Editing Hildegard Knef

{{Short description|German actress (1925–2002)}}
{{Redirect|Knef|her 1970 self-titled album|Knef (album){{!}}''Knef'' (album)}}
{{Expand German|topic=bio|date=August 2010|Hildegard Knef}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Hildegard Knef
| image         = Hildegard Knef 254-8439.jpg
| alt           = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software -->
| caption       = Knef in 1969
| birth_name    = Hildegard Frieda Albertine Knef
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1925|12|28|df=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Ulm]], [[Free People's State of Württemberg|Württemberg]], [[Weimar Republic|German Reich]]
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|2002|2|01|1925|12|28|df=y}}
| death_place   = [[Berlin]], Germany
| occupation    = {{hlist|Actress|singer|writer}}
| years_active  = 1944–2001
| spouse        = {{marriage|Kurt Hirsch|1947|1952|end=divorced}}<br>{{marriage|David Palastanga|1962|1976|end=divorced}}<br>{{marriage|Paul von Schell|1977}}
| children      = 1
}}
'''Hildegard Frieda Albertine Knef''' ({{IPA|de|ˈhɪldəɡaʁt ˈkneːf|lang|De-Hildegard Knef.ogg}}; 28 December 1925{{spaced ndash}}1 February 2002) was a German actress, singer, and writer. She was billed in some English-language films as '''Hildegard Neff''' or '''Hildegarde Neff'''.

==Early years==
Hildegard Knef was born in [[Ulm]] in 1925. Her parents were Hans Theodor and Friede Augustine Knef. Her father, a decorated [[First World War]] veteran, died when she was only six months old, and her mother moved to Berlin and worked in a factory.<ref name="The New York Times" /> Knef began studying acting at age 14 in 1940. She left school at 15 to become an apprentice animator with [[Universum Film AG]]. After she had a successful screen test, she went to the State Film School at [[Babelsberg]], [[Berlin]], where she studied acting, ballet, and elocution. [[Joseph Goebbels]], who was [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler's]] propaganda minister, wrote to her and asked to meet her, but Knef's friends wanted her to stay away from him.<ref name="The New York Times">{{cite news|last=Binder|first=David|title=Hildergard Knef, 76, Actress Who Escaped P.O.W. Camp|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/02/arts/hildegard-knef-76-actress-who-escaped-pow-camp.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date = 2 February 2002 | page = C16 |access-date=2 February 2024}}</ref>

== German film career ==

When the film ''[[Dreaming (1944 German film)|Träumerei]]'' was made in 1944, Knef shot some scenes, which would have marked her film debut, but these were left out of the final cut. She did appear in several films before the fall of [[Nazi Germany]], but most were released only afterward.   

During the [[Battle of Berlin]] she dressed as a soldier to stay with her lover, [[Ewald von Demandowsky]], and joined him in the defence of [[Schmargendorf]].<ref>Beevor, A (2003) ''Berlin: The Downfall 1945'', Penguin Books, p. 311</ref> The [[Soviet Union|Soviets]] captured her and sent her to a prison camp.<ref name="HKnefBio">{{cite web|last=Gurke|first=Thomas M|title=Hildergard Knef|url=http://www.hildegardknef.de/1-Hilde%20englisch/Chronology%201925-49.htm|publisher=Impressum|access-date=10 January 2013}}</ref> Her fellow prisoners helped her escape and return to Berlin. Von Demandowsky was executed by the Russians on 7 October 1946, but before that he secured for Knef the protection of the well-known character actor [[Viktor de Kowa]] in Berlin. De Kowa gave her the opportunity to be a [[Master of ceremonies|mistress of ceremonies]] in the theatre that he had opened. Knef also got a part in [[Marcel Pagnol]]'s ''Marius'', which was directed by [[Boleslaw Barlog]]. De Kowa also directed Knef in other plays by [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]], Pagnol, and [[George Abbott]].<ref name="The New York Times" />

