Hildegard Frieda Albertine Knef was born on December 28, 1925 in Ulm, Germany. In 1940, she began studying acting. Even before the fall of the Third Reich, she appeared in several films, but most of them were only released after the war. To avoid being raped by Soviet soldiers, she dressed like a young man and was sent to a camp for prisoners of war. She escaped and returned to war-shattered Berlin where she played her first parts on stage. The first German movie after World War II, _Die Mörder sind unter uns . She became a leading lady in German, French and British films. Finally, America offered her another chance, this time on the stage. She achieved a kind of stardom as Ninotchka in the very popular Broadway play, "Silk Stockings". In 1963, she began a new career as a singer and surprised the audience with her typical, deep, smoky voice and the fact that many lyrics of her songs were written by herself. In 1970, she wrote the autobiographical bestseller "Der Geschenkte Gaul". She got sympathy from all over the world for her fight against cancer, which she defeated several times. After the German reunification, Hildegarde Knef moved back to Berlin and died at age 76 of a lung infection on February 1, 2002.
Known in the United States as Hildegard Neff, but she used her real name when performing back home in Germany.
Close personal friend of Marlene Dietrich , despite being in the legends international shadow for much her career.
Was the cover girl for Modern Man Magazine in August 1956.
Sister-in-law of Catherine Schell.
Knef launched a career as a singer in the 1960s and wrote her bestselling autobiography "Der geschenkte Gaul - Bericht aus meinem Leben" ("The Gift Horse - Report from my life") in 1970.
Her nude scene as "Marina" in Die Snderin , the first in German filmmaking, drew the criticism of the Roman Catholic Church.
Ella Fitzgerald called her "the best singer without voice".
Became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1950.
Gave birth to her daughter Christina (Tinta Knef ) on 16 May 1968.
Hildegard trusted her clothing and gowns to one person who was based in New York. It was Irish-born Thomas Starr, grandfather of fashion designer Karen Starr -DelloIacono.
Mother-in-law of Peter Gardiner.
Her first American film was to be The Big Lift in which she would have co-starred with Montgomery Clift. Shortly before filming began, the producers got word that she had had an affair with a Nazi officer during World War II and fired her from the movie. Cornell Borchers replaced her. Later, she was lined up for the leads in Elia Kazan s Man on a Tightrope and in the film version of the musical Silk Stockings in which she had starred on Broadway. Gloria Grahame and Cyd Charisse were cast instead. When she refused to appear in Seven Waves Away (Mai Zetterling took over her role), 20th Century Fox released her from her contract. She would never appear in an American film again.
Told her biographer Christian Schrder in 2000 that her favorite pictures were Die Mrder sind unter uns , Film ohne Titel , Svengali , La fille de Hambourg and Jeder stirbt fr sich allein . Her least favorite of her own movies was Madeleine und der Legionr which was one of the biggest flops in post-war Germany and practically ended her film career.
According to her book, "The Gift Horse", she was the last person John Garfield spoke to before he died.
Provided the voice for Grandmother Willow on the German soundtrack version of Walt Disneys "Pocahontas".
When interviewed by Harald Schmidt in his talkshow, she revealed that Twentieth Century Fox had planned to campaign for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in Decision before dawn but withdrew because of politics (she was German).
According to her memoirs "The Gift Horse", she found out that she had won the Best Actress award in Locarno for her role in "Film ohne Titel" by reading an article about her success in a newspaper - one year after the award was announced at the festival!.
Success and failure are greatly overrated. But failure gives you a whole lot more to talk about. .
