Olga Chekhova

Olga Chekhova
Olga Konstantinovna Chekhova (14 April 1897 – 9 March 1980), known in Germany as Olga Tschechowa, was a Russian-German actress. Her film roles include the female lead in Alfred Hitchcock's Mary (1931).
Biography
Olga Konstantinovna Knipper was born on 14 April 1897, the daughter of Konstantin Knipper (1868–1929), a railway engineer, and Yelena Luise "Lulu" Knipper (née Ried, 1874–1940), both Lutherans of ethnic German ancestry.
Olga was the niece and namesake of Olga Knipper (Anton Chekhov's wife). She went to school in Tsarskoye Selo but, after watching Eleonora Duse, joined the Moscow Art Theatre's studio. There she met the Russian-Jewish actor Mikhail Chekhov (Anton's nephew) in 1914 and married him the same year, taking his surname as her own. Their daughter, also named Olga, was born in 1916. She became an actress under the name of Ada Tschechowa.
During the year of the 1917 October Revolution, Chekhova divorced her husband but kept his name. In the first year of the revolution, she joined a cabaret-theatre group called Sorokonozhka (The Little Centipede), as the troupe consisted of twenty members and only forty feet. Chekhova also was given a part in a silent movie, Anya Kraeva. The following year, in 1918, she was given roles in Cagliostro and in The Last Adventure of Arsène Lupin. Although part of the social circle around the Moscow Art Theatre, she never played a role there, despite her later claims to having her first theatre role in The Cherry Orchard.
She managed to get a travel passport from the Soviet government, possibly in exchange for her cooperation, which led to permission to leave Russia. She was accompanied by a Soviet agent on a train to Vienna, then she moved to Berlin in 1920. That same year, she married Frederick Yaroshi, though they divorced in 1921. Her first cinema role in Germany was in F. W. Murnau silent movie Schloß Vogelöd (1921). She played in Max Reinhardt's productions at UFA. She made the successful transition from silent film to talkies. In the 1930s, she rose to become one of the brightest stars of the Third Reich and was admired by Adolf Hitler. She appeared in such films as The Hymn of Leuthen although she preferred comedies. In 1936 she married for the third time, to Marcel Robbins, which ended in divorce in 1938.
Joseph Goebbels
A published photograph of her sitting beside Hitler at a reception gave the leaders of the Soviet intelligence service the impression that she had close contacts with Hitler. She had more contact with the Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, who referred to her in his diaries as "eine charmante Frau" ("a charming lady").
She is also rumored to have been a communist spy in a Soviet conspiracy. According to the book Killing Hitler (2006) by the British author Roger Moorhouse, she was pressured by Stalin and Beria to flirt with Adolf Hitler in order to gain and transfer information so that Hitler could be killed by secret Soviet agents.
Later years
Olga achieved great success in the motion picture industry. Her filmography includes 138 credits as an actor, director, and producer between 1917 and 1974. After the war she lived in the Soviet sector of Berlin, but eventually she managed to escape from her Soviet contacts. In 1949, she moved to Munich, Bavaria, and launched a cosmetics company, Olga Tschechowa Kosmetik.
At the same time she continued acting, and played supporting roles and cameos in more than 20 films. She largely retired from acting in the 70s, after publishing a book of memoirs. Her correspondence with Russian actresses Olga Knipper and Alla Tarasova was published posthumously.
Her niece Marina Ried and granddaughter Vera Tschechowa also became actresses.
Selected filmography
Anya Kraeva (1917)
Poslednie priklucheniya Arsena Lupena (1918)
Kaliostro (1918)
Schloß Vogelöd (1921) - Baronin Safferstätt
Impostor (1921)
Violet (1921) - Violet
The Circle of Death (1922) - Olga Petrowna
Der Kampf ums Ich (1922)
Nora (1923) - Nora
The Pagoda (1923)
Certificates of Death (1923)
Tatjana (1923) - Tatjana
The Lost Shoe (1923) - Estella
Debit and Credit (1924) - Sabine
The Enchantress (1924)
The Venus of Montmartre (1925) - Gräfin Sullivan
The City of Temptation (1925)
The Old Ballroom (1925, part 1, 2)
Should We Get Married? (1925)
Love Story (1925)
The Company Worth Millions (1925)
The Fallen (1926) - Malwa, Freundin von Hammer
The Mill at Sanssouci (1926) - Tänzerin Barberina
Der Mann aus dem Jenseits (1926) - Seine Frau
The Schimeck Family (1926) - Olga, seine Frau
Trude (1926)
The Man in the Fire (1926) - Diva Romola
His Toughest Case (1926) - Mary Melton
Grandstand for General Staff (1926) - Gräfin Landieren
Aftermath (1926)
The Italian Straw Hat (1927)
The Sea (1927) - Rosseherre
His Late Excellency (1927) - Baronin von Windegg
