Hanna Ralph
Encyclopedia
Hanna Ralph was a German
stage and film actress whose career began on the stage and in silent film in the 1910s and continued through the early 1950s.
, Germany, she made her stage debut in 1913 at the Schauspielhaus
in Frankfurt
. From 1914 to 1915 she worked at Stadttheater in Mainz
and in 1916 at the City Theater in Hamburg
. In 1917 she began working on various stages in Berlin
.
Hanna Ralph made her screen debut in the 1917 Ludwig Beck
-directed short Die entschleierte Maja, opposite actor Walter Janssen
and the following year had a starring role in director Georg Jacoby
's Keimendes Leben, Teil 1, opposite Emil Jannings
. The film serial was followed by Keimendes Leben, Teil 2 in 1919. One of her most popular roles during her early years in films was that of the role of Katarina in Carl Froelich
's 1921 film adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky
's novel Die Brüder Karamasoff (The Brothers Karamazov
), with actors Fritz Kortner
and Bernhard Goetzke
. In 1924 she appeared in the Herbert Wilcox
-directed romantic drama Decameron Nights
opposite American stage and screen actor Lionel Barrymore
and Fritz Lang
's silent fantasy film Die Nibelungen
, based on the epic poem Nibelungenlied
, as Brunhild. In 1926 she appeared in the internationally successful F.W. Murnau-directed, Universum Film AG
(UFA) distributed Faust - Eine deutsche Volkssage
opposite Gösta Ekman
, Camilla Horn
and husband Emil Jannings.
Hanna Ralph's career withstood the transition to sound film
, however she appeared in only three films of the 1930s; instead, she spent much of the decade in theatre. By the Second World War she retired from acting. After the war's end, she briefly returned to film in the early 1950s; appearing in small roles in director Wolfgang Liebeneiner
's 1951 crime drama Der blaue Stern des Südens and Harald Reinl
's 1952 drama Hinter Klostermauern (English
release title: The Unholy Intruders) before retiring from acting altogether.
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
stage and film actress whose career began on the stage and in silent film in the 1910s and continued through the early 1950s.
Career
Born Johanna Antonia Adelheid Günther in Bad KissingenBad Kissingen
Bad Kissingen is a spa town in the Bavarian region of Lower Franconia and is the seat of the district Bad Kissingen. Situated to the south of the Rhön Mountains on the Franconian Saale river, it is a world-famous health resort.- Town structure :...
, Germany, she made her stage debut in 1913 at the Schauspielhaus
Schauspielhaus
Schauspielhaus is the German word for Theatre.The following theaters are referred to as Schauspielhaus:- Berlin :* Schauspielhaus Berlin, now Konzerthaus Berlin* Großes Schauspielhaus* Neues Schauspielhaus...
in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
. From 1914 to 1915 she worked at Stadttheater in Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
and in 1916 at the City Theater in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
. In 1917 she began working on various stages in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
.
Hanna Ralph made her screen debut in the 1917 Ludwig Beck
Ludwig Beck
Generaloberst Ludwig August Theodor Beck was a German general and Chief of the German General Staff during the early years of the Nazi regime in Germany before World War II....
-directed short Die entschleierte Maja, opposite actor Walter Janssen
Walter Janssen
Walter Janssen was a German film actor. He appeared in over 160 films between 1917 and 1970.-Selected filmography:* Destiny * The Flute Concert of Sans-Souci * Two Hearts in Waltz Time...
and the following year had a starring role in director Georg Jacoby
Georg Jacoby
Georg Jacoby was a German film director and screenwriter. He was married to Marika Rökk from 1940 until his death; the actress Gabriele Jacoby is their daughter.-Selected filmography:...
's Keimendes Leben, Teil 1, opposite Emil Jannings
Emil Jannings
Emil Jannings was a German actor. He was not only the first actor to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, but also the first person to be presented an Oscar...
. The film serial was followed by Keimendes Leben, Teil 2 in 1919. One of her most popular roles during her early years in films was that of the role of Katarina in Carl Froelich
Carl Froelich
Carl August Froelich was a German film pioneer and film director.-Apparatus builder and cameraman:...
's 1921 film adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky was a Russian writer of novels, short stories and essays. He is best known for his novels Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov....
