Wera Engels

Wera Engels

1909-05-12

Biography

Wera Engels was a daughter of a German Admiral and Governor of the then German colony Tsing-tau-China. After successful leading roles in productions of the well-established German UFA-studios in Babelsberg as well as in France, Engels was invited to Hollywood. Producers saw her as a cheap alternative to Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich. She was contracted with RKO. Engels was given roles under Walter Futter and M.H. Hoffman. She and the silent movie super star Mary Pickford became best friends. By 1935 she returned to Germany, but left soon thereafter, because of the decline of the German movie industry caused by the Nazi propaganda machine. Back in Hollywood, she dated Gary Cooper for a while but married the Lithuanian-born actor/writer Ivan Lebedeff. After Lebedeff's death in 1953 of Angina pectoris, she moved back to Europe, where she stayed with several friends in London and Stockholm before she went back to Germany. She lived the rest of her life with Erna Hoffmann (widow of Heinrich Hoffmann, Hitler's friend and personal photographer) in the Munich area. She died on November 16, 1988 (age 79) in Munich, Germany.

Also appears in

The Great Jasper

The Great Jasper

Not yet rated

Fugitive Road

Fugitive Road

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Fighting the White Slave Traffic

Fighting the White Slave Traffic

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Lucky children

Lucky children

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The Great Impersonation

The Great Impersonation

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Mädchenhandel - Eine internationale Gefahr

Mädchenhandel - Eine internationale Gefahr

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Talking About Jacqueline

Talking About Jacqueline

5.2

Hong Kong Nights

Hong Kong Nights

3.5

Scent of the Woman in Black

Scent of the Woman in Black

5.4

Stjenka Rasin

Stjenka Rasin

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The Girl from Spree Woods

The Girl from Spree Woods

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Together We Live

Together We Live

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Sweepstake Annie

Sweepstake Annie

3.7

Hast Du geliebt am schönen Rhein?

Hast Du geliebt am schönen Rhein?

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Befehl zur Ehe

Befehl zur Ehe

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Lützow’s Wild Hunt

Lützow’s Wild Hunt

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The Gripper

The Gripper

5.0

English as it is spoken

English as it is spoken

Not yet rated