Olga Chekhova

Olga Chekhova
Olga Chekhova
Ольга Чехова
	Chekhova in the 1930s
Born	Olga Konstantinovna Knipper; 14 April 1897; Aleksandropol, Erivan Governorate, Russian Empire; (today Gyumri, Armenia)
Died	9 March 1980 (aged 82); Munich, West Germany
Nationality	Russian
Other names	Olga Tschechowa
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1926–1974
Spouses	; Michael Chekhov (m. 1914; div. 1917) ; Frederick Yaroshi (m. 1920; div. 1921) ; Marcel Robbins (m. 1936; div. 1938)
Children	Ada Tschechowa
Relatives	Lev Knipper (brother); Olga Knipper (aunt); Anton Chekhov (uncle); Marina Ried (niece); Vera Tschechowa (granddaughter);

Olga Konstantinovna Chekhova (née Knipper; Russian: Ольга Константиновна Чехова; 14 April 1897 – 9 March 1980), known in Germany as Olga Tschechowa, was a Russian-German actress. Her film roles include the female lead in Alfred Hitchcock's Mary (1931).

Biography

Olga Konstantinovna Knipper was born on 14 April 1897, the daughter of Konstantin Knipper^[1] (1868–1929), a railway engineer, and Yelena Luise "Lulu" Knipper (née Ried, 1874–1940), both Lutherans of ethnic German ancestry. ^[2] Olga was the niece and namesake of Olga Knipper (Anton Chekhov's wife). She went to school in Tsarskoye Selo but, after watching Eleonora Duse, joined the Moscow Art Theatre's studio. There she met the Russian-Jewish actor Mikhail Chekhov (Anton's nephew) in 1914 and married him the same year, taking his surname as her own. Their daughter, also named Olga, was born in 1916.^[3] She became an actress under the name of Ada Tschechowa.

During the year of the 1917 October Revolution, Chekhova divorced her husband but kept his name. In the first year of the revolution, she joined a cabaret-theatre group called Sorokonozhka (The Little Centipede), as the troupe consisted of twenty members and only forty feet. Chekhova also was given a part in a silent movie, Anya Kraeva. The following year, in 1918, she was given roles in Cagliostro and in The Last Adventure of Arsène Lupin.^[4] Although part of the social circle around the Moscow Art Theatre, she never played a role there, despite her later claims to having her first theatre role in The Cherry Orchard.^{[citation needed]}

She managed to get a travel passport from the Soviet government, possibly in exchange for her cooperation, which led to permission to leave Russia. She was accompanied by a Soviet agent on a train to Vienna, then she moved to Berlin in 1920. That same year, she married Frederick Yaroshi, though they divorced in 1921.^[5] Her first cinema role in Germany was in F. W. Murnau silent movie Schloß Vogelöd (1921).^[6] She played in Max Reinhardt's productions at UFA. She made the successful transition from silent film to talkies. In the 1930s, she rose to become one of the brightest stars of the Third Reich and was admired by Adolf Hitler. She appeared in such films as The Hymn of Leuthen although she preferred comedies.^[7] In 1936 she married for the third time, to Marcel Robbins, which ended in divorce in 1938.^[8]

Joseph Goebbels

A published photograph of her sitting beside Hitler at a reception gave the leaders of the Soviet intelligence service the impression that she had close contacts with Hitler. She had more contact with the Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, who referred to her in his diaries as "eine charmante Frau" ("a charming lady").^[9]

She is also rumored to have been a communist spy in a Soviet conspiracy. According to the book Killing Hitler (2006) by the British author Roger Moorhouse,^[10] she was pressured by Stalin and Beria to flirt with Adolf Hitler in order to gain and transfer information so that Hitler could be killed by secret Soviet agents.

Later years

Olga achieved great success in the motion picture industry. Her filmography includes 138 credits as an actor, director, and producer^[11] between 1917 and 1974. After the war she lived in the Soviet sector of Berlin, but eventually she managed to escape from her Soviet contacts. In 1949, she moved to Munich, Bavaria, and launched a cosmetics company, Olga Tschechowa Kosmetik.^[12]

At the same time she continued acting, and played supporting roles and cameos in more than 20 films. She largely retired from acting in the 70s, after publishing a book of memoirs. Her correspondence with Russian actresses Olga Knipper and Alla Tarasova was published posthumously.^{[citation needed]}

Her niece Marina Ried and granddaughter Vera Tschechowa also became actresses.