's novel Die Brüder Karamasoff (The Brothers Karamazov
The Brothers Karamazov
The Brothers Karamazov is the final novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Dostoyevsky spent nearly two years writing The Brothers Karamazov, which was published as a serial in The Russian Messenger and completed in November 1880...
), with actors Fritz Kortner
Fritz Kortner
Fritz Kortner was an Austrian-born stage and film actor and theatre director.Kortner was born in Vienna as Fritz Nathan Kohn. He studied at the Vienna Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. After graduating, he joined Max Reinhardt in Berlin in 1911 and then Leopold Jessner in 1916. Also in that year...
and Bernhard Goetzke
Bernhard Goetzke
Bernhard Goetzke was a German film actor. He appeared in 130 films between 1917 and 1961.He was born in Danzig and died in Berlin.-Selected filmography:...
. In 1924 she appeared in the Herbert Wilcox
Herbert Wilcox
Herbert Sydney Wilcox was a British film producer and director.-Early life:Wilcox's mother was from County Cork, Ireland, but he was born in Norwood and attended school in Brighton...
-directed romantic drama Decameron Nights
Decameron Nights (1924 film)
Decameron Nights is a 1924 British silent drama film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Lionel Barrymore, Ivy Duke and Werner Krauss. It is based on the novel Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio.-Cast:* Lionel Barrymore - Saladin* Ivy Duke - Perdita...
opposite American stage and screen actor Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore was an American actor of stage, screen and radio. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Free Soul...
and Fritz Lang
Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang was an Austrian-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute...
's silent fantasy film Die Nibelungen
Die Nibelungen
Die Nibelungen is a series of two silent fantasy films created by Austrian director Fritz Lang in 1924: Die Nibelungen: Siegfried and Die Nibelungen: Kriemhild's Revenge....
, based on the epic poem Nibelungenlied
Nibelungenlied
The Nibelungenlied, translated as The Song of the Nibelungs, is an epic poem in Middle High German. The story tells of dragon-slayer Siegfried at the court of the Burgundians, how he was murdered, and of his wife Kriemhild's revenge....
, as Brunhild. In 1926 she appeared in the internationally successful F.W. Murnau-directed, Universum Film AG
Universum Film AG
Universum Film AG, better known as UFA or Ufa, is a film company that was the principal film studio in Germany, home of the German film industry during the Weimar Republic and through World War II, and a major force in world cinema from 1917 to 1945...
(UFA) distributed Faust - Eine deutsche Volkssage
Faust (1926 film)
Faust is a silent film produced in 1926 by UFA, directed by F.W. Murnau, starring Gösta Ekman as Faust, Emil Jannings as Mephisto, Camilla Horn as Gretchen/Marguerite, Frida Richard as her mother, Wilhelm Dieterle as her brother and Yvette Guilbert as Marthe Schwerdtlein, her aunt...
opposite Gösta Ekman
Gösta Ekman (senior)
Gösta Ekman, Sr. , born Frans Gösta Viktor Ekman, was a Swedish actor. Generally spoken of as Swedish theatre's most legendary stage actor, Gösta Ekman enjoyed a prolific stage career during his short life, becoming the first real star of Swedish theatre...
, Camilla Horn
Camilla Horn
Camilla Horn was a former German dancer and a film star of the silent and sound era. She starred in several Hollywood films of the late 1920s and in a few British and Italian productions.-Biography:...
and husband Emil Jannings.
Hanna Ralph's career withstood the transition to sound film
Sound film
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...
, however she appeared in only three films of the 1930s; instead, she spent much of the decade in theatre. By the Second World War she retired from acting. After the war's end, she briefly returned to film in the early 1950s; appearing in small roles in director Wolfgang Liebeneiner
Wolfgang Liebeneiner
Wolfgang Georg Louis Liebeneiner was a German actor, film director and theater director.He was born in Liebau in Prussian Silesia. In 1928, he was taught by Otto Falckenberg, the director of the Munich Kammerspiele, in acting and directing...
's 1951 crime drama Der blaue Stern des Südens and Harald Reinl
Harald Reinl
Harald Reinl was an Austrian film director. He is especially known for the movies he made based on Edgar Wallace and Karl May books .He started his career as an extra in the mountain-films of Arnold Fanck...
's 1952 drama Hinter Klostermauern (English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
release title: The Unholy Intruders) before retiring from acting altogether.