Mady Christians

Birthday: 1892-01-17
Deathday: 1951-10-29
Birthplace: Vienna, Austria-Hungary (now Austria)
Gender: Female
Owned By: Unowned

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Marguerita Maria "Mady" Christians (January 19, 1892 – October 28, 1951) was an Austrian actress and naturalized US citizen who had a successful acting career in theatre and film in the United States until she was blacklisted during the McCarthy period. She was born on January 19, 1892 to Rudolph Christians, a well-known German actor, and his wife, Bertha. Her family moved to Berlin when she was one year old, and to New York City in 1912, where her father became the Irving Place Theatre's general manager. Five years later she returned to Europe to study under Max Reinhardt.

She appeared in a number of European films prior to the early 1930s. In 1929, she starred in the first full sound film made in Germany It's You I Have Loved. In 1933, she toured the United States in a play called Marching By and was offered a Broadway contract the following year that allowed her, like a number of other German artists, to seek refuge from the Nazi regime in the United States.

On Broadway, Christians played Queen Gertrude in Hamlet and Lady Percy in Henry IV, Part I, staged by director Margaret Webster. Webster was part of a small but influential group of lesbian producers, directors, and actors in theater (a group that included Eva Le Gallienne and Cheryl Crawford). Webster and Christians became close friends: according to Webster biographer Milly S. Barranger, it is likely that they also were lovers.

She also starred in Lillian Hellman's Watch on the Rhine. She originated the title role in the 1944 play I Remember Mama. Her last movie roles were in All My Sons, based on the play by Arthur Miller, and Letter from an Unknown Woman, both released in 1948.

During World War II, Christians was involved in political work on behalf of refugees, rights for workers (especially in theater and film), and Russian War relief, political efforts that would bring her to the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other anti-communist institutions and organizations. In addition to her political work, Christians also publicly criticized the House Committee on Un-American Activities in early 1941 and likened the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee's investigation of propaganda in US film to Nazi harassment of film and radio artists in the 1930s. In 1950, the FBI's internal security division began investigating Christians, who had been identified as a "concealed communist" by a confidential informant. When Christians' name appeared in Red Channels, the so-called bible of the broadcast blacklist, her career was effectively over.

Credits

Year Title Character
1948-05-01 All My Sons Kate Keller
1948-04-28 Letter from an Unknown Woman Frau Berndle
1944-06-01 Address Unknown Elsa Schulz
1944-05-30 Tender Comrade Manya Lodge
1937-10-15 Heidi Dete
1937-04-15 The Woman I Love Florence
1937-03-25 Seventh Heaven Marie
1936-11-06 Come and Get It Karie Linbeck
1935-11-09 Ship Cafe Countess Boranoff
1935-07-05 Escapade Anita
1934-12-07 A Wicked Woman Naomi Trice, aka Naomi Stroud
1933-06-17 The Only Girl Empress Eugénie
1933-03-17 Manolescu, der Fürst der Diebe Comtesse Maria Freyenberg
1933-02-22 The Only Girl Kaiserin Eugenie
1933-02-22 Salon Dora Green Dora Green
1932-11-01 Frederica Friederike
1932-10-12 The Black Hussar Marie Luise
1931-02-11 The Fate of Renate Langen Renate Langen
1931-01-16 My Incognito Heart La reine Alexandra
1930-10-29 Love Comes But Once Königin Alexandra von Gregorien
1929-11-30 Dich hab’ ich geliebt Inge Lund
1929-08-27 Meine Schwester und ich Margarete von Marquardstein
1929-03-01 The Runaway Princess Princess Priscilla
1929-02-26 Und Nelson spielt
1929-02-16 The Burning Heart Dorothee Claudius
1928-10-10 The Duel
1928-09-12 A Woman with Style
1928-06-19 Fräulein Chauffeur Steffi Walker
1927-12-22 Queen Louise Königin Luise
1927-10-21 Heimweh
1927-09-05 Grand Hotel...!
1927-03-24 Der Sohn der Hagar Lore
1926-10-28 Die Welt will belogen sein Mery
1926-10-08 Die geschiedene Frau
1926-10-04 Die Königin von Moulin Rouge die Herzogin
1926-09-15 Wien, wie es weint und lacht Sefi
1926-08-26 Zopf und Schwert
1926-04-15 Nanette macht alles
1926-03-14 The Waltz Dream Prinzessin Alix
1925-10-21 Der Farmer aus Texas Mabel Bratt
1925-08-28 In the Slums of Berlin Regine Lossen
1925-01-01 In the Valleys of the Southern Rhine Bettina von Wittelsbach
1924-12-02 Mensch gegen Mensch
1924-10-09 Soll und Haben Baroneß Leonore von Rothensattel
1924-09-26 Michael Woman (uncredited)
1924-01-07 The Finances of the Grand Duke Großfürstin Olga von Rußland
1923-12-05 The Lost Shoe Violante
1923-08-30 Die Buddenbrooks Gerda Arnoldsen
1923-02-01 A Glass of Water
1923-01-01 Der Wetterwart
1922-02-21 The Loves of Pharaoh
1921-02-18 Wer unter Euch ohne Sünde ist
1921-01-01 Peter Voss, Thief of Millions Gert Nissen
1918-05-01 Am anderen Ufer Ebba von Thorn
1918-01-01 Nachtschatten