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)

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