Olga Chekhova
Olga Konstantinovna Chekhova, known in Germany as Olga Tschechowa, was a Russian-German actress. Her film roles include the female lead in Alfred Hitchcock's Mary.
Biography
Olga Konstantinovna Knipper was born on 14 April 1897, the daughter of Konstantin Knipper, a railway engineer, and Yelena Luise "Lulu" Knipper, both Lutherans of ethnic German ancestry. Olga was the niece and namesake of Olga Knipper. 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 in 1914 and married him the same year, taking his surname as her own. Their daughter, also named Olga, was born in 1916. 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, as the troupe consisted of twenty members and forty feet. Chekhova also was given a part in a silent movie, Anya Kraeva, in 1917. In 1918, she was given roles in Cagliostro and in The Last Adventure of Arsène Lupin. 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.
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. Her first cinema role in Germany was in F. W. Murnau silent movie Schloß Vogelöd. 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. In 1936 she married for the third time, to Marcel Robbins, which ended in divorce in 1938.
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".
She is also rumored to have been a communist spy in a Soviet conspiracy. According to the book Killing Hitler by the British author Roger Moorhouse, 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 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.
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.
Her niece Marina Ried and granddaughter Vera Tschechowa also became actresses.
Selected filmography
Anya Kraeva as Unknown rolePoslednie priklucheniya Arsena Lupena as Unknown roleKaliostro as Unknown roleThe Haunted Castle as Baronin SafferstättImpostor as Unknown roleViolet as VioletThe Circle of Death as Olga PetrownaDer Kampf ums Ich as Unknown roleNora as NoraThe Pagoda as Unknown role Certificates of Death as Unknown roleTatjana as TatjanaThe Lost Shoe as EstellaDebit and Credit as SabineThe Enchantress as Unknown roleThe Venus of Montmartre as Gräfin SullivanThe City of Temptation as Unknown roleThe Old Ballroom as Unknown role Should We Get Married? as Unknown roleLove Story as Lilli, das VerhältnisThe Company Worth Millions as Unknown roleThe Fallen as Malwa, Freundin von HammerThe Mill at Sanssouci as Tänzerin BarberinaMalice as Seine FrauThe Schimeck Family as Olga, seine FrauTrude as Unknown roleThe Man in the Fire as Diva RomolaHis Toughest Case as Mary MeltonGrandstand for General Staff as Gräfin LandierenAftermath as NadjaThe Sea as RosseherreHis Late Excellency as Baronin von WindeggThe Italian Straw Hat as Anaïs de BeauperthuisMoulin Rouge as ParysiaPawns of Passion as Ala SuminskaWoman in Flames as Gräfin Clarissa ThalbergAfter the Verdict as Vivian DenysDiane as Diane MervilThe Love of the Brothers Rott as Theresa DonathFoolishness of His Love as DirectorIncest as Lisbeth Kröger - deren Tochter aus erster EheHelene Willfüer, Student of Chemistry as Helene WillfüerLove in the Ring as LilianTroika as Vera WalowaDer Detektiv des Kaisers as OlgaThe Three from the Filling Station as Edith von TuroffDarling of the Gods as Olga von DagomirskaZwei Krawatten as MabelThe Road to Paradise as Edith de TourkoffA Girl from the Reeperbahn as Hanne BullováThe Great Longing as HerselfLiebe auf Befehl as ManuelaMary as Mary BaringPanic in Chicago as Florence DingleyThe Night of Decision as Maria Iwanowa The Concert as Maria Heink, GattinNight Convoy as Inka Maria, seine FrauTrenck as Elisabeth, Zarin von RußlandThe Gala Performance as Miß HarrisThe Hymn of Leuthen as Gräfin MariannLiebelei as Baronin v. EggersdorffA Love Story as Baronin von EggersdorfWays to a Good Marriage as Claire Veiler, die unbefriedigte FrauEin gewisser Herr Gran as Frau MervinUn certain monsieur Grant as Mme Merwin - une espionneThe Country Schoolmaster as Teresa van der StraatenUm ein bisschen Glück as Helene, seine FrauPolice Report as Gisela OstercampBetween Two Hearts as Inge LeuthoffL'amour qu'il faut aux femmes as Le troisième coupleThe World Without a Mask as Betty BandelowMaskerade as Anita Keller - seine BrautWhat Am I Without You as Lilly Petrowa, SchauspielerinAbenteuer eines jungen Herrn in Polen as Gräfin LubenskaPeer Gynt as BaroninRegine as Floris Bell, SchauspielerinAsew as Tanja Asew, seine FrauThe Eternal Mask as Madame NegarDreams of Love as Gräfin Madeleine DudayArtist Love as Olivia VanderhagenEin Walzer um den Stephansturm as Sylvia von PolonskaThe Empress's Favourite as Elisabeth Kaiserin von RusslandL'argent as Baronne SandorffManja Valewska as Gräfin Pola ValewskaHis Daughter is Called Peter as Nora NoirHannerl and Her Lovers as Frau von StahlCourt Theatre as Baroness SeebachDie weissen Teufel as Jenny MorelLiebe geht seltsame Wege as Antonia DelvarezUnter Ausschluß der Öffentlichkeit as Brigitte SparrenbergThe Yellow Flag - Helen Roeder as amerikanische JournalistinGewitterflug zu Claudia as Frau MainburgDas Mädchen mit dem guten Ruf as MirandolinaRed Orchids as Maria DorandoZwei Frauen as Paula CorveyVerliebtes Abenteuer as OliviaThe Stars Shine as HerselfBel Ami as Madeleine ForestierIch verweigere die Aussage as Nora OttendorfParkstraße 13 as Evelyne SchrattDie unheimlichen Wünsche as Feodora, SchauspielerinLiberated Hands as Kerstin ThomasPassion as GerdaAngelika as AngelikaThe Fox of Glenarvon as Gloria GrandisonMenschen im Sturm as Vera seine FrauAndreas Schlüter as Gräfin Vera OrlewskaWith the Eyes of a Woman as Marie-Louise v. Ditmar, Baronin von SteinThe Eternal Tone as Josephine Malti, SingerReise in die Vergangenheit as Marianne von der HaldenGefährlicher Frühling as Juliane von BuckwitzMelusine as NoraIn the Temple of Venus as Carola WeberOne Night Apart as Vera, seine FrauKein Engel ist so rein as MargotTwo in One Suit as Catherine Turner as Susanne de Bogne - JournalistinTrouble in Paradise as Myriam EsnehThe Man Who Wanted to Live Twice as Irene HesseBegierde as Frau des BankpräsidentenEine Frau mit Herz as Vera von WesenerThe Secret of a Marriage as Tina CamphausenMy Friend the Thief as Percys SchwesterBehind Monastery Walls as PriorinEverything for Father as Frau von PleskowRose-Girl Resli as Mrs. von WeidersheimHeute nacht passiert's as Herself - Gast im ModesalonCaptain Wronski as Frau von EichhoffI Was an Ugly Girl as Luise RaymondThe Barrings as Amelie von EyffU 47 – Kapitänleutnant Prien as Die FürstinJack and Jenny as Mutter JohannsenThe Twins from Immenhof as Großmutter ArkensSpring in Immenhof as Großmutter