Actress
Grand dame of the German/Austrian theatre and a leading actress in silent films. She was monastically educated and trained for acting at Prague Conservatory, appearing on stage from 1884. Engl was at her best in commanding maternal roles, aristocrats or royalty. She made a successful transition to sound and was particularly noted in the 30s for her roles in Emil und die Detektive , Der Rebell (1932) and Der Blaufuchs .
In 1933 she made her English language film debut in the Edwin H. Knopf and Luis Trenker-directed The Rebel. The film starred Hungarian actors Vilma Bnky and Victor Varconi and was a remake of Der Rebell, also featuring Engl and released earlier the same year and also directed by Trenker.
Engl was privately educated in a single-sex monastery and began her acting career at the Prague Conservatory.
In August 1887 she made her stage debut as Bertha in the play Die Verschwrung des Fiesco zu Genua in her hometown. In 1888, she moved to the city of Danzig and performed in the theater from 1889 to 1892 then briefly moved to Berlin. From 1892 to 1895 she performed with the court theater in Munich and from 1895 to 1897 in Hamburg at the Thalia Theater, and from 1897 in Hanover.
Engl transitioned to the talkie era with relative ease and she often appeared in films as a "Grand Dame" type of character.
In addition to film roles, she continued acting on Berlin stages until shortly before her death in 1946.
She appeared in more than 200 films during her career in the film industry.
Her first major role was in the 1913 Carl Froelich-directed biopic Richard Wagner. She would work continually throughout the 1910s and appear in a variety of roles for such directors as Urban Gad and Frederic Zelnik and opposite such popular actors of the era as Emil Jannings, Alfred Abel and Lya Mara.
Engl made her film debut in the 1911 British silent film The Adoptive Child then returned to Germany and began appearing in German film productions.
Engl continued to act through the World War II era - appearing in ten films between 1939 and 1945.
Her last film appearance before retiring was a small role in the drama Das Alte Lied, which was released in March 1945.