Her two best-known film roles were Susanne Wallner  in [[Wolfgang Staudte]]'s film ''[[Die Mörder sind unter uns]]'' (''The Murderers Are Among Us''), produced in 1946 by the [[DEFA|East German state film company]] and the first film released after the [[Second World War]] in [[East Germany]]; and Marina in ''[[Die Sünderin]]'' (''The Sinner''), in which she performed a brief nude scene, the first in German film history, which caused a scandal in 1951.<ref>Ralf Schmitt, [http://www.spielfilm.de/news/4827/hildegard-knef-ist-tot-76jaehrige-starb-an-lungenentzuendung-in-berlin.html "Hildegard Knef ist tot"] ''Spielfilm'' (1 February 2002). Retrieved 5 March 2012 {{in lang|de}}</ref> The film was also criticised by the [[Catholic Church]], which protested against the nude scene. Knef stated that she didn't understand the tumult that the film was creating. She wrote that it was totally absurd that people considered her nudity to be scandalous, as Germany was the country that had created [[Auschwitz]] and had caused so much horror. She also wrote, "I had the scandal, the producers got the money."<ref name="The New York Times" />

In 1948 she received the best-actress award from the [[Locarno Film Festival]] because of her role in the film ''Film Without a Title''. Her singing career started in the 1960s once her film career was not going very well. She performed in television shows such as episodes of ''[[Scarecrow and Mrs King]]'' and a 2000 documentary in which she was playing by herself ''Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Song''.<ref name=Gale />

In the 1960s she appeared in a number of low-budget films, including ''[[The Lost Continent (1968 film)|The Lost Continent]]''.

She appeared in the 1975 screen adaptation of the [[Hans Fallada]] novel ''[[Every Man Dies Alone]]'' directed by [[Alfred Vohrer]],<ref name="CRaddatzBio">{{cite web|last=Warneke|first=Peter|title=Biographie Carl Raddatz|url=http://www.filmmuseum-potsdam.de/Carl-Raddatz.html|publisher=Film Museum Potsdam|access-date=5 March 2012}}</ref> released in English as ''[[Everyone Dies Alone]]'' in 1976, and for which she won an award for best actress at the International Film Festival in [[Karlovy Vary]], then [[Czechoslovakia]].<ref name="HKnefBio" />

During her career she performed in more than 50 films. Nineteen of her films were produced in countries other than Germany: the United States, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Austria and Spain.<ref name="HKnef_10Facts" />

==Career in the United States==
[[File:1951 Knef Grauman.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Knef's hand and footprints at [[Grauman's Chinese Theatre]], Hollywood]]
[[David O. Selznick]] invited her to Hollywood, but she refused to agree to the conditions of the contract which reportedly included changing her name to Gilda Christian and pretending to be [[Austria]]n rather than German.<ref name="HKnefBio" /> Knef was cast as Hilde in the [[Hollywood (film industry)|Hollywood]] film ''[[Decision Before Dawn]]'' (1951), directed by [[Anatole Litvak]] and co-starring with [[Richard Basehart]] and [[Oskar Werner]] in a story about the later part of World War II.<ref name="The New York Times" />

The following year Knef's first husband, an American named Kurt Hirsch, encouraged her to try again for success in the U.S. She changed her name from Knef to Neff, but was offered only a supporting role in ''[[The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952 film)|The Snows of Kilimanjaro]]'' (1952), an adaptation of an [[Ernest Hemingway]] short story.<ref name="The Guardian Obit">{{cite news |last1=Holloway |first1=Ron |title=Hildegard Knef |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/feb/02/guardianobituaries.filmnews |access-date=2 February 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=2 February 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140613033750/http://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/feb/02/guardianobituaries.filmnews |archive-date=13 June 2014 |location=London | url-status = live}}</ref>

Her reputation in the U.S. was hurt because of her nude scenes in the German film ''[[Die Sünderin]]'' (1951) and because she fell in love with a Nazi when she was 19.<ref name="Germany's War-Scarred Beauty">{{cite news|last=Broyard|first=Anatole|title=Germany's War-Scarred Beauty|date=15 June 1971| work = New York Times | page = 41 | url = https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1971/06/15/79663709.html?pageNumber=41
| url-access = subscription | access-date = 2 February 2024}}</ref>

Finally, in 1955, Knef was offered a starring role in the Broadway musical ''[[Silk Stockings]]'' by [[Cole Porter]], which was based on the 1939 film ''[[Ninotchka]]'', which had starred [[Greta Garbo]] in the title role. Knef had acted in at least 30 films in the United States and Europe but her triumph came in New York when she played Ninotchka, an unemotional Soviet commissar. ''The New York Times'' drama critic [[Brooks Atkinson]] described her rendition as "an immensely skillful performance."<ref name="The New York Times" />

