Fern Andra
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Fern Andra, Dowager Baroness von Weichs (born Vernal Edna Andrews, November 24, 1893 – February 8, 1974) was an American actress, film director, script writer, and producer. Next to
Henny Porten Frieda Ulricke "Henny" Porten (7 January 1890 – 15 October 1960) was a German actress and film producer of the silent film, silent era, and Germany's first major film star. She appeared in more than 170 films between 1906 and 1955. Biography ...
and
Asta Nielsen Asta Sofie Amalie Nielsen (11 September 1881 – 24 May 1972) was a Danish silent film actress who was one of the most popular leading ladies of the 1910s and one of the first international movie stars. Seventy of Nielsen's 74 films were ...
, she was one of the most popular and well-known actresses in German
silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...
.


Biography

Vernal Edna Andrews was born in
Watseka, Illinois Watseka is a city in and the county seat of Iroquois County, Illinois, Iroquois County, Illinois, United States. It is located approximately west of the Illinois-Indiana state line on U.S. Route 24. The population of Watseka was 4,679 as of th ...
, on November 24, 1893, the daughter of William P. Andrews and Sarah Emily Evett, also known as Sadie. Vernal was of English and Scottish descent on her father's side, while she was of English and German on her mother's. When William died in 1898, Sadie remarried Frank St. Clair, a vaudeville actor, circus performer and tight-rope walker. Andra was already appearing in public in a
tightrope Tightrope walking, also called funambulism, is the skill of walking along a thin wire or rope. It has a long tradition in various countries and is commonly associated with the circus. Other skills similar to tightrope walking include slack rope ...
act by the age of four. She later trained in song and dance. As early as 1899, in New York, she made her first film, a version of ''
Uncle Tom's Cabin ''Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly'' is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two Volume (bibliography), volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans ...
''. However, she remained with the circus, with which she embarked on an extensive tour across the United States, Canada and Europe. For a time, she was a member of
Bird Millman Bird Millman O’Day (born Jennadean Engleman; October 20, 1890 – August 5, 1940“Bird Millman O'Day... Succumbs Here Monday Night after Long Illness”, '' Cañon City Daily Record'', August 6, 1940) was one of the most celebrated high-wire p ...
's acclaimed troupe of wire artists. 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 ...
she met
Max Reinhardt Max Reinhardt (; born Maximilian Goldmann; 9 September 1873 – 30 October 1943) was an Austrian-born Theatre director, theatre and film director, theater manager, intendant, and theatrical producer. With his radically innovative and avant-gard ...
, who gave her acting lessons. In 1913, aged 19, she appeared in her first German film, ''Das Ave Maria''. Still only moderately well known, she made her only
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
n film in 1915: ''Zwei Freunde''. From 1916 to 1918 she appeared almost exclusively on camera with
Alfred Abel Alfred Peter Abel (12 March 1879 – 12 December 1937) was a German film actor, director, and producer. He appeared in more than 140 silent and sound films between 1913 and 1938. His best-known performance was as Joh Fredersen in Fritz Lang' ...
. In 1920 she starred in
Robert Wiene Robert Wiene (; 27 April 1873 – 17 July 1938) was a German film director, screenwriter and Film producer, producer, active during the Silent film, silent era. He is widely-known for directing the landmark 1920 film ''The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari ...
's
expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...
horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...
'' Genuine''. In the mid-1920s she lost her public appeal in Germany. Andra became a producer in Germany with Georg Glen as manager. The company produced more than 80 films during World War I. That effort ended after Nazis took control in the country. On July 4, 1922, she was involved in the Hamburg-Berlin
mail plane The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...
accident. The pilot,
Lothar von Richthofen Lothar Siegfried Freiherr von Richthofen (27 September 1894 – 4 July 1922) was a German First World War fighter ace credited with 40 victories. He was a younger brother of top-scoring ace Manfred von Richthofen (the ''Red Baron'') and a di ...
, younger brother of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...
Manfred von Richthofen Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (; 2 May 1892 – 21 April 1918), known in English as Baron von Richthofen or the Red Baron, was a fighter pilot with the German Air Force during World War I. He is considered the ace-of-aces of th ...
(the "Red Baron"), was killed. Andra was initially misreported as dead, but survived. Her companion, director
Georg Bluen Georg may refer to: * ''Georg'' (film), 1997 *Georg (musical), Estonian musical * Georg (given name) * Georg (surname) * , a Kriegsmarine coastal tanker * Spiders Georg, an Internet meme See also * George (disambiguation) George may refer to: ...
, also survived and continued working with her until 1925. Andra's activities on stage included acting at the Hollywood Playhouse in the 1930s. She also founded the Windsor Theater in Los Angeles. Her final stage appearance came in 1936. From 1928 she worked in the UK and the US, later expanding her range to include radio and television.


