Marina von Ditmar (30 October 1914 – 3 September 2014) was a German

film actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a 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 term is (), lite ...

born in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Baltic German Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declined ...

descent. After moving to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

she studied acting under Lucie Höflich and Ilka Grüning. Her first roles were performed at the ''Schauspielhaus'',

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

, and the

Altes Theater (Leipzig) The Altes Theater was the first theatre building in the German city of Leipzig. It was on the site of today's tramway station Goerdelerring near Richard-Wagner-Platz. History Commissioned by the businessman Benedikt Zehmisch in 1766 from the arc ...

. In 1937, she started with the ensemble at the ''Volksbühne'',

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 ...

. By 1940 she was a permanent actress at this theatre. Her first big movie success came in the

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 ...

'' The Csardas Princess'' in 1934, alongside

Hans Söhnker Hans Söhnker (11 October 1903 – 20 April 1981) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1933 and 1980. He was born in Kiel, Germany and died in Berlin, Germany. Selected filmography * '' The Tsarevich'' (1933) – ...

. In 1943, she starred with

Hans Albers Hans Philipp August Albers (22 September 1891 – 24 July 1960) was a German actor and singer. He was the biggest male movie star in Germany between 1930 and 1960 and one of the most popular German actors of the twentieth century. Early life ...

in '' Münchhausen'' with great commercial and critical success. During the Third Reich she was cast in several Nazi propaganda films, such as ''Legion Condor'' (1939) with Paul Hartmann, and ''Stukas'' (1941) as a French girl alongside

Carl Raddatz Carl Raddatz (13 March 1912 – 19 May 2004) was a German stage and film actor. Raddatz was a leading man of German cinema during the Nazi era appearing in a number of propaganda films and romances. Later in his career he developed a reputation f ...

. In 1949, she married Dr. Hans-Georg Dehnhardt (1913–2001) and after having starred in about 24 movies she retired from acting. She died the month before her 100th birthday, in

Bad Kissingen Bad Kissingen is a German spa town in the Bavarian region of Lower Franconia and seat of the district Bad Kissingen. Situated to the south of the Rhön Mountains on the Franconian Saale river, it is one of the health resorts, which be ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, where she is buried in the Parkfriedhof. Thanks to personal contacts in politics, the aristocracy and the world of film and theatre, the couple was able to receive many prominent guests in their private sanatorium in Bad Kissingen in the following decades - such as, for example, the Thai royal couple Bhumibol Adulyadej and Sirikit during the visit of the German President Heinrich Lübke and his wife Wilhelmine in 1960; Lübke was taking the cure at Dehnhardt's sanatorium at the time. "The connection with Mario Adorf was particularly close, and Uschi Glas was also among the family's friends." Von Ditmar lived in Bad Kissingen until her death and was buried in the park cemetery there.

Selected filmography

* '' The Csardas Princess'' (1934) * ''

City of Anatol ''City of Anatol'' (german: Stadt Anatol) is a 1936 German drama film directed by Viktor Tourjansky and starring Gustav Fröhlich, Brigitte Horney and Fritz Kampers. It is based on a 1932 novel ''City of Anatol'' by Bernhard Kellermann. The film ...

'' (1936) * ''

Love Can Lie ''Love Can Lie'' (german: Liebe kann lügen) is a 1937 German romance film directed by Heinz Helbig and starring Karl Ludwig Diehl, Dorothea Wieck and Jutta Freybe.Heins p. 64 It was released by Tobis Film. The film's sets were designed by Erich ...

'' (1937) * ''

The Divine Jetta ''The Divine Jetta'' (german: Die göttliche Jette) is a 1937 German musical comedy film directed by Erich Waschneck and starring Grethe Weiser, Viktor de Kowa, and Marina von Ditmar Marina von Ditmar (30 October 1914 – 3 September 2014) was ...

'' (1937) * ''

A Prussian Love Story ''A Prussian Love Story'' (german: Preußische Liebesgeschichte) is a 1938 German historical romance film directed by Paul Martin and starring Karl Günther, Hans Nielsen, and Willy Fritsch. The film depicts the love affair between William I and ...

'' (1938) * ''

Legion Condor The Condor Legion (german: Legion Condor) was a unit composed of military personnel from the air force and army of Nazi Germany, which served with the Nationalist faction during the Spanish Civil War of July 1936 to March 1939. The Condor Legio ...

'' (1939) * ''

Above All Else in the World ''Above All Else in the World'' (german: link=no, Über alles in der Welt) is a 1941 German drama film directed by Karl Ritter and starring Paul Hartmann, Hannes Stelzer and Fritz Kampers.Kreimeier p. 312 The title refers to the second line of ...

'' (1941) * '' The Red Terror'' (1942) * ''

With the Eyes of a Woman ''With the Eyes of a Woman'' (German: ''Mit den Augen einer Frau'') is a 1942 German drama film directed by Karl Georg Külb and starring Ada Tschechowa, Olga Tschechowa and Gustav Fröhlich.Bock & Bergfelder p.485 The film's sets were designed b ...

'' (1942) * '' Münchhausen'' (1943) * '' When the Young Wine Blossoms'' (1943) * '' Come Back to Me'' (1944) * ''

The Appeal to Conscience ''The Appeal to Conscience'' (german: Ruf an das Gewissen) is a 1949 German mystery film directed by Karl Anton and starring Karl Ludwig Diehl, Werner Hinz and Gustav Diessl.Davidson & Hake p. 61 It was originally shot in 1944, but remained uncomp ...

'' (1949) * '' Crown Jewels'' (1950)

References

Bibliography

* Richards, Jeffrey. ''Visions of Yesterday''. Routledge, 2014.

External links

* 1914 births 2014 deaths German film actresses Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Germany Baltic-German people {{Germany-film-actor-stub