German actress
Germanys most popular TV actress from the early 1960s until her death in 2004.
Played over 100 roles on stage and television. Appearing as a concierge on Das Fenster zum Flur , she was nicknamed "Mother of the nation".
As she was banned from performing because of her Jewish father from 1935 to 1945, she worked as a telephonist and engineering drawer.
Sued (together with other feminist activists) "Stern" magazine because of sexist nudity on its cover.
Was good friends with newsreader Wilhelm Wieben.
Is interred in the Ohlsdorf Main Cemetery, Hamburg next to her husband John Olden.
Being interested in political and social issues during her whole life, she first appeared publicly in 1925, fighting against the death penalty.
Attended drama schools in Berlin from 1928 to 1930.
Born to salesman Julius Meysel, a German Jew, and his Danish wife Anna Hansen.
Often co-starred with the actor Joseph Offenbach , most famously in the mini-series "Die Unverbesserlichen" .
Took ballet classes at the age of four.
First acted at the age of three, playing an angel in an operatic production of "Hnsel und Gretel". Inge made her professional stage debut in 1930.
Studied acting in Berlin under Ilka Grning and Lucie Hflich.
She had a successful stage career and played more than 100 roles in film and on television.
During Nazi Germany, Meysel was banned from performing from 1935 until 1945 because of her Jewish father.
From the mid-1920s until shortly before her death, Meysel was outspoken on many - often controversial - social and political issues. Despite her decidedly leftist and feminist views, this did not harm her popularity as an actress.
In 1981 she refused to accept the Bundesverdienstkreuz because "Einen Orden dafr, da man anstndig gelebt hat, brauche ich nicht" ("I dont need an order of merit just for having lived decently").
She won numerous German actor awards including a lifetime achievement award from the German Television Awards.
In 1992, she came out as bisexual.
Since the early 1960s Inge Meysel mainly acted in made-for-TV films and got the nickname (Fernseh-) Mutter der Nation ("(Television) Mother of the Nation").
