Hildegard Knef

Hildegard Knef was a German actress, singer, and writer who started performing in Berlin during the Second World War. As a teenager she trained in UFA's animated film department, then moved into acting studies after Wolfgang Liebeneiner noticed her. Her best-known roles included Susanne Wallner in Die Mörder sind unter uns (The Murderers Are Among Us) (1946), East Germany's first postwar release, and the lead in the scandalous melodrama Die Sünderin (1951). A Locarno Film Festival best actress prize followed for Film Without a Title in 1948. She was cast in the Hollywood film Decision Before Dawn (1951) and had a supporting part in The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952). In 1955 she starred on Broadway in Cole Porter's Silk Stockings. Later she became a recording singer and author, writing lyrics and publishing the memoir Der geschenkte Gaul. She also appeared in low-budget films such as The Lost Continent (1968).