From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
External links
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/nm0160130
Wikipedia: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q78880
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Filmography (Movies)
All My Sons
Character:Kate Keller
Release Date:01/05/1948
Letter from an Unknown Woman
Character:Frau Berndle
Release Date:28/04/1948
Address Unknown
Character:Elsa Schulz
Release Date:01/06/1944
Tender Comrade
Character:Manya Lodge
Release Date:30/05/1944
Heidi
Character:Dete
Release Date:15/10/1937
The Woman I Love
Character:Florence
Release Date:15/04/1937
Seventh Heaven
Character:Marie
Release Date:25/03/1937
Come and Get It
Character:Karie Linbeck
Release Date:06/11/1936
Ship Cafe
Character:Countess Boranoff
Release Date:09/11/1935
Escapade
Character:Anita
Release Date:05/07/1935
A Wicked Woman
Character:Naomi Trice, aka Naomi Stroud
Release Date:07/12/1934
The Only Girl
Character:Empress Eugénie
Release Date:17/06/1933
Manolescu, der Fürst der Diebe
Character:Comtesse Maria Freyenberg
Release Date:17/03/1933
The Only Girl
Character:Kaiserin Eugenie
Release Date:22/02/1933
Salon Dora Green
Character:Dora Green
Release Date:22/02/1933
Frederica
Character:Friederike
Release Date:01/11/1932
The Black Hussar
Character:Marie Luise
Release Date:12/10/1932
The Fate of Renate Langen
Character:Renate Langen
Release Date:11/02/1931
My Incognito Heart
Character:La reine Alexandra
Release Date:16/01/1931
Love Comes But Once
Character:Königin Alexandra von Gregorien
Release Date:29/10/1930
Dich hab’ ich geliebt
Character:Inge Lund
Release Date:30/11/1929
Meine Schwester und ich
Character:Margarete von Marquardstein
Release Date:27/08/1929
The Runaway Princess
Character:Princess Priscilla
Release Date:01/03/1929
Und Nelson spielt
Character:
Release Date:26/02/1929
The Burning Heart
Character:Dorothee Claudius
Release Date:16/02/1929
A Woman with Style
Character:
Release Date:12/09/1928
Fräulein Chauffeur
Character:Steffi Walker
Release Date:19/06/1928
The Duel
Character:
Release Date:01/02/1928
Queen Louise
Character:Königin Luise
Release Date:22/12/1927
Heimweh
Character:Princess Lydia Trubetskoy
Release Date:21/10/1927
Grand Hotel...!
Character:
Release Date:05/09/1927
Der Sohn der Hagar
Character:Lore
Release Date:24/03/1927
Die Welt will belogen sein
Character:Mery
Release Date:28/10/1926
Die geschiedene Frau
Character:
Release Date:08/10/1926
Die Königin von Moulin Rouge
Character:die Herzogin
Release Date:04/10/1926
Wien, wie es weint und lacht
Character:Sefi
Release Date:15/09/1926
Zopf und Schwert
Character:
Release Date:26/08/1926
Nanette macht alles
Character:
Release Date:15/04/1926
The Waltz Dream
Character:Prinzessin Alix
Release Date:14/03/1926
Der Farmer aus Texas
Character:Mabel Bratt
Release Date:21/10/1925
In the Slums of Berlin
Character:Regine Lossen
Release Date:28/08/1925
In the Valleys of the Southern Rhine
Character:Bettina von Wittelsbach
Release Date:01/01/1925
Mensch gegen Mensch
Character:
Release Date:02/12/1924
Soll und Haben
Character:Baroneß Leonore von Rothensattel
Release Date:09/10/1924
Michael
Character:Woman (uncredited)
Release Date:26/09/1924
The Finances of the Grand Duke
Character:Großfürstin Olga von Rußland
Release Date:07/01/1924
The Lost Shoe
Character:Violante
Release Date:05/12/1923
The Buddenbrooks
Character:Gerda Arnoldsen
Release Date:30/08/1923
A Glass of Water
Character:
Release Date:01/02/1923
Der Wetterwart
Character:
Release Date:01/01/1923
The Loves of Pharaoh
Character:
Release Date:21/02/1922
Wer unter Euch ohne Sünde ist
Character:
Release Date:18/02/1921
Peter Voss, Thief of Millions
Character:Gert Nissen
Release Date:01/01/1921
Am anderen Ufer
Character:Ebba von Thorn
Release Date:01/05/1918
Nachtschatten
Character:
Release Date:01/01/1918
Audrey
Character:Evelyn Byrd
Release Date:26/03/1916
Television Appearances
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