The Italian Straw Hat (1928) - Anaïs de Beauperthuis
Moulin Rouge (1928) - Parysia
Pawns of Passion (1928) - Ala Suminska
Woman in Flames (1928) - Gräfin Clarissa Thalberg
After the Verdict (1929) - Vivian Denys
Diane (1929) - Diane Mervil
The Love of the Brothers Rott (1929) - Theresa Donath
Der Narr seiner Liebe (1929)
Incest (1929) - Lisbeth Kröger - deren Tochter aus erster Ehe
Stud. chem. Helene Willfüer (1930) - Helene Willfüer
Love in the Ring (1930) - Lilian
Troika (1930) - Vera Walowa
Der Detektiv des Kaisers (1930) - Olga
The Three from the Filling Station (1930) - Edith von Turoff
Darling of the Gods (1930) - Olga von Dagomirska
Zwei Krawatten (1930) - Mabel
The Road to Paradise (1930) - Edith de Tourkoff
A Girl from the Reeperbahn (1930) - Hanne Bullová
The Great Longing (1930) - Herself
Liebe auf Befehl (1931) - Manuela
Mary (1931) - Mary Baring
Panic in Chicago (1931) - Florence Dingley
The Night of Decision (1931) - Maria Iwanowa (Marya Sablin)
The Concert (1931) - Maria Heink, Gattin
Night Convoy (1932) - Inka Maria, seine Frau
Trenck (1932) - Elisabeth, Zarin von Rußland
The Gala Performance (1932) - Miß Harris
The Hymn of Leuthen (1933) - Gräfin Mariann
Liebelei (1933) - Baronin v. Eggersdorff
A Love Story (1933) - Baronin von Eggersdorf
Ways to a Good Marriage (1933) - Claire Veiler, die unbefriedigte Frau
Ein gewisser Herr Gran (1933) - Frau Mervin
Un certain monsieur Grant (1933) - Mme Merwin - une espionne
The Country Schoolmaster (1933) - Teresa van der Straaten
Um ein bisschen Glück (1933) - Helene, seine Frau
Police Report (1934) - Gisela Ostercamp
Between Two Hearts (1934) - Inge Leuthoff
L'amour qu'il faut aux femmes (1934) - Le troisième couple
The World Without a Mask (1934) - Betty Bandelow
Maskerade (1934) - Anita Keller - seine Braut
What Am I Without You (1934) - Lilly Petrowa, Schauspielerin
Abenteuer eines jungen Herrn in Polen (1934) - Gräfin Lubenska
Peer Gynt (1934) - Baronin
Regine (1935) - Floris Bell, Schauspielerin
Asew (1935) - Tanja Asew, seine Frau
The Eternal Mask (1935) - Madame Negar
Rêve d'Amour (1935) - Gräfin Madeleine Duday
Artist Love (1935) - Olivia Vanderhagen
Ein Walzer um den Stephansturm (1935) - Sylvia von Polonska
The Empress's Favourite (1936) - Elisabeth Kaiserin von Russland
L'argent (1936) - Baronne Sandorff
Manja Valewska (1936) - Gräfin Pola Valewska
His Daughter is Called Peter (1936) - Nora Noir
Hannerl and Her Lovers (1936) - Frau von Stahl
Court Theatre (1936) - Baroness Seebach
Petersburger Romanze (1936)
Die weissen Teufel (1936)
Liebe geht seltsame Wege (1937) - Antonia Delvarez
Unter Ausschluß der Öffentlichkeit (1937) - Brigitte Sparrenberg
Die gelbe Flagge (1937) - Helen Roeder - amerikanische Journalistin
Gewitterflug zu Claudia (1937) - Frau Mainburg
Das Mädchen mit dem guten Ruf (1938) - Mirandolina
Red Orchids (1938) - Maria Dorando
Zwei Frauen (1938) - Paula Corvey
Verliebtes Abenteuer (1938) - Olivia
The Stars Shine (1938) - Herself
Bel Ami (1939) - Madeleine Forestier
Ich verweigere die Aussage (1939) - Nora Ottendorf
Parkstraße 13 (1939) - Evelyne Schratt
Die unheimlichen Wünsche (1939) - Feodora, Schauspielerin
Liberated Hands (1939) - Kerstin Thomas
Passion (1940) - Gerda
Angelika (1940) - Angelika
The Fox of Glenarvon (1940) - Gloria Grandison
Menschen im Sturm (1941) - Vera seine Frau
Andreas Schlüter (1942) - Gräfin Vera Orlewska
With the Eyes of a Woman (1942) - Marie-Louise v. Ditmar, Baronin von Stein
The Eternal Tone (1943) - Josephine Malti, Singer
Reise in die Vergangenheit (1943) - Marianne von der Halden
Gefährlicher Frühling (1943) - Juliane von Buckwitz
Melusine (1944) - Nora
In the Temple of Venus (1948) - Carola Weber
One Night Apart (1950) - Vera, seine Frau
Kein Engel ist so rein (1950) - Margot
Two in One Suit (1950) - Catherine Turner
(1950) - Susanne de Bogne - Journalistin
Trouble in Paradise (1950) - Myriam Esneh
The Man Who Wanted to Live Twice (1950) - Irene Hesse
Begierde (1951) - Frau des Bankpräsidenten
Eine Frau mit Herz (1951) - Vera von Wesener
The Secret of a Marriage (1951) - Tina Camphausen
My Friend the Thief (1951) - Percys Schwester
Behind Monastery Walls (1952) - Priorin
Everything for Father (1953) - Frau von Pleskow
Rose-Girl Resli (1953) - Mrs. von Weidersheim
Heute nacht passiert's (1953) - Himself - Gast im Modesalon
Captain Wronski (1954) - Frau von Eichhoff
I Was an Ugly Girl (1955) - Luise Raymond
The Barrings (1955) - Amelie von Eyff
U 47 – Kapitänleutnant Prien (1958) - Die Fürstin
Jack and Jenny (1963) - Mutter Johannsen
The Twins from Immenhof (1973) - Großmutter Arkens
Spring in Immenhof (1974) - Großmutter (final film role)
References
Further reading
External links
Biography and photos
Photographs and bibliography
Booknotes interview with Antony Beevor on The Mystery Of Olga Chekhova, October 24