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Lya Mara is a Actor Suisse born on 1 august 1897 at Riga (Lettonie)
Lya Mara (1 August 1897 – 1 March 1960) was one of the biggest stars of the German silent cinema.
Lya Mara was born Aleksandra Gudowicz in a Polish family in Riga, Livonia. As a young girl she wanted to become a chemist, as then famous Maria Skłodowska-Curie. Just before World War I, in 1913 Lya Mara moved with her family to Warsaw, as Poland and Latvia were part of the Russian Empire. She began her acting career as a dancer.
In Warsaw, Lya Mara played her first small part in a short fiction silent film under a characteristically simplified title We want husband (1916, as Mia Mara) and soon after in another film Bestia (The Beast, premiere on January 5, 1917) directed by a Polish director of older generation Alexander Hertz. Another Polish actress Pola Negri, who later made an extraordinary career in Germany and in America, was the star of this film. Soon after that film Pola Negri left for Berlin and Lya Mara followed her steps. It was a time of World War I and Poland occupied since 1915 by the Germans, became a part of the German Empire.
Lya Mara's first film in Germany was Halkas Gelöbnis (1918) directed by an Austrian director Alfred Halm, who also scripted her another film Jadwiga. Both films were produced by young and energetic director-producer Frederic Zelnik. Lya Mara married him in 1918.
Zelnik promoted Lya Mara to a major star in Germany as she played mainly in films he directed and produced. Since 1920 Zelnik's film production company was named Zelnik-Mara-Film GmbH. Lya Mara played important parts as Charlotte Corday, Anna Karenina (1919) and Manon, attracting audience with her charm and youthful appeal. Lya Mara and her husband Frederic Zelnik became real celebrities, receiving at their home many known artists. Her popularity has been further cemented by hundreds of her photographs issued as postcards, chocolate and cigarettes trade cards.
A serious car accident at the end of the 1920s interrupted her career.
Somehow Lya Mara could not adapt her acting to the new artistic conditions after the introduction of sound in cinema in 1929, while Zelnik became first director in Germany who postsynchronized foreign films. Lya Mara's only film from the sound era is Jeder fragt nach Erika(1931) directed by her husband.
When Hitler took power in Germany (1933), Lya Mara left with Zelnik for London. There is no record of her acting there, in none of her husband films produced until 1939 in England and The Netherlands.
Frederic Zelnik died in London on November 29, 1950. Mara spent last years of her life in Switzerland and died there on 1 March 1960.
Source : Wikidata
Lya Mara
Birth name Aleksandra Gudowicz
Nationality Suisse
Birth 1 august 1897 at Riga (Lettonie)
Death 1 march 1960 (at 62 years) at Switzerland (Suisse)
Nationality Suisse
Birth 1 august 1897 at Riga (Lettonie)
Death 1 march 1960 (at 62 years) at Switzerland (Suisse)
Lya Mara (1 August 1897 – 1 March 1960) was one of the biggest stars of the German silent cinema.
Lya Mara was born Aleksandra Gudowicz in a Polish family in Riga, Livonia. As a young girl she wanted to become a chemist, as then famous Maria Skłodowska-Curie. Just before World War I, in 1913 Lya Mara moved with her family to Warsaw, as Poland and Latvia were part of the Russian Empire. She began her acting career as a dancer.
In Warsaw, Lya Mara played her first small part in a short fiction silent film under a characteristically simplified title We want husband (1916, as Mia Mara) and soon after in another film Bestia (The Beast, premiere on January 5, 1917) directed by a Polish director of older generation Alexander Hertz. Another Polish actress Pola Negri, who later made an extraordinary career in Germany and in America, was the star of this film. Soon after that film Pola Negri left for Berlin and Lya Mara followed her steps. It was a time of World War I and Poland occupied since 1915 by the Germans, became a part of the German Empire.
Lya Mara's first film in Germany was Halkas Gelöbnis (1918) directed by an Austrian director Alfred Halm, who also scripted her another film Jadwiga. Both films were produced by young and energetic director-producer Frederic Zelnik. Lya Mara married him in 1918.
Zelnik promoted Lya Mara to a major star in Germany as she played mainly in films he directed and produced. Since 1920 Zelnik's film production company was named Zelnik-Mara-Film GmbH. Lya Mara played important parts as Charlotte Corday, Anna Karenina (1919) and Manon, attracting audience with her charm and youthful appeal. Lya Mara and her husband Frederic Zelnik became real celebrities, receiving at their home many known artists. Her popularity has been further cemented by hundreds of her photographs issued as postcards, chocolate and cigarettes trade cards.
A serious car accident at the end of the 1920s interrupted her career.
Somehow Lya Mara could not adapt her acting to the new artistic conditions after the introduction of sound in cinema in 1929, while Zelnik became first director in Germany who postsynchronized foreign films. Lya Mara's only film from the sound era is Jeder fragt nach Erika(1931) directed by her husband.
When Hitler took power in Germany (1933), Lya Mara left with Zelnik for London. There is no record of her acting there, in none of her husband films produced until 1939 in England and The Netherlands.
Frederic Zelnik died in London on November 29, 1950. Mara spent last years of her life in Switzerland and died there on 1 March 1960.
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Filmography of Lya Mara (13 films)
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The Crimson Circle (1929)
Directed by Friedrich Zelnik
Genres Crime
Actors Lya Mara, Fred Louis Lerch, Stewart Rome, Albert Steinrück, Otto Wallburg, Hans Albers
Roles Thalia Drummond
Rating31%
Police battle against a gang of blackmailers known as The Crimson Circle.
