Sybille Binder (5 January 1895 – 30 June 1962) was an Austrian actress of Jewish descent whose career of over 40 years was based variously in her home country, Germany and Britain, where she found success in films during the 1940s.

Career

Binder began her stage career in

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

in 1915, then in 1918 moved to

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, where she enjoyed success in classical drama. Between 1916 and 1918 she also appeared in a handful of

silent films A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, 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) ...

. In 1922, she returned to Berlin and received acclaim for her performance in

Frank Wedekind Benjamin Franklin Wedekind (July 24, 1864 – March 9, 1918) was a German playwright. His work, which often criticizes bourgeois attitudes (particularly towards sex), is considered to anticipate expressionism and was influential in the deve ...

's '' Earth Spirit''. Over the next few years she performed regularly in Germany and Austria then, in the mid-1930s as war approached and conditions in Germany became difficult, she made the decision to move to England. Between 1942 and 1950 Binder featured in 13 British films, including several of superior quality. Her first screen appearance in Britain came auspiciously in the highly acclaimed supernatural drama '' Thunder Rock'', playing opposite dramatic heavyweights including

Michael Redgrave Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave CBE (20 March 1908 – 21 March 1985) was an English stage and film actor, director, manager and author. He received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in '' Mourning Becomes El ...

James Mason James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was the top box-office attraction in the UK in 1944 and 1945; his British films inc ...

and

Frederick Valk Frederick Valk (10 June 1895 – 23 July 1956) was a German-born Jewish stage and screen actor of Czech Jewish descent who fled to the United Kingdom in the late 1930s to escape Nazi persecution, and subsequently became a naturalised British ci ...

. Other notable films in which Binder appeared were war drama ''

Candlelight in Algeria ''Candlelight in Algeria'' is a 1944 British war film directed by George King and starring James Mason, Carla Lehmann and Raymond Lovell. The story is loosely based on an October 1942 secret conference in Cherchell, Algeria between American gener ...

'' (1944), hugely popular period melodrama ''

Blanche Fury ''Blanche Fury'' is a 1948 British Technicolor drama film directed by Marc Allégret and starring Valerie Hobson, Stewart Granger and Michael Gough. It was adapted from a 1939 novel of the same title by Joseph Shearing. In Victorian era Engla ...

'', espionage thriller '' Against the Wind'' and amnesia-themed romance '' Portrait from Life'' (all 1948). Binder returned to Germany in 1950, settling in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...

, where she successfully picked up her stage career but did not attempt to break into the German film industry. She died on 30 June 1962, aged 67.

Selected filmography

* '' The House of Three Girls'' (1918) * '' Thunder Rock'' (1942) * ''

Yellow Canary The yellow canary (''Crithagra flaviventris'') is a small passerine bird in the finch family. It is a resident breeder in much of the western and central regions of southern Africa and has been introduced to Ascension and St Helena islands. ...

'' (1943) * '' The Night Invader'' (1943) * ''

'' (1944) * '' The Man from Morocco'' (1945) * ''

Latin Quarter The Latin Quarter of Paris (french: Quartier latin, ) is an area in the 5th and the 6th arrondissements of Paris. It is situated on the left bank of the Seine, around the Sorbonne. Known for its student life, lively atmosphere, and bistros, ...

'' (1945) * '' Counterblast'' (1948) * ''

'' (1948) * ''

Idol of Paris ''Idol of Paris'' is a 1948 film based on the novel ''Paiva, Queen of Love'' by Alfred Schirokauer, about a mid-19th century French courtesan Theresa who sleeps her way from poverty to the top of Second Empire society. It was an attempt by its ...

'' (1948) * '' Against the Wind'' (1948) * ''

Broken Journey ''Broken Journey'' (also known as ''Rescue'') is a 1948 British drama film directed by Ken Annakin and featuring Phyllis Calvert, James Donald, Margot Grahame, Raymond Huntley and Guy Rolfe. ''Broken Journey'' deals with people struggling to sur ...

'' (1948) * '' Portrait from Life'' (1948) * '' Golden Salamander'' (1950)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Binder, Sybille 1895 births 1962 deaths Austrian film actresses Austrian silent film actresses Austrian Jews Austrian stage actresses Actresses from Vienna 20th-century Austrian actresses Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom