Anny Ahlers (21 December 1907 – 14 March 1933) was a German actress and singer. She was born in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

Career

She was born to Wilhelm Ahlers and his wife Augusta Victoria (Lieberg). Her father was an Army officer and her maternal grandmother was English. Ahlers began her career at the age of four, appearing as a dancer in

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

acts. At seven she studied at the Operatic School of Dancing in Hamburg. Her breakthrough role was in the operetta '' Casanova'', composed by

Ralph Benatzky Ralph Benatzky (5 June 1884 – 16 October 1957), born in Mährisch Budwitz ( Moravské Budějovice) as Rudolph Franz rantišekJosef Benatzky, was an Austrian composer of Moravian origin. He composed operas and operettas, such as '' Casanova'' ...

. This role established her popularity in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. In December 1931, she appeared with

Richard Tauber Richard Tauber (16 May 1891, Linz – 8 January 1948, London) was an Austrian lyric tenor and film actor. He performed the tenor role in numerous operas, including ''Don Giovanni'' by Mozart and Lorenzo Da Ponte. Early life Richard Tauber was b ...

in an operetta by

Erich Wolfgang Korngold Erich Wolfgang Korngold (; May 29, 1897 – November 29, 1957) was an Austrian composer and conductor, who fled Europe in the mid-1930s and later adopted US nationality. A child prodigy, he became one of the most important and influential comp ...

at the Admiralspalast in Berlin. This was called 'Das Lied der Liebe' and was based on the Johann Strauss operetta Das Spitzentuch der Königin. ef: Daniel O'Hara, Richard Tauber: A new Chronology, Saltburn, 2013 This ran until March 1932, after which she went to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England to appear with

Heddle Nash William Heddle Nash (14 June 189414 August 1961) was an English lyric tenor who appeared in opera and oratorio. He made numerous recordings that are still available on CD reissues. Nash's voice was of the light tenor class known as " tenore di ...

in the operetta '' The Dubarry'' at

Her Majesty's Theatre His Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated in the Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The building, designed by Charles J. Phipps, was constructed in 1897 for the actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who ...

[Ref: Eleanor Allen, Heddle Nash: Singing against the Tide, Jubilee House, London, 2010. On 14 March 1933, while appearing in London, she died in controversial circumstances after jumping out her flat window in an apparent suicide. Her death has been blamed both on morphine that she had taken while suffering from tuberculosis, and on sleeping pills she was taking due to insomnia. Her replacement in the role, Kathlyn Hilliard, also died in 1933.

Filmography

*''Casanova'' (1928) *''

Madame Pompadour Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour (, ; 29 December 1721 – 15 April 1764), commonly known as Madame de Pompadour, was a member of the French court. She was the official chief mistress of King Louis XV from 1745 to 1751, and rema ...

'' (1931) - Die Marquise von Pompadour *' (1931) - Alexandra *'' The True Jacob'' (1931) - Yvette *''Kabarett-Programm Nr. 5'' (1931, short) *''Die Liebesfiliale'' (1931) - Madame Irene *''

The Company's in Love ''The Company's in Love'' () is a 1932 German comedy film directed by Max Ophüls and starring Gustav Fröhlich, Anny Ahlers and Lien Deyers. It was shot at the Staaken Studios in Berlin and on location in Switzerland. The film's sets were des ...

'' (1932) - Peggy Barling

References

External links

* *
Portrait by Laszlo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahlers, Anny 1907 births 1933 deaths Actresses from Hamburg German film actresses 20th-century German actresses Suicides by jumping in England Burials at the Ohlsdorf Cemetery 20th-century German women singers 1933 suicides