==Singer==
In the 1960s Knef took a break from acting and started writing song lyrics. In 1963 she started a concert and recording career,<ref name="The New York Times" /> and she surprised her audiences with the deep, smoky quality of her voice and with lyrics she wrote herself. Fans around the world rallied in her support as she recovered from cancer several times. She returned to Berlin after Reunification. At her peak, an entertainment columnist called her the "willowy blonde" who had a "dusty voice" and a "generous mouth".<ref name="The New York Times" />

The song she is mostly remembered for is "Für mich soll's rote Rosen regnen" ("Let it rain red roses for me"). She is also known for her version of the songs "Ich hab noch einen Koffer in Berlin" ("I still have a suitcase in Berlin") and "Mackie Messer" ("[[Mack the Knife]]").<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110611020859/http://german-lyrics.com/english/hildegard-knef/hildegard-knef-mackie-messer-mack-the-knife English lyrics for Mackie Messer by Hildegard Knef]}}</ref> She sold more than three million records in total.

She launched 23 original albums with 320 different songs. She wrote the lyrics for 130 songs herself.<ref name="HKnef_10Facts">{{cite web|last=Gurke|first=Thomas M|title=Hildegard Knef – 10 Facts At a Glance|url=http://www.hildegardknef.de/home%20english.htm|publisher=Impressum|access-date=2 February 2024 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230705103556/https://www.hildegardknef.de/home%20english.htm | archive-date = 5 July 2023 | url-status = live}}</ref>

==Publications==
[[File:Knef 1995.jpg|thumb|Knef, aged 69, at her last concert (5 March 1995) in Berlin]]
Her autobiography ''Der geschenkte Gaul: Bericht aus einem Leben'' (''The Gift Horse: Report on a Life'', 1970) was a candid recount of her life in Germany during and after the [[Second World War]], and reportedly became the best-selling German book in the post-war years. Her second book ''Das Urteil'' (''The Verdict'', 1975) was a moderate success, and dealt with her struggle with [[breast cancer]]. Knef not only achieved international best-seller status, her books were also widely praised by critics because her autobiographies were "better-than-the-average celebrity's".

In ''The Gift Horse: Report on a Life'' Knef recounted her childhood and difficult life being an actress and singer while living in [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler's]] Berlin and after the war in Europe and America. Arthur Cooper of ''[[Newsweek]]'' called it "a bitterly honest book and a very good one".<ref name=Gale /> The book doesn't try to persuade the public, depicting a made-up celebrity's adventures, but truthfully recounts her struggles as a German woman who grew up in Berlin under the [[Nazis]].''The Gift Horse: Report on a Life'' was translated to English by Knef's second husband, David Anthony Palastanga.<ref name="Germany's War-Scarred Beauty" />

In ''The Verdict'', which was also translated by Palastanga, Knef looked at her life from another perspective, because she knew that she had cancer. Rachel MacKenzie wrote that Knef had her 56th operation, a mastectomy, in [[Salzburg]] on 10 August 1973. MacKenzie stated that from that cancer surgery, life had to be thought of in terms of pre-verdict and post-verdict. The book is divided in these two sections but they are not chronologically ordered because Knef wrote the two sections in a way that the reader is moved forward and backward in time and space. ''The Verdict'' describes in great detail the hospital scenes as well as the doctors and nurses in [[New York City|New York]], [[Los Angeles]], [[Zürich]] and [[Hamburg]], where she was hospitalised.<ref name="The Verdict">{{cite news|last=MacKenzie|first=Rachel|title= Concerning pain and beauty: The Verdict | newspaper = New York Times | date = 25 January 1976 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1976/01/25/archives/concerning-pain-and-beauty-the-verdict.html | page = 264 | access-date = 2 February 2024}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Knef was married three times and divorced twice.<ref name="The New York Times" /> Her first marriage was in 1947 to Kurt Hirsch, a U.S. information officer. They divorced in 1952. The second time she married the actor and record producer David Anthony Palastanga, on 30 June 1962. Knef had a daughter with him born in 1968, Christina Antonia.<ref name=Gale>{{cite web|title=Hildegard Knef|url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=LitRC&userGroupName=lehman_main&tabID=T002&searchId=R1&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=1&contentSet=GALE%7CH1000054947&&docId=GALE%7CH1000054947&docType=GALE&role=LitRC|publisher=Gale|access-date=29 April 2014|year=2002}}</ref> When she died, she was still married to her third husband, Paul von Schell.

