Maria Matray (born Maria Charlotte Stern; 14 July 1907 – 30 October 1993) was a German screenwriter and film actress. Matray became a

star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth make ...

of late

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg an ...

cinema.

Biography

Following the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

takeover in 1933, Matray, who was

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, went into exile – initially in France and Britain before moving to the United States. She developed a new career as a choreographer and writer. She later returned to Germany after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, where she died in 1993. Maria Matray was born in Niederschönhausen. She was the daughter of engineer and later director of AEG Georg Stern and his wife Lisbeth (''née'' Schmidt), who was the younger sister of artist

Käthe Kollwitz Käthe Kollwitz ( born as Schmidt; 8 July 1867 – 22 April 1945) was a German artist who worked with painting, printmaking (including etching, lithography and woodcuts) and sculpture. Her most famous art cycles, including ''The Weavers'' and '' ...

. Matray's older sisters were actress Johanna Hofer and dancer Katta Sterna. Hofer's father was

and her mother was

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

Selected filmography

Actress

* ''

The Master of Nuremberg ''The Master of Nuremberg'' (german: Der Meister von Nürnberg) is a 1927 German silent historical comedy film directed by Ludwig Berger and starring Rudolf Rittner, Max Gülstorff and Gustav Fröhlich. It is based on the 1868 opera ''Die Meist ...

'' (1927) * '' Linden Lady on the Rhine'' (1927) * '' Inherited Passions'' (1929) * '' The Son of the White Mountain'' (1930) * '' Never Trust a Woman'' (1930) * ''

Retreat on the Rhine ''Retreat on the Rhine'' (german: Zapfenstreich am Rhein) is a 1930 German musical comedy film directed by Jaap Speyer and starring Charlotte Susa, Hans Stüwe, and Hermann Böttcher. It was made as an operetta film which emerged as a popul ...

'' (1930) * '' Elisabeth of Austria'' (1931) * '' Road to Rio'' (1931) * '' The Ringer'' (1932) * '' Secret Agent'' (1932) * '' Distorting at the Resort'' (1932) * ''

A Man with Heart ''A Man with Heart'' (german: Ein Mann mit Herz) is a 1932 German drama film directed by Géza von Bolváry and starring Gustav Fröhlich, Maria Matray, and Gustav Waldau Gustav Waldau (27 February 1871 – 25 May 1958) was a German actor ...

'' (1933)

Screenwriter

* ''

Murder in the Music Hall ''Murder in the Music Hall'' is a 1946 American musical mystery film directed by John English and starring Vera Ralston, William Marshall and Helen Walker.McCarty p.464 The film involves a murder in Radio City Music Hall with The Rockettes as ...

'' (dir. John English, 1946) * '' Invitation Playhouse: Mind Over Murder: The Last Act'' (dir. William Asher, 1952, TV series episode) * ''Der König mit dem Regenschirm'' (dir. , 1954, TV film) — based on an operetta by Ralph Benatzky * ''Abschiedsvorstellung'' (dir. , 1955, TV film) * ''

My Father, the Actor ''My Father, the Actor'' (German: ''Mein Vater, der Schauspieler'') is a 1956 West German drama film directed by Robert Siodmak and starring O.W. Fischer, Hilde Krahl and Susanne von Almassy.Alpi p.229 The film's sets were designed by the art dire ...

'' (dir.

Robert Siodmak Robert Siodmak (; 8 August 1900 – 10 March 1973) was a German film director who also worked in the United States. He is best remembered as a thriller specialist and for a series of films noirs he made in the 1940s, such as '' The Killers'' (19 ...

, 1956) * '' The Night of the Storm'' (dir. Falk Harnack, 1957) — based on a novel by Klaus Hellmer * ' (dir. Erik Ode, 1958) * ' (dir. Axel von Ambesser, 1959) * ''

The Night Before the Premiere ''The Night Before the Premiere'' (german: Die Nacht vor der Premiere) is a 1959 West German musical comedy film directed by Georg Jacoby and starring Marika Rökk, Theo Lingen and Wolfgang Lukschy.Koepnick, Lutz Peter. ''The Cosmopolitan Screen: ...

