Flickenschildt, Elisabeth

Biography:
Elisabeth Flickenschildt was born on March 16, 1905 in Blankenese, near Hamburg. After finishing school, she completed a six-month apprenticeship at a fashion house and took acting classes with Robert Nhil. Starting in 1930, she played small parts at theaters in Hamburg; followed by engagements in Hanover, Munich, and Berlin. In 1941 Gustaf Gründgens, the director of the Preussisches Staatstheater in Berlin, signed her up.
Flickenschildt’s 1935 film debut was in Carl Lamac’s Großreinemachen. She then played memorable, although mainly supporting roles in almost one hundred cinema and television films by directors including Erich Engel, Herbert Käutner, Veit Harlan, Hans Steinhoff, Robert A. Stemmle, and Wolfgang Staudte.
Flickenschildt had a problematic career from the 1940s to the 1960s. She became a member of the Nazi Party in 1932 and was declared one of the so-called “Gotterwählten” (literally, chosen by God)—artists considered irreplaceable by the Nazi Propaganda Ministry. She was briefly jailed after the war under suspicion of falsifying her de-nazification papers.
After her return to screen and stage, she followed Gründgens to theaters in Düsseldorf and Hamburg, playing almost all the classical female roles. She died on October 26, 1977 in Stade as the result of a car accident.
Festivals & Awards:
1975 | Order of Merit of the FRG for Lifelong Service to Culture |
1964 | Golden Film Prize for Das grosse Liebesspiel (dir. Alfred Weidemann) |
Bibliography & More:
Flickenschildt, Elisabeth. Kind mit roten Haaren – Ein Leben wie ein Traum (transl. Child with Red Hair: A Life Like a Dream). Munich: Droemer Knaur, 1971.
Filmography:
1976 | Nuit d’or (Golden Night) |
1975 | MitGift (Dowry) |
1967 | Der Lügner und die Nonne (The Liar and the Nun) |
1963 | Das große Liebesspiel (The Big Game of Love) |
1962 | Das Gasthaus an der Themse (The Inn on the Thames) |
1960 | Faust (TV) |
1959 | Der Besuch der alten Dame (The Old Lady’s Visit, TV) |
1957 | Bernada Albas Haus (The House of Bernada Alba, TV) |
1953 | Hochzeitsglocken (Wedding Bells) |
1952 | Toxi |
1949 | Madonna in Ketten (Madonna in Chains) |
1942 | Romanze in Moll (Romance in a Minor Key) |
1942 | Der grosse König (The Powerful King) |
1939 | Der Schritt vom Wege (The False Step) |
1938 | Jugend (Youth) |
1937 | Der Maulkorb (The Muzzle) |
1937 | Starke Herzen (Strong Hearts) |
1937 | Der zerbrochene Krug (The Broken Jug) |
1935 | Grossreinemachen (Spring Cleaning) |