Susanne Cramer (3 December 1936 – 7 January 1969) was a German

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

and

television actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. She was born in

Frankfurt, Germany Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the foreland of the Taunus on its namesake Main, it forms a contin ...

, and died in

Hollywood, California Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a List of districts and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, neighborhood and district in the Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles County, California, within the city of Los Angeles. ...

, of pneumonia, at age 32.

Biography

At the age of 20, Cramer married the 37-year-old actor , who pushed her film ambitions. The marriage failed and the actress entered into a relationship with Claus Biederstaedt, whom she had met in 1956 while filming the literary adaptation ''Kleines Zelt und große Liebe''. This relationship also failed; in February 1958, the Frankfurter Abendpost reported that the then 21-year-old actress had attempted suicide, which she denied. Cramer had a six-year career in American television, starting with a 1963 episode of ''

The Dakotas The Dakotas, also known as simply Dakota, is a collective term for the U.S. states of North Dakota and South Dakota. It has been used historically to describe the Dakota Territory, and is still used for the collective heritage, culture, geo ...

'', and ending with a 1969 episode of ''

The Guns of Will Sonnett ''The Guns of Will Sonnett'' is an American Western television series set in the 1870s that was broadcast in color on the ABC television network from 1967 to 1969. The series, which began with the working title, "Two Rode West", was the first ...

''. In between, she was in 24 other television roles. Among them were two appearances on '' The Rogues'' in 1964, two appearances on the '' Kraft Suspense Theater'' in 1965, two appearances on '' Burke's Law'' in 1964–65, one appearance on ''

My Favorite Martian ''My Favorite Martian'' is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from September 29, 1963, to May 1, 1966, for 107 episodes. The show stars Ray Walston as "Uncle Martin" (the Martian) and Bill Bixby as Tim O'Hara. ''My Favorite Martian'' was th ...

'' in 1965, one appearance on ''

The Rat Patrol ''The Rat Patrol'' is an American action and adventure television series that aired on ABC between 1966 and 1968. The show follows the exploits of four Allied soldiers – three Americans and one British – who are part of a long-range deser ...

'' in 1967 and two appearances on ''

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' is an American spy fiction television series produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC. The series follows secret agents Napoleon Solo, played by Robert Vaughn, and Illya Kuryakin, p ...

''. She also made appearances in 1964 and 1965 on two episodes of ''

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and four short stories, all of which involve a ...

'': "The Case of a Place Called Midnight" and as Gerta Palmer in "The Case of the Fugitive Fraulein". Her sole appearance in a US film (barring an uncredited bit part in '' Dear Brigitte'') was a small role in ''

Bedtime Story A bedtime story is a traditional form of storytelling, where a story is told to a child at bedtime to prepare the child for sleep. The bedtime story has long been considered "a definite institution in many families".Dickson, Marguerite Stockm ...

'', which starred

Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Widely regarded as one of the greatest cinema actors of the 20th century,''Movies in American History: An Encyclopedia''

and

David Niven James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was an English actor, soldier, raconteur, memoirist and novelist. Niven was known as a handsome and debonair leading man in Classic Hollywood films. His accolades include an Academ ...

. Susanne Cramer fell ill two years later with Hong Kong flu, which was rampant in the U.S., and died at the age of just 32 in a private clinic — officially due to pneumonia. However, there are numerous rumors about her death, ranging from suicide to a medical malpractice. Her grave is located at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills).

Filmography

References

External links

* * 1936 births 1969 deaths German film actresses Actresses from Frankfurt Actors from Hesse-Nassau German television actresses 20th-century German actresses Deaths from pneumonia in California German expatriate actresses in the United States {{Germany-screen-actor-stub