Marriages

Fern Andra was married four times; all of the unions were childless: * Baron Friedrich von und zu Weichs-Zur-Wenne (died in 1917) *
Ian Keith Ian Keith (born Keith Ross; February 27, 1899 – March 26, 1960) was an American actor. Early years Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Keith grew up in Chicago. He was educated at the Francis Parker School there and played Hamlet in a school pr ...
(February 15, 1934 – May 18, 1935, divorce) * Gen. Samuel Edge Dockrell (1938–1973; his death)


Death

Fern Andra died in
Aiken, South Carolina Aiken is the most populous city in, and the county seat of, Aiken County, South Carolina, United States. According to 2020 census, the population was 32,025, making it the 15th-most populous city in South Carolina, and one of the two largest ci ...
, on February 8, 1974, aged 80.


Selected filmography

* ''
Spring Storms ''Spring Storms'' or ''Spring Storms in the Autumn of Life'' (German: ''Frühlingsstürme im Herbste des Lebens'') is a 1918 German silent film, silent drama film directed by and starring Fern Andra. It also features Josef Peterhans and Reinhold Sc ...
'' (1918) * '' Crown and Whip'' (1919) * '' Genuine'' (1920) * ''
Madame Récamier Madame may refer to: * Madam, civility title or form of address for women, derived from the French * Madam (prostitution), a term for a woman who is engaged in the business of procuring prostitutes, usually the manager of a brothel * ''Madame'' ( ...
'' (1920) * '' The Night of Queen Isabeau'' (1920) * '' The Dancer of Jaipur'' (1920) * '' Waves of Life and Love'' (1921) * '' Driving Force'' (1921) * '' Waves of Life and Love'' (1921) * ''
Prashna's Secret ''Prashna's Secret'' () is a 1922 German silent adventure film directed by Ludwig Baetz and starring Hermann Leffler, Fern Andra, and Leopold von Ledebur. The film's sets were designed by the art director Jacek Rotmil Jacek Rotmil (1888–194 ...
'' (1922) * ''
The Red Rider ''The Red Rider'' is a 1934 American Western film serial from Universal Pictures and starring Buck Jones. It has 15 chapters based on the short story "The Redhead from Sun Dog" by W. C. Tuttle, and is a remake of Buck Jones' earlier 1931 film ...
'' (1923) * '' Love Is the Power of Women'' (1924) * '' Za La Mort'' (1924) * ''
Women of Passion A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional uteruses ...
'' (1926) * '' Radio Magic'' (1927) * '' Spangles'' (1928) * '' The Warning'' (1928) * '' The Burgomaster of Stilemonde'' (1929) * '' The Eyes of the World'' (1930) * '' Lotus Lady'' (1930)


References


External links

*
Fern Andra's photos
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andra, Fern 1893 births 1974 deaths 20th-century American actresses Burials at Cedar Hill Cemetery (Hartford, Connecticut) People from Watseka, Illinois Actresses from Illinois American expatriate actresses in Germany American film actresses American radio actresses American silent film actresses American stage actresses American television actresses American women film directors Women film pioneers Film directors from Illinois