Ilse Werner(1921-2005)
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Ilse Werner was born in Batavia (present-day Djakarta), the daughter of
the Dutch merchant O.E.G. Still and his German wife, Lilly Werner. She
spent her early childhood in Batavia, before the family moved her to
Frankfurt to attend secondary school. In 1936, Ilse enrolled at the
Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna to
study elocution and drama. Following her graduation, she was offered a
contract with a prestigious theatre in Josefstadt and made her stage
debut in 1938.
'Discovered' by the director 'Geza von Bolvary'
during a performance, she first acted on screen in
Finale (1938). Her career then took off at
lightning speed and she became one of the most popular stars at Ufa for
the next seven years.
An attractive, tomboyish brunette, Ilse had a considerable aptitude for singing, which producers brought to the fore by frequently casting her in films like Wunschkonzert (1940), the pop musical Wir machen Musik (1942), and (as 19th century Swedish opera star Jenny Lind) in the biopic Die schwedische Nachtigall (1941). Ilse could also be called upon to handle dramatic material and gave creditable performances in Bel Ami (1939) and Grosse Freiheit Nr. 7 (1944), opposite Hans Albers. She cleverly alternated her film career with appearances in cabaret and on radio.
After the war, she married an American journalist and spent several years in California. After her divorce in 1953, she returned to Germany, but a successful movie comeback eluded her. Nonetheless, she remained in the public eye after releasing several top-selling albums. Her pop song "Baciare" became a major hit across Europe in 1960. In 1970, Ilse acted in a German stage version of the musical "The King and I", and, thereafter, continued to make further sporadic appearances on stage and on television until her eventual retirement in 2000.
An attractive, tomboyish brunette, Ilse had a considerable aptitude for singing, which producers brought to the fore by frequently casting her in films like Wunschkonzert (1940), the pop musical Wir machen Musik (1942), and (as 19th century Swedish opera star Jenny Lind) in the biopic Die schwedische Nachtigall (1941). Ilse could also be called upon to handle dramatic material and gave creditable performances in Bel Ami (1939) and Grosse Freiheit Nr. 7 (1944), opposite Hans Albers. She cleverly alternated her film career with appearances in cabaret and on radio.
After the war, she married an American journalist and spent several years in California. After her divorce in 1953, she returned to Germany, but a successful movie comeback eluded her. Nonetheless, she remained in the public eye after releasing several top-selling albums. Her pop song "Baciare" became a major hit across Europe in 1960. In 1970, Ilse acted in a German stage version of the musical "The King and I", and, thereafter, continued to make further sporadic appearances on stage and on television until her eventual retirement in 2000.