'' (dir.

Georg Jacoby Georg Jacoby (23 July 1882 – 21 February 1964) was a German film director and screenwriter.Profile
, bfi.org.uk; accessed 1 ...

, 1959) * ' (dir. Axel von Ambesser, 1959) — based on a play by and * ''Waldhausstraße 20'' (dir. , 1960, TV film) * '' The Happy Years of the Thorwalds'' (dir.

Wolfgang Staudte Wolfgang Staudte (9 October 1906 – 19 January 1984), born Georg Friedrich Staudte, was a German film director, script writer and actor. He was born in Saarbrücken. After 1945, Staudte also looked at German guilt in the cinema. Alongside He ...

, , 1962) — based on '' Time and the Conways'' by J. B. Priestley * '' Das Kriminalmuseum'' (1963–1968, TV series, 4 episodes) * '': Der Fall Krantz'' (dir.

Georg Tressler Georg Tressler (January 25, 1917 – January 6, 2007) was a Vienna-born German film actor and film director. Also known as George Tressler, Hans Tressler, Hans Dressler, Hans Georg Keil and Hans Sternbeck (per IMDb). The son of actor Otto Tr ...

, 1964, TV series episode) * ''Der Prozeß Carl von O.'' (dir. , 1964, TV film) — (

docudrama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television and film, which features dramatized re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of documentary and drama and "a fact-based representation of real event". Docudramas typ ...

about the Weltbühne-Prozess) * ' (1964–1965, TV series, 3 episodes) * ''Ein langer Tag'' (dir. Lothar Kompatzki, 1964, TV film) * ''Der Fall Harry Domela'' (dir. Wolfgang Schleif, 1965, TV film) — (docudrama about

Harry Domela Harry Domela (1905 – 4 October 1979) was a Russian Empire-born impostor who pretended to be a deposed German crown prince. Biography Harry Domela was born to German parents in 1905 in Kurland, Russian Empire. At the age of fifteen he fought in ...

) * ''Klaus Fuchs: Geschichte eines Atomverrats'' (dir. , 1965, TV film) — (docudrama about

Klaus Fuchs Klaus Emil Julius Fuchs (29 December 1911 – 28 January 1988) was a German theoretical physicist and atomic spy who supplied information from the American, British and Canadian Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union during and shortly a ...

) * ' (dir. Peter Beauvais, 1965, TV film) — (docudrama about Bernhard Lichtenberg) * ''Oberst Wennerström'' (dir. Helmut Ashley, 1965, TV film) — (docudrama about Stig Wennerström) * ''Der Mann, der sich Abel nannte'' (dir. , 1966, TV film) — (docudrama about Rudolf Abel) * ''Standgericht'' (dir. Rolf Busch, 1966, TV film) * ' (dir. August Everding, 1966, TV film) — (docudrama about the

Wall Street Crash of 1929 The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange coll ...

) * ''Der Fall Lothar Malskat'' (dir. Günter Meincke, 1966, TV film) — (docudrama about

Lothar Malskat Lothar Malskat (May 3, 1913 – February 10, 1988) was a German painter and art restorer who repainted medieval frescoes of the Marienkirche in Lübeck, critically damaged during WWII. Life and career Malskat was a painter from Königs ...

) * ''Das Millionending'' (dir. Helmut Ashley, 1966, TV film) — based on a story by * ''Der Panamaskandal'' (dir. Paul Verhoeven, 1967, TV film) — (docudrama about the Panama scandals) * ''Affäre Dreyfus'' (dir. , 1968, TV film) — (docudrama about the

Dreyfus affair The Dreyfus affair (french: affaire Dreyfus, ) was a political scandal that divided the French Third Republic from 1894 until its resolution in 1906. "L'Affaire", as it is known in French, has come to symbolise modern injustice in the Francop ...

) * ''Der Senator'' (dir. , 1968, TV film) — (docudrama about

Joseph McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most visi ...

) * ' (dir. Wolfgang Becker, 1969, TV film) * '' Maximilian von Mexiko'' (dir. , 1970, TV film) — (docudrama about the

Second French intervention in Mexico The Second French Intervention in Mexico ( es, Segunda intervención francesa en México), also known as the Second Franco-Mexican War (1861–1867), was an invasion of Mexico, launched in late 1862 by the Second French Empire, which hoped to ...

