Early life and film career
Brigitte Gisela Eva Schittenhelm was born on 17 March 1906 in Berlin, the daughter of Gretchen Gertrud Martha Schittenhelm (née Tews) and Edwin Alexander Johannes Schittenhelm. Helm's first role was that of Maria in ''Metropolis (1927 film), Metropolis'', which she began work on while only 18 years old. After ''Metropolis'', Helm made over 30 other films, including Sound film, talking pictures, before retiring in 1935. Her other appearances include ''The Love of Jeanne Ney'' (1927), ''Alraune (1928 film), Alraune'' (1928), ''L'Argent (1928 film), L'Argent'' (1928), ''Gloria'' (1931), ''The Blue Danube (1932 film), The Blue Danube'' (1932), ''L'Atlantide (1932 film), L'Atlantide'' (1932), and ''Gold (1934 film), Gold'' (1934). Helm was considered for the title role in ''Bride of Frankenstein'' before Elsa Lanchester was given the role. She signed a ten-year contract with Universum Film AG, UFA in 1925.Personal life
Helm was involved in several traffic accidents, and was briefly imprisoned. According to the Nazi Party's Press Chief Obergruppenführer Otto Dietrich's book, ''The Hitler I Knew'', Adolf Hitler saw that manslaughter charges against her from an automobile accident were dropped. Helm married her second husband, Dr. Hugo Kunheim, an industrialist, after her film contract expired in 1935. Helm stated that she retired from films because she was "...disgusted with the Nazi takeover of the film industry..." In 1935, she moved to Switzerland, where she had four children with Kunheim. In her later years, she refused to grant any interviews concerning her film career. Helm died, 11 June 1996, in Ascona, Switzerland.Selected filmography
* ''Metropolis (1927 film), Metropolis'' (1927), director: Fritz Lang * ''At the Edge of the World (1927 film), At the Edge of the World'', (''Am Rande der Welt'', 1927), director: Karl Grune * ''The Love of Jeanne Ney (movie), The Love of Jeanne Ney'' (''Die Liebe der Jeanne Ney'', 1927), director: G.W. Pabst * ''Alraune (1928 film), Alraune'' (1928), director: Henrik Galeen; title role * ''The Devious Path'' also known as ''Abwege'' (1928) director: G.W. Pabst * ''Yacht of the Seven Sins'' (''Die Yacht der sieben Sünden'', 1928), directors: Jacob Fleck, Luise Fleck * ''L'Argent (1928 film), L'Argent'' (1928), director: Marcel L'Herbier * ''Scandal in Baden-Baden'' (''Skandal in Baden-Baden'', 1929), director: Erich Waschneck * ''Manolescu (film), Manolescu'' (1929), director: Victor Tourjansky * ''The Wonderful Lies of Nina Petrovna'' (''Die wunderbare Lüge der Nina Petrowna'', 1929), director: Hanns Schwarz * ''The Singing City'' (''Die singende Stadt'', 1930), director Carmine Gallone * ''Alraune (1930 film), Alraune'' (1930), director: Richard Oswald; title role * ''Gloria (1931 film), Gloria'' (1931), director: Hans Behrendt * ''Gloria (1931 French-language film), Gloria'' (1931), director: Yvan Noé * ''In the Employ of the Secret Service'' (''Im Geheimdienst'', 1931), director: Gustav Ucicky * ''The Blue Danube (1932 film), The Blue Danube'' (1932), director: Herbert Wilcox * ''The Countess of Monte Cristo (1932 film), The Countess of Monte Cristo'' (''Die Gräfin von Monte-Christo'', 1932), director: Karl Hartl * ''L'Atlantide (1932 film), The Mistress of Atlantis'' (''Die Herrin von Atlantis'', 1932) director: G.W. Pabst * ''Three on a Honeymoon (1932 film), Three on a Honeymoon'' (''Hochzeitsreise zu dritt'', 1932), director: Erich Schmidt * ''Honeymoon Trip'' (''Voyage de noces'', 1933), directors: Germain Fried, Joe May, Erich Schmidt * ''The Marathon Runner'' (''Der Läufer von Marathon'', 1933), director: Ewald André Dupont * ''Spies at Work'' (''Spione am Werk'', 1933), director: Gerhard Lamprecht * ''The Star of Valencia (French-language film), The Star of Valencia'' (''L'Étoile de Valencia'', 1933), director: Serge de Poligny * ''Happy Days in Aranjuez'' (''Die schönen Tage von Aranjuez'', 1933), director: Johannes Meyer (director), Johannes Meyer * ''Inge and the Millions'' (''Inge und die Millionen'', 1933), director: Erich Engel * ''Gold (1934 film), Gold'' (1934), director: Karl Hartl * ''The Island (1934 film), The Island'' (''Die Insel'', 1934), director: Hans Steinhoff * ''Count Woronzeff'' (''Fürst Woronzeff'', 1934), director: Arthur Robison * ''An Ideal Husband (1935 film), An Ideal Husband'' (''Ein idealer Gatte'', 1935), director: Herbert Selpin * ''Wie im Traum'' (1978, short), director: Egon HaaseReferences
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