Elisabeth Bergner

From Grokipedia

Elisabeth Bergner (22 August 1897 – 12 May 1986) was an Austrian-born actress of Jewish descent who rose to prominence in European theater and early cinema before fleeing Nazi Germany in 1933. Primarily a stage performer, she debuted in 1915 and achieved stardom under director Max Reinhardt with roles such as Rosalind in As You Like It, which she played for 566 performances, and Joan in Saint Joan. Her film career included leading parts in works directed by her husband, Paul Czinner, notably Escape Me Never (1935), for which she earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.

After relocating to London, where she became a British citizen in 1938, Bergner supported émigré artists and facilitated the escape of actors and children from Nazi persecution, leveraging her finances and connections for anti-fascist efforts. Despite challenges in exile, including a professional setback from withdrawing from the film 49th Parallel (1941) amid World War II—later criticized as desertion—she continued performing on Broadway and in films, later returning to Germany in the 1950s for stage and screen work. Bergner received later honors such as the Schiller Prize (1962) and the Eleonora Duse Prize (1982), and published memoirs in 1978 recounting her experiences.

In brief

Elisabeth Bergner (22 August 1897 – 12 May 1986) was an Austrian-British actress. Primarily a stage actress, her career flourished in Berlin and Paris before she moved to London to work in films. She played the title role in The Rise of Catherine the Great (1934).

Her signature role was Gemma Jones in Escape Me Never, a 1934 play written for her by Margaret Kennedy. She played Gemma, first in London and then in the Broadway debut, and in a 1935 film version for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She also starred in the American film Paris Calling (1941).