On 1 February 2002, Knef died at the age of 76 of a [[lung infection]] in Berlin, where she had moved after the [[German reunification]]. She smoked heavily for most of her life and suffered from [[emphysema]].<ref name="The New York Times" />

==Selected filmography==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* ''[[The Noltenius Brothers]]'' (1945)
* ''[[Frühlingsmelodie]]'' (1945) - Zwilling ohne Leberfleck
* ''[[Under the Bridges]]'' (1946) - Girl in Havelberg
* ''[[Murderers Among Us]]'' (1946) - Susanne Wallner
* ''[[Between Yesterday and Tomorrow (film)|Between Yesterday and Tomorrow]]'' (1947) - Das Mädchen Kat
* ''[[Film Without a Title]]'' (1948) - Christine Fleming
* ''[[Journey to Happiness]]'' (1948) - Susanne Loevengaard
* ''[[The Sinner (1951 film)|The Sinner]]'' (1951) - Marina
* ''[[Miracles Still Happen (1951 film)|Miracles Still Happen]]'' (1951) - Anita Weidner
* ''[[Decision Before Dawn]]'' (1951) - Hilde
* ''[[Nights on the Road]]'' (1952) - Inge Hoffmann
* ''[[Diplomatic Courier]]'' (1952) - Janine Betki
* ''[[The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952 film)|The Snows of Kilimanjaro]]'' (1952) - Countess Liz
* ''[[Night Without Sleep]]'' (1952) - Lisa Muller
* ''[[Alraune (1952 film)|Alraune]]'' (1952) - Alraune
* ''[[La fête à Henriette|Henriette]]'' (1952) - Rita Solar
* ''[[Illusion in a Minor Key]]'' (1952) - Lydia Bauer
* ''[[The Man Between]]'' (1953) - Bettina
* ''[[A Love Story (1954 film)|A Love Story]]'' (1954) - Lili Schallweiß, Schauspielerin
* ''[[It Was Always So Nice With You]]'' (1954) - minor role (uncredited)
* ''[[Confession Under Four Eyes]]'' (1954) - Hilde Schaumburg-Garden
* ''[[Svengali (1954 film)|Svengali]]'' (1954) - Trilby
* ''[[Escape from Sahara]]'' (1958) - Madeleine Durand
* ''[[The Daughter of Hamburg]]'' (1958) - Maria
* ''[[Subway in the Sky]]'' (1959) - Lilli Hoffman
* ''[[The Man Who Sold Himself (1959 film)|The Man Who Sold Himself]]'' (1959) - Martina Schilling
* ''La strada dei giganti'' (1960) - Maria Luisa di Borbone
* ''[[No Orchids for Lulu]]'' (1962) - Baroness Geschwitz
* ''Ipnosi'' (1962)
* ''[[Caterina di Russia]]'' (1963) - Catherine the Great
* ''[[Landru (film)|Landru]]'' (1963) - Mme X. / Madame Ixe
* ''{{Interlanguage link multi|Three Penny Opera (1963 film)|de|3=Die Dreigroschenoper (1963)|lt=Three Penny Opera}}'' (1963) - Jenny Diver
* ''Ballade pour un voyou'' (1963) - Martha Schwartz
* ''{{ill|And So to Bed|de|Das große Liebesspiel}}'' (1963) - Callgirl
* ''[[Gibraltar (1964 film)|Gibraltar]]'' (1964) - Elinor van Berg
* ''[[Waiting Room to the Beyond]]'' (1964) - Laura Lorelli
* ''[[Condemned to Sin]]'' (1964) - Alwine
* ''[[Mozambique (film)|Mozambique]]'' (1964) - Ilona Valdez
* ''[[The Dirty Dozen]]'' (1967) - (uncredited)
* ''[[The Lost Continent (1968 film)|The Lost Continent]]'' (1968) - Eva Peters
* ''[[Everyone Dies Alone]]'' (1976) - Anna Quangel
* ''[[Fedora (1978 film)|Fedora]]'' (1978) - The Countess
* ''{{ill|Why the UFOs Steal Our Lettuce|de|Warum die UFOs unseren Salat klauen}}'' (1980) - Peter's mother
* ''Der Gärtner von Toulouse'' (1982) - Frau Théophot
* ''[[The Future of Emily]]'' (1984) - Mutter Paula
* ''[[Witchery (film)|Witchery]]'' (1988) - Lady in black
* ''[[Pocahontas (1995 film)|Pocahontas]]'' (1995) - (German dub)
* ''An Almost Perfect Wedding'' (1999) - Marlene Wolf-Schönberg - Hennys aunt
{{div col end}}