Selected filmography

Anya Kraeva (1917) as Unknown role
Poslednie priklucheniya Arsena Lupena (1918) as Unknown role
Kaliostro (1918) as Unknown role
The Haunted Castle (1921) as Baronin Safferstätt
Impostor (1921) as Unknown role
Violet (1921) as Violet
The Circle of Death (1922) as Olga Petrowna
Der Kampf ums Ich (1922) as Unknown role
Nora (1923) as Nora
The Pagoda (1923) as Unknown role
Certificates of Death (1923) as Unknown role
Tatjana (1923) as Tatjana
The Lost Shoe (1923) as Estella
Debit and Credit (1924) as Sabine
The Enchantress (1924) as Unknown role
The Venus of Montmartre (1925) as Gräfin Sullivan
The City of Temptation (1925) as Unknown role
The Old Ballroom (1925, part 1, 2) as Unknown role
Should We Get Married? (1925) as Unknown role
Love Story (1925) as Lilli, das Verhältnis
The Company Worth Millions (1925) as Unknown role
The Fallen (1926) as Malwa, Freundin von Hammer
The Mill at Sanssouci (1926) as Tänzerin Barberina
Malice (1926) as Seine Frau
The Schimeck Family (1926) as Olga, seine Frau
Trude (1926) as Unknown role
The Man in the Fire (1926) as Diva Romola
His Toughest Case (1926) as Mary Melton
Grandstand for General Staff (1926) as Gräfin Landieren
Aftermath (1927) as Nadja
The Sea (1927) as Rosseherre
His Late Excellency (1927) as Baronin von Windegg
The Italian Straw Hat (1928) as Anaïs de Beauperthuis
Moulin Rouge (1928) as Parysia
Pawns of Passion (1928) as Ala Suminska
Woman in Flames (1928) as Gräfin Clarissa Thalberg
After the Verdict (1929) as Vivian Denys
Diane (1929) as Diane Mervil
The Love of the Brothers Rott (1929) as Theresa Donath
Foolishness of His Love (1929) as Director
Incest (1929) as Lisbeth Kröger - deren Tochter aus erster Ehe
Helene Willfüer, Student of Chemistry (1930) as Helene Willfüer
Love in the Ring (1930) as Lilian
Troika (1930) as Vera Walowa
Der Detektiv des Kaisers (1930) as Olga
The Three from the Filling Station (1930) as Edith von Turoff
Darling of the Gods (1930) as Olga von Dagomirska
Zwei Krawatten (1930) as Mabel
The Road to Paradise (1930) as Edith de Tourkoff
A Girl from the Reeperbahn (1930) as Hanne Bullová
The Great Longing (1930) as Herself
Liebe auf Befehl (1931) as Manuela
Mary (1931) as Mary Baring
Panic in Chicago (1931) as Florence Dingley
The Night of Decision (1931) as Maria Iwanowa (Marya Sablin)
The Concert (1931) as Maria Heink, Gattin
Night Convoy (1932) as Inka Maria, seine Frau
Trenck (1932) as Elisabeth, Zarin von Rußland
The Gala Performance (1932) as Miß Harris
The Hymn of Leuthen (1933) as Gräfin Mariann
Liebelei (1933) as Baronin v. Eggersdorff
A Love Story (1933) as Baronin von Eggersdorf
Ways to a Good Marriage (1933) as Claire Veiler, die unbefriedigte Frau
Ein gewisser Herr Gran (1933) as Frau Mervin
Un certain monsieur Grant (1933) as Mme Merwin - une espionne
The Country Schoolmaster (1933) as Teresa van der Straaten
Um ein bisschen Glück (1933) as Helene, seine Frau
Police Report (1934) as Gisela Ostercamp
Between Two Hearts (1934) as Inge Leuthoff
L'amour qu'il faut aux femmes (1934) as Le troisième couple
The World Without a Mask (1934) as Betty Bandelow
Maskerade (1934) as Anita Keller - seine Braut
What Am I Without You (1934) as Lilly Petrowa, Schauspielerin
Abenteuer eines jungen Herrn in Polen (1934) as Gräfin Lubenska
Peer Gynt (1934) as Baronin
Regine (1935) as Floris Bell, Schauspielerin
Asew (1935) as Tanja Asew, seine Frau
The Eternal Mask (1935)^[13] as Madame Negar
Dreams of Love (1935) as Gräfin Madeleine Duday
Artist Love (1935) as Olivia Vanderhagen
Ein Walzer um den Stephansturm (1935) as Sylvia von Polonska
The Empress's Favourite (1936) as Elisabeth Kaiserin von Russland
L'argent (1936) as Baronne Sandorff
Manja Valewska (1936) as Gräfin Pola Valewska
His Daughter is Called Peter (1936) as Nora Noir
Hannerl and Her Lovers (1936) as Frau von Stahl
Court Theatre (1936) as Baroness Seebach
Die weissen Teufel (1936) as Jenny Morel
Liebe geht seltsame Wege (1937) as Antonia Delvarez
Unter Ausschluß der Öffentlichkeit (1937) as Brigitte Sparrenberg
The Yellow Flag (1937) - Helen Roeder as amerikanische Journalistin
Gewitterflug zu Claudia (1937) as Frau Mainburg
Das Mädchen mit dem guten Ruf (1938) as Mirandolina
Red Orchids (1938) as Maria Dorando
Zwei Frauen (1938) as Paula Corvey
Verliebtes Abenteuer (1938) as Olivia
The Stars Shine (1938) as Herself
Bel Ami (1939) as Madeleine Forestier
Ich verweigere die Aussage (1939) as Nora Ottendorf
Parkstraße 13 (1939) as Evelyne Schratt
Die unheimlichen Wünsche (1939) as Feodora, Schauspielerin
Liberated Hands (1939) as Kerstin Thomas
Passion (1940) as Gerda
Angelika (1940) as Angelika
The Fox of Glenarvon (1940) as Gloria Grandison
Menschen im Sturm (1941) as Vera seine Frau
Andreas Schlüter (1942) as Gräfin Vera Orlewska
With the Eyes of a Woman (1942) as Marie-Louise v. Ditmar, Baronin von Stein
The Eternal Tone (1943) as Josephine Malti, Singer
Reise in die Vergangenheit (1943) as Marianne von der Halden
Gefährlicher Frühling (1943) as Juliane von Buckwitz
Melusine (1944) as Nora
In the Temple of Venus (1948) as Carola Weber
One Night Apart (1950) as Vera, seine Frau
Kein Engel ist so rein (1950) as Margot
Two in One Suit (1950) as Catherine Turner
Maharadscha wider Willen [de] (1950) as Susanne de Bogne - Journalistin
Trouble in Paradise (1950) as Myriam Esneh
The Man Who Wanted to Live Twice (1950) as Irene Hesse
Begierde (1951) as Frau des Bankpräsidenten
Eine Frau mit Herz (1951) as Vera von Wesener
The Secret of a Marriage (1951) as Tina Camphausen
My Friend the Thief (1951) as Percys Schwester
Behind Monastery Walls (1952) as Priorin
Everything for Father (1953) as Frau von Pleskow
Rose-Girl Resli (1953) as Mrs. von Weidersheim
Heute nacht passiert's (1953) as Herself - Gast im Modesalon
Captain Wronski (1954) as Frau von Eichhoff
I Was an Ugly Girl (1955) as Luise Raymond
The Barrings (1955) as Amelie von Eyff
U 47 – Kapitänleutnant Prien (1958) as Die Fürstin
Jack and Jenny (1963) as Mutter Johannsen
The Twins from Immenhof (1973) as Großmutter Arkens
Spring in Immenhof (1974) as Großmutter (final film role)

