Mady Christians

Born: 1892-01-17

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.


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Heidi

as Dete
Released: 1937-10-15

Heidi is orphaned and her uncaring maternal Aunt Dete takes her to the mountains to live with...

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Letter from an Unknown Woman

as Frau Berndle
Released: 1948-04-28

A pianist about to flee from a duel receives a letter from a woman he cannot remember. As she...

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Michael

as Woman (uncredited)
Released: 1924-09-26

A famed artist fights his passion for a male model, until the young man falls for a woman. ...

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Die Buddenbrooks

as Gerda Arnoldsen
Released: 1923-08-30

Four-generation story-saga dealing with the decline of a middle-class Lübeck family. The first...

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Seventh Heaven

as Marie
Released: 1937-03-25

A Parisian sewer worker longs for a rise in status and a beautiful wife. He rescues a girl from...

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Come and Get It

as Karie Linbeck
Released: 1936-11-06

An ambitious lumberjack abandons his saloon girl lover so that he can marry into wealth, but...

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The Loves of Pharaoh

as uncredited
Released: 1922-02-21

The Ethiopian King offers his daughter to a powerful Pharaoh to secure peace between the two...

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Tender Comrade

as Manya Lodge
Released: 1944-05-30

Jo Jones, a young defense plant worker whose husband is in the military during World War II,...

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All My Sons

as Kate Keller
Released: 1948-05-01

During WWII, industrialist Joe Keller commits a crime and frames his business partner Herbert...

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Frederica

as Friederike
Released: 1932-11-01

Based on Franz Lehar's operetta, about the first woman whom the great German writer Goethe fell...

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In the Slums of Berlin

as Regine Lossen
Released: 1925-08-28

It was not just the children who were treated badly by the wealthy Weimar republic. Robert...

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The Only Girl

as Kaiserin Eugenie
Released: 1933-02-22

A dashing marquis bends from his horse when he discovers a lost garter in the woods and falls....

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A Wicked Woman

as Naomi Trice, aka Naomi Stroud
Released: 1934-12-07

A woman and her children escape severe poverty and abuse. She successfully betters her family's...

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The Duel

as uncredited
Released: 1928-10-10

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Dich hab’ ich geliebt

as Inge Lund
Released: 1929-11-30

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Address Unknown

as Elsa Schulz
Released: 1944-06-01

When a German art dealer living in the US returns to his native country he finds himself...

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Soll und Haben

as Baroneß Leonore von Rothensattel
Released: 1924-10-09

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Ship Cafe

as Countess Boranoff
Released: 1935-11-09

The singing stoker and the vamp.

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Escapade

as Anita
Released: 1935-07-05

A romantic comedy-drama-musical of mistaken identity, infidelity and farce, set in Vienna at the...

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The Woman I Love

as Florence
Released: 1937-04-15

In World War I France, a pilot falls in love with the wife of his friend and superior officer.

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The Finances of the Grand Duke

as Großfürstin Olga von Rußland
Released: 1924-01-07

The likeable and carefree Grand Duke of Abacco is in dire straits. There is no money left to...

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Meine Schwester und ich

as Margarete von Marquardstein
Released: 1929-08-27

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Fräulein Chauffeur

as Steffi Walker
Released: 1928-06-19

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The Lost Shoe

as Violante
Released: 1923-12-05

One of the first movies made about the fairy tale Cinderella. The film is part of the current...

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Peter Voss, Thief of Millions

as Gert Nissen
Released: 1921-01-01

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Der Farmer aus Texas

as Mabel Bratt
Released: 1925-10-21

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Mensch gegen Mensch

as uncredited
Released: 1924-12-02

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Der Wetterwart

as uncredited
Released: 1923-01-01

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The Only Girl

as Empress Eugénie
Released: 1933-06-17

English-language version of Ich und die Kaiserin. 'Germany, 1890. Duke falls in love with voice...

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Love Comes But Once

as Königin Alexandra von Gregorien
Released: 1930-10-29

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Zopf und Schwert

as uncredited
Released: 1926-08-26

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The Burning Heart

as Dorothee Claudius
Released: 1929-02-16

A young composer and inventor meets a poverty stricken singer.

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The Runaway Princess

as Princess Priscilla
Released: 1929-03-01

A prince in disguise saves a runaway princess from becoming a forger's dupe.

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A Glass of Water

as uncredited
Released: 1923-02-01

A Glass of Water (German: Ein Glas Wasser) is a 1923 German silent historical film directed by...

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Salon Dora Green

as Dora Green
Released: 1933-02-22

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Manolescu, der Fürst der Diebe

as Comtesse Maria Freyenberg
Released: 1933-03-17

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Queen Louise

as Königin Luise
Released: 1927-12-22

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A Woman with Style

as uncredited
Released: 1928-09-12

A sparkling Ruritanian comedy starring two great actresses: Mady Christians is an ambassador who...

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Die geschiedene Frau

as uncredited
Released: 1926-10-08

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Und Nelson spielt

as uncredited
Released: 1929-02-26

Rudolf Nelson and the Weintraub Syncoptators lead thru a short musical revue, featuring...

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Nanette macht alles

as uncredited
Released: 1926-04-15

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The Philco Television Playhouse

as Mama
First aired: 1948-10-03

The Philco Television Playhouse is an American anthology series that was broadcast live on NBC...

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