==Books==
* {{cite book |last=Knef |first=Hildegard |title=Der geschenkte Gaul: Bericht aus einem Leben |date=1970 |publisher=Fritz Molden |location=Wien |isbn=9783217008588 | language=de}}
* {{cite book |last=Knef |first=Hildegard |title=Ich brauch' Tapetenwechsel: Texte |date=1972 |publisher=Molden |location=Wien |isbn=3-217-00457-4 |language=de}}
* {{cite book |last=Knef |first=Hildegard |title=Das Urteil: oder, Der Gegenmensch |date=1975 |publisher=Molden |location=Wien |isbn=9783217006546 |language=de}}
* {{cite book |last1=Knef |first1=Hildegard |last2=Kossatz |first2=Hans |title=Heimweh-Blues |date=1976 |publisher=A. und E. Freund |location=Berlin |isbn=9783921532034 |language=de}}
* {{cite book |last=Knef |first=Hildegard |title=Nichts als Neugier: Interviews zu Fragen der Parapsychologie |date=1978 |publisher=Goldmann |location=München |isbn=9783442036905 |language=de}}
* {{cite book |last=Knef |first=Hildegard |title=So nicht |date=1982 |publisher=Knaus |location=Hamburg |isbn=9783813580921 |language=de}}
* {{cite book |last=Knef |first=Hildegard |title=Romy: Betrachtung eines Lebens |date=1983 |publisher=Knaus |location=Hamburg |isbn=9783813504439 |language=de}}

==Further reading==
* [https://www.academia.edu/301554/The_Woman_Between_Hildegard_Knefs_Cold_War_Berlin_Movies Bach, Ulrich E.: ''The Woman Between: Hildegard Knef's Cold War Berlin Movies''] in: Broadbent, Philip & Hake, Sabine (eds.) "Berlin: Divided City 1945-1989" (NYC: Berghahn Books, 2010): pp. 115–125.
* Kusztrich, Imre: ''Ich bin kein Mannequin für Krebs. Reden, fühlen, zittern mit Hildegard Knef.'' Erinnerungen und Gespräche aus den schwierigsten Jahren einer großen Künstlerin im aufreibenden Kampf mit Medien und Alltag IGK-Verlag, Neusiedl/Österreich 2011, {{ISBN|978-3-9503215-3-1}}.
* Roek, Petra: ''Fragt nicht, warum: Hildegard Knef – die Biografie''. Edel Edition, Hamburg 2009, {{ISBN|978-3-941378-01-8}}.
* Schröder, Christian: ''Hildegard Knef. Mir sollten sämtliche Wunder begegnen. Biographie.'' Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin 2004, {{ISBN|3-351-02575-0}}.
* Trimborn, Jürgen: ''Hildegard Knef. Das Glück kennt nur Minuten''. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, München 2005, {{ISBN|3-421-05827-X}}.
* Weidner, Corinna (Hrsg.): ''Hildegard Knef. Fotografien von [[Rico Puhlmann]]''. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf Verlag, München 2005, {{ISBN|3-89602-662-3}}.
* Weißbarth, Eberhard: ''Hildegard Knef – zwischen gestern und heute.'' Verlag Bibliothek der Provinz, Weitra/Österreich 2011, {{ISBN|978-3-85252-910-3}}.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.synchronkartei.de/index.php5?action=show&type=talker&id=1776 Hildegard Knef]{{Dead link|date=June 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} in the German Dubbing Card Index
* {{IMDb name|id=0460651|name=Hildegard Knef}}
* {{OL author|1543918A}}
* [http://www.hildegardknef.de Fan site, officially authorized]*{{in lang|de}} (partly in English)

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knef, Hildegard}}
[[Category:1925 births]]
[[Category:2002 deaths]]
[[Category:Burials at the Waldfriedhof Zehlendorf]]
[[Category:Deaths from emphysema]]
[[Category:German autobiographers]]
[[Category:German film actresses]]
[[Category:German musical theatre actresses]]
[[Category:German prisoners of war in World War II held by the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:German stage actresses]]
[[Category:German voice actresses]]
[[Category:German women writers]]
[[Category:Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]]
[[Category:People from the Free People's State of Württemberg]]
[[Category:Actors from Ulm]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Merit of Berlin]]
[[Category:German women autobiographers]]
[[Category:20th-century German actresses]]
[[Category:20th-century German women singers]]
[[Category:German escapees]]
[[Category:Escapees from Soviet detention]]
[[Category:Polio survivors]]
[[Category:Actresses from Baden-Württemberg]]