) * ''Millionen nach Maß'' (dir. , 1970, TV film) * ''Der Hitler/Ludendorff-Prozeß'' (dir. Paul Verhoeven, 1971, TV film) — (docudrama about the trial after the

Beer Hall Putsch The Beer Hall Putsch, also known as the Munich Putsch,Dan Moorhouse, ed schoolshistory.org.uk, accessed 2008-05-31.Known in German as the or was a failed coup d'état by Nazi Party ( or NSDAP) leader Adolf Hitler, Erich Ludendorff and oth ...

1923) * ''Manolescu – Die fast wahre Biographie eines Gauners'' (dir. Hans Quest, 1972, TV film) — (docudrama about ) * ''Doppelspiel in Paris'' (dir. Wolfgang Glück, 1972, TV film) — (docudrama about Mathilde Carré) * '' Sonderdezernat K1'' (1972–1975, TV series, 12 episodes) * ''Agent aus der Retorte'' (dir. Wolfgang Glück, 1972, TV film) — (docudrama about Operation Mincemeat) * '': Reise nach Stockholm'' (dir. , 1974, TV series episode) * ''Wie starb Dag Hammerskjöld?'' (dir. , 1975, TV film) — (docudrama about the

1961 Ndola United Nations DC-6 crash On 18 September 1961, a DC-6 passenger aircraft of Transair Sweden, operating for the United Nations, crashed near Ndola, Northern Rhodesia (present-day Zambia). The crash resulted in the deaths of all people onboard including Dag Hammarskjöld ...

) * ''Als wär's ein Stück von mir'' (dir. August Everding, 1976, TV film) — based on the autobiography of

Carl Zuckmayer Carl Zuckmayer (27 December 1896 – 18 January 1977) was a German writer and playwright. His older brother was the pedagogue, composer, conductor, and pianist Eduard Zuckmayer. Life and career Born in Nackenheim in Rhenish Hesse, he was ...

* ' (dir. Wolfgang Glück, 1978, anthology film, TV film) — based on short stories by

O. Henry William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer known primarily for his short stories, though he also wrote poetry and non-fiction. His works include "The Gift of the M ...

, P. G. Wodehouse and W. Somerset Maugham * '' The Old Fox: Der schöne Alex'' (dir. , 1978, TV series episode) * ''Auf Schusters Rappen'' (dir. Manfred Seide, 1981, TV film) * '' Sun, Wine and Hard Nuts'' (1981, TV series, 2 episodes) * ''Ein Winter auf Mallorca'' (dir. , 1982, TV film) * ''Gauner im Paradies'' (dir.

Thomas Fantl Thomas Fantl (9 December 1928 – 20 July 2001) was a German film director and screenwriter. He directed 23 films between 1964 and 1986. His 1964 film ''Time of the Innocent'' was entered into the 14th Berlin International Film Festival. Fi ...

, 1985, TV film) * ''Im Schatten von Gestern'' (dir. , 1985, TV film) — screenplay with

Nathaniel Gutman Nathaniel Gutman (born December 15, 1954) is an Israeli-American filmmaker, best known for directing ''Deadline'', starring Christopher Walken, and the TV movie ''Linda'', starring Virginia Madsen. Early life and education Gutman was born in Jer ...

* ''Wie das Leben so spielt'' (dir. Hermann Leitner, 1986, TV film) * ''Jungbrunnen'' (dir. Dušan Rapoš, 1992, TV film)

References

Bibliography

* Weniger, Kay. Es wird im Leben dir mehr genommen als gegeben ...' Lexikon der aus Deutschland und Österreich emigrierten Filmschaffenden 1933 bis 1945: Eine Gesamtübersicht''. ACABUS Verlag, 2011.

External links

* 1907 births 1993 deaths German people of Jewish descent Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Mass media people from Berlin German film actresses German silent film actresses German women screenwriters German women choreographers Actresses from Berlin 20th-century German actresses Burials at Munich Waldfriedhof {{Germany-film-actor-stub