Mabel May-Yong (born Alice Mabel Auguste Scharrer, 1884-1945?)CabinetCard.wordpress.com
Retrieved March 1, 2016 was a German

film actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lite ...

of the

silent era A silent film is a film with no 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, wh ...

, known for her exotic roles and costumes. She appeared in around twenty films during the early years of the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...

Early years

May-Yong was born Alice Mabel Auguste Scharrer as the daughter of the businessman Max Richard Albrecht Scharrer and Elizabeth Ann "Lizzie" Hoa-Mai (either from China or Vietnam).Magdeburg, Births Records, 1874-1903 She started her career as a belly dancer, wearing provocative costumes in the style of Mata-Hari, and adopted her exotic stage name. May-Yong married in Magdeburg, purportedly into the noble family. In October 1914, months after the onset of World War I, she arrived in New York from

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

on the ship ''Rotterdam'', as Baroness Alice Schenk zu Schweinsberg, married and living in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, but listing her father, Max Scharrer, living in Magdeburg, as her closest relative. The New York Times of October 28, 1914, reported the arrival at the Astor Theatre of "Baroness Alice Mabel von Schenck zu Schweinsberg, who danced in Germany under the name of Mabel May Yong". She performed at Astor and at the Victoria Theatre and returned to Germany in January 1915.Album - Mabel May Yong
at the Lost Gallery website, December 11, 2015 She crossed on the same steamer as Melvin A. Rise, a personal friend of

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

, who approached the

German chancellor The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany,; often shortened to ''Bundeskanzler''/''Bundeskanzlerin'', / is the head of the federal government of Germany and the commander in chief of the Ger ...

in Berlin "with a view of sounding them on peace", purportedly after the baroness (May-Yong) had suggested this to Wilson. The White House denied any knowledge of this and this action was said to have undermined

Colonel House Edward Mandell House (July 26, 1858 – March 28, 1938) was an American diplomat, and an adviser to President Woodrow Wilson. He was known as Colonel House, although his rank was honorary and he had performed no military service. He was a highl ...

's peace envoy the next month.Peace Envoy Too Late; Col. House's Mission to Berlin Spoiled by President's Friend.
clipping from

the Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

of March 21, 1915, at the Lost Gallery website

Film career and later life

May-Yong made her first known appearance in a movie in 1919 as Queen Nyleptha in '' Allan Quartermain'', the first movie adaptation of the 1887 novel. After some 25 movies, her last known roles were in 1923 in ''Das Kabinett des Dr. Segat'' and in 1925 in ''Entsiegelte Lippen''. She then disappeared from the public eye and her death is yet unknown.

Selected filmography

* '' The Apprentice Diplomat'' (1919) * '' Indian Revenge'' (1920) * ''

The Adventure of Doctor Kircheisen ''The Adventure of Doctor Kircheisen'' (german: Das Abenteuer des Dr. Kircheisen) is a 1921 German silent drama film directed by Rudolf Biebrach and stars Lotte Neumann, Hermann Thimig and Hans Marr. The script was by Robert Wiene, based on the ...

'' (1921) * ''

The House of Torment ''The House of Torment'' (German: ''Das Haus der Qualen'') is a 1921 German silent drama film directed by Carl Wilhelm and starring Ressel Orla, Fritz Kortner and Rudolf Klein-Rhoden.Grange p.85 The film's sets were designed by the art dire ...

'' (1921) * ''

The Flight into Death ''The Flight into Death'' (German: ''Der Flug in den Tod'') is a 1921 German silent drama film directed by Bruno Ziener and starring Ernst Winar, Gertrude Welcker and Josefine Dora. It premiered in Berlin on 22 July 1921.Grange p.95 Cast * Ge ...

'' (1921) * '' Women Who Commit Adultery'' (1922)

References

Bibliography

* Grange, William. ''Cultural Chronicle of the Weimar Republic''. Scarecrow Press, 2008.

External links

* 1884 births Year of death unknown Actresses of Vietnamese descent 20th-century German actresses German film actresses German silent film actresses German people of Vietnamese descent Actors from Magdeburg {{Germany-film-actor-stub