References

^ "Константин Леонардович Книппер (1868 - 1929) - Genealogy".
^ "Luise Jul. Knipper".
^ Beevor, p. 38.
^ Beevor, p. 52.
^ "Russian prima Nazi cinema — Encyclopedia of safety".
^ Romani, p. 41.
^ Romani, p. 43.
^ "Марсель Роббинс (1895 - d.) - Genealogy".
^ Beevor, p. 149.
^ Moorhouse, Roger (2006). Killing Hitler: The Plots, The Assassins, and the Dictator Who Cheated Death. New York: Bantam. ISBN 978-0-553-38255-6.
^ "Olga Tschechowa". IMDb.
^ Beevor, p. 231.
^ Filmed in German by a Swiss production firm, (The Eternal Mask) adapted by Leo Lapaire from his own novel. Mathias Weimann plays an idealistic doctor who believes he has discovered a cure for meningitis. Ordered not to experiment with this serum, Weimann does so anyway, utilizing the supposed wonder drug on a terminal patient. When the man dies, Weimann is reprimanded by his superiors, and wanders out of the hospital, believing himself a failure. His depression deepens into delirium, and soon the doctor is wandering through a Caligariesque world of distorted shapes and distended shadows, where he finds it impossible to separate illusion from reality. Meanwhile, Weimann's superiors determine that the meningitis serum is indeed effective; now they must snap the doctor out of his nightmare in order for him to reveal the formula. One of the very few successful attempts to convey madness on screen.