Acting
Mar 14, 1907
Karlstad, Värmlands län, Sweden
Zarah Leander
Acting
Biography
Zarah Leander (German pronunciation: [ˈt͡sa.ʁa leː.ˈʔan.dɐ]; 15 March 1907 – 23 June 1981) was a Swedish singer and actress whose greatest success was in Germany between 1936 and 1943, when she was contracted to work for the state-owned Universum Film AG (UFA). Although no exact record sales numbers exist, she was probably among Europe's best-selling recording artists in the years prior to 1945. Her involvement with UFA caused her films and lyrics to be identified as Nazi propaganda. Though she had taken no public political position and was dubbed an "Enemy of Germany" by Joseph Goebbels, she remained a controversial figure for the rest of her life. As a singer, Leander was known for her confident style and her deep contralto voice, and was also known as a "female baritone".
Feature Films (32)
The attractive Oberleutnant Paul Wendlandt is stationed in North Africa as a fighter pilot. While in Berlin to deliver a report he is given a day's leave, and on the stage of the cabaret theatre "Skala" sees the popular Danish singer Hanna Holberg. For Paul it is love at first sight. When Hanna visits friends after the end of the performance, he follows her, and speaks to her in the U-Bahn. After the party in her friends' flat, he accompanies her home and chance throws them further together when an air raid warning forces them to take cover in the air raid shelter. Hanna reciprocates Paul's feelings, but after a night spent together Paul has to return immediately to the front. There now follows a whole series of misunderstandings, and one missed opportunity after another. While Hanna waits in vain for some sign of life from Paul, he is flying on missions in North Africa. When he tries to visit her in her Berlin flat, she is giving a Christmas concert in Paris.
The Great Love
Dante, the great conjurer, performs at the Café Grans, a fashionable hotel-restaurant. Face to a dumbfound patrons he does his most famous tricks among which card manipulations or sawing a woman in half.
Dante's Mysteries
Following a trivial road accident, Ariane, an international adventuress, falls in love with Bernard Fleuret, a young artist-painter with diseased lungs. Being pursued by the police, she chooses to hide in the sanatorium where the young man is treated. Ariane proves so smitten by love that she finally changes her ways: she decides to let herself be arrested, sure as she is she will be reunited with her loved one later on.
As Long As I Live
A 19th-century London cabaret singer is deported to prison in Australia. Her crime? Taking the blame when her lover bounces checks.
To New Shores
The sculptress Tora Diidiken is married to the sculptor Gunnar Grahn and they both compete in a contest to design a statue for the public square in Hicksville.
The Marriage Game
Ilona, the bored wife of an easily distracted professor, falls in love with his friend Tibor, a world-traveler and ladykiller. Although she pursues him, he declines to take advantage of the situation, because she's married to his best friend. Only after her husband shows an interest in a co-worker is it possible for a happy ending to take place for the two new couples.
Der Blaufuchs
As Fraulein Leander prepares for opening night, her life is thrown into turmoil by a variety of romantic misadventures. But she manages to show up on stage at the appointed time, scoring a huge success.
Premiere
While vacationing in Puerto Rico, a young Swedish woman falls in love with and marries a powerful local landowner. Ten years later, their marriage has turned sour; meanwhile, two Swedish doctors have arrived on the island to investigate a mysterious fever.
La Habanera
In Vienna, during the 1848 Revolution, opera singer Antonia Corvelli marries Detlev von Blossin, a rich landowner. But, as she refuses to give up her career, her infuriated husband returns to Pomerania without her. After falling into the clutches of the cruel and wicked count Stefan Oginski, whose lover she unfortunately becomes, Antonia has no other choice but to pass for dead in order to escape him. She then returns to Italy where she joins small theater companies under various aliases. Until one day she is overtaken by her fate...
The Way to Freedom
While working as an accountant in his uncle's factory, talented young pianist Peter dreams of becoming a famous composer. When he shows his work to a producer, he manages to convince him to give him a chance. From time to time he gets bigger contracts that keep him more and more away from home and his young wife Elisa. When he "discovers" and supports a pretty ballerina in Munich, a rumor starts that he's having an affair. He fails to realize that his marriage is threatened.
It Was Always So Nice with You
Karin Twerdy used to be an opera singer but now, in order to pay for her daughter Daniela's education in a religious school, she performs in a shady nightclub. Industrialist Dietrich Gontard, the father of Karin's school friend Christa, falls for her. But when he learns the truth about her he is outraged and rejects her. At a loss and not to stand in the way of Daniela's future, Karin chooses to disappear...
Ave Maria
Television & Series (7)
Marcello Mastroianni, Isabelle Adjani, Alain Delon, Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen... the biggest stars in cinema were welcomed by Christian Defaye on his show Spécial cinéma. Between intimate confessions from actors and immersion in the world of the greatest filmmakers, Christian Defaye took viewers on a journey into the fascinating world of cinema for nearly thirty years.
Spécial cinéma
"Hitler's Women" - A six part series about some of the women Hitler enjoyed and adored.