My Heart is a Jazz Band (1929)
Directed by Friedrich Zelnik
Origin German
Genres Drama, Comedy, Crime
Actors Lya Mara, Charles Puffy, Bobby Burns, Karl Harbacher, Hermann Böttcher, Michael von Newlinsky
Roles Jessie
The Crimson Circle (1929)
, 1h49Directed by Friedrich Zelnik
Origin German
Genres Crime
Actors Lya Mara, John Castle, Stewart Rome, Fred Louis Lerch, Albert Steinrück, Otto Wallburg
Roles Thalia Drummond
Rating31%
Un homme est abattu par un inconnu lors d'une représentation de gala dans un théâtre. Sur le mort, on trouve une lettre menaçante avec l'avertissement: « Si l'argent n'est pas déposé avant cinq heures, vous êtes un homme mort. » La lettre porte un signe mystérieux, un cercle rouge. Il se trouve que des crimes similaires se produisent à travers l'Europe et que l'auteur de ces lettres semble être à Londres. L'inspecteur Parr est chargé de clarifier l'affaire. Pendant ce temps, Mr. Birdmore, qui a également reçu des lettres de menaces du Cercle rouge, est protégé par le détective privé Derrick Yale. Mais ni Yale ni l'inspecteur Parr ne peuvent empêcher Birdmore de devenir une victime du criminel impitoyable.
Dancing Vienna (1927)
Directed by Friedrich Zelnik
Genres Comedy, Romance
Actors Lya Mara, Ben Lyon, Alfred Abel, Eugen Burg, Albert Paulig, Julius Falkenstein
Roles Komtesse Frizzi Zirsky
The Weavers (1927)
, 1h33Directed by Friedrich Zelnik
Origin German
Genres Drama
Themes Théâtre, Films about the labor movement, Political films, Films based on plays
Actors Paul Wegener, Valeska Stock, Hertha von Walther, Hermann Picha, Camilla von Hollay, Arthur Kraußneck
Rating70%
During the 1840s a group of Silesian weavers stage an uprising due to their concerns about the Industrial Revolution's impact of their lives.
The Blue Danube (1926)
, 1h33Directed by Friedrich Zelnik
Genres Romance
Actors Harry Liedtke, Lya Mara, Julius Falkenstein, Ernő Verebes, Hans Albers, Henry Bender
Roles Mizzi Staudinger
The Bohemian Dancer (1926)
Directed by Friedrich Zelnik
Genres Drama
Actors Lya Mara, Harry Liedtke, William Dieterle, Eduard von Winterstein, Margarete Kupfer, Karl Harbacher
Roles Försterchristel
The Joyless Street (1925)
, 2h25Directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst
Origin German
Genres Drama, Melodrama
Themes Films about sexuality, Erotic films, Films about prostitution, Erotic thriller films
Actors Greta Garbo, Werner Krauss, Asta Nielsen, Jaro Fürth, Agnes Esterhazy, Loni Nest
Rating70%
In 1921 in a street called Melchiorgasse in the poor part of Vienna, Austria, there are only two wealthy people: the butcher Josef Geiringer and Mrs. Greifer, who runs a fashion boutique and a nightclub, patronized by wealthy Viennese. Annexed to the nightclub is Merkl Hotel, a brothel to which the women of the nightclub bring their clients. The film follows the lives of two women from the same poor neighborhood, as they try to better themselves during the period of Austrian postwar hyperinflation. They are Marie, who becomes a prostitute, and Grete, who at the last moment, is saved from that fate.
Count Varenne's Lover (1921)
Directed by Friedrich Zelnik
Genres Drama, Crime
Actors Lya Mara, Robert Scholz, Olga Engl, Leopold von Ledebur
Roles Die Geliebte
Charlotte Corday (1919)
, 56minutesDirected by Friedrich Zelnik
Origin German
Genres Drama, Biography, Historical
Themes Histoire de France, French Revolution films
Actors Lya Mara
Roles Charlotte Corday
Halkas Gelöbnis (1918)
Directed by Alfred Halm
Origin German
Genres Drama
Actors Hans Albers, Erich Kaiser-Titz, Lya Mara
Roles Halka
The Polish Dancer (1917)
, 48minutesOrigin Pologne
Genres Drama, Romance
Actors Pola Negri, Maria Dulęba, Lya Mara, Maria Duleba
Rating59%
Pola Basnikov is an adolescent girl living with her parents. She likes to stay out late and rabblerouse with her friends, to the worry of her parents. One night she and her father get into a fight, so Pola decides to run away. Her boyfriend, Dmitri, helps her get lodging at a hotel. Pola gets him drunk, takes all his money, and leaves, leaving behind a note promising to pay him back. Pola gets work as a model at a modeling studio, which opens up work for her as a cabaret dancer. One of the cabaret's patrons, a married man named Alexi, is taken by Pola, and the two engage in an affair, with Pola unaware that Alexi already has a family. Once Alexi gets the courage to leave his wife, he and Pola go to Cafe de Paris to celebrate. There, her old boyfriend, Dmitri, waits on them, but does not recognize Pola. Pola repays the money she took from him, leaving it with a note on the table. When Dmitri finds the money and the note, he is enraged and plans to take revenge on Pola. Meanwhile, Alexi's wife, Sonya, grants him a divorce, and moves in with her mother, only to become deathly ill. Pola learns that Alexi is married and casts him off, not realizing that he has already left his family for her. Soon after, the vengeful ex-boyfriend Dmitri kills Pola. Alexi tries to reconcile with his wife, only to learn that she has succumbed to her illness and has died.