His blending of graphic violence and sexual content with social satire is a trademark of both his dram ...

, 1967, TV film) — (docudrama about the

Panama scandals Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a List of transcontinental countries#North America and South America, transcontinental country spanning the Central America, southern ...

) * ''Affäre Dreyfus'' (dir. , 1968, TV film) — (docudrama about the

Dreyfus affair The Dreyfus affair (french: affaire Dreyfus, ) was a political scandal that divided the French Third Republic from 1894 until its resolution in 1906. "L'Affaire", as it is known in French, has come to symbolise modern injustice in the Francop ...

) * ''Der Senator'' (dir. , 1968, TV film) — (docudrama about

Joseph McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most visi ...

) * ' (dir. Wolfgang Becker, 1969, TV film) * ''

Maximilian von Mexiko ''Maximilian von Mexiko'' is a 1970 German-Austrian historical television miniseries depicting the events of the French Intervention in Mexico which placed Emperor Maximilian on the throne of Mexico. It consisted of two parts totalling 185 min ...

'' (dir. , 1970, TV film) — (docudrama about the

Second French intervention in Mexico The Second French Intervention in Mexico ( es, Segunda intervención francesa en México), also known as the Second Franco-Mexican War (1861–1867), was an invasion of Mexico, launched in late 1862 by the Second French Empire, which hoped to ...

) * ''Millionen nach Maß'' (dir. , 1970, TV film) * ''Der Hitler/Ludendorff-Prozeß'' (dir.

, 1971, TV film) — (docudrama about the trial after the

Beer Hall Putsch The Beer Hall Putsch, also known as the Munich Putsch,Dan Moorhouse, ed schoolshistory.org.uk, accessed 2008-05-31.Known in German as the or was a failed coup d'état by Nazi Party ( or NSDAP) leader Adolf Hitler, Erich Ludendorff and othe ...

1923) * ''Manolescu – Die fast wahre Biographie eines Gauners'' (dir.

Hans Quest Hans Quest (1915–1997) was a German actor and film director. Selected filmography Director *''Wenn der Vater mit dem Sohne'' (1955) *''The Happy Wanderer'' (1955) *''Charley's Aunt'' (1956) *'' Wenn Poldi ins Manöver zieht'' (1956) *'' Ein Man ...

, 1972, TV film) — (docudrama about ) * ''Doppelspiel in Paris'' (dir.

Wolfgang Glück Wolfgang Glück (born 29 September 1929, Vienna, Austria) is an Austrian film director and screenwriter. His film '' '38 – Vienna Before the Fall'' (1987) was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 59th Academy ...

, 1972, TV film) — (docudrama about

Mathilde Carré Mathilde Carré (30 June 1908 –30 May 2007), née Mathilde Lucie Bélard and known as "La Chatte", was a French Resistance agent during World War II who betrayed and turned double agent. Early life Carré was born in Le Creusot, Saône-et- ...

) * ''

Sonderdezernat K1 ''Sonderdezernat K1'' is a German television series. See also *List of German television series The following is a list of television series produced in Germany: Current Drama * '' 4 Blocks'' ( TNT Serie, 2017–2019) * '' Alarm für Co ...

'' (1972–1975, TV series, 12 episodes) * ''Agent aus der Retorte'' (dir.

, 1972, TV film) — (docudrama about

Operation Mincemeat Operation Mincemeat was a successful British deception operation of the Second World War to disguise the 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily. Two members of British intelligence obtained the body of Glyndwr Michael, a tramp who died from eating ...

) * '': Reise nach Stockholm'' (dir. , 1974, TV series episode) * ''Wie starb Dag Hammerskjöld?'' (dir. , 1975, TV film) — (docudrama about the 1961 Ndola United Nations DC-6 crash) * ''Als wär's ein Stück von mir'' (dir.

, 1976, TV film) — based on the autobiography of

Carl Zuckmayer Carl Zuckmayer (27 December 1896 – 18 January 1977) was a German writer and playwright. His older brother was the pedagogue, composer, conductor, and pianist Eduard Zuckmayer. Life and career Born in Nackenheim in Rhenish Hesse, he was t ...

* ' (dir.

, 1978, anthology film, TV film) — based on short stories by O. Henry,

P. G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jeeve ...

and

W. Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

* ''

The Old Fox ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

: Der schöne Alex'' (dir. , 1978, TV series episode) * ''Auf Schusters Rappen'' (dir. Manfred Seide, 1981, TV film) * ''

Sun, Wine and Hard Nuts ''Sun, Wine and Hard Nuts'' (German: ''Sonne, Wein und harte Nüsse'') is a West German crime television series broadcast on ARD.Bock & Bergfelder p.347 A retired German police inspector goes to live on the French Riviera with his sister, but soo ...

'' (1981, TV series, 2 episodes) * ''Ein Winter auf Mallorca'' (dir. , 1982, TV film) * ''Gauner im Paradies'' (dir. Thomas Fantl, 1985, TV film) * ''Im Schatten von Gestern'' (dir. , 1985, TV film) — screenplay with Nathaniel Gutman * ''Wie das Leben so spielt'' (dir.

Hermann Leitner Hermann Leitner (3 September 1927–22 February 2013) was an Austrian film editor and film director. His 1962 documentary film '' Mediterranean Holiday'' was entered into the 3rd Moscow International Film Festival. Selected filmography Editor * ' ...

, 1986, TV film) * ''Jungbrunnen'' (dir. Dušan Rapoš, 1992, TV film)

References

Bibliography

* Weniger, Kay. Es wird im Leben dir mehr genommen als gegeben ...' Lexikon der aus Deutschland und Österreich emigrierten Filmschaffenden 1933 bis 1945: Eine Gesamtübersicht''. ACABUS Verlag, 2011.

External links

* 1907 births 1993 deaths German people of Jewish descent Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Mass media people from Berlin German film actresses German silent film actresses German women screenwriters German women choreographers Actresses from Berlin 20th-century German actresses Burials at Munich Waldfriedhof {{Germany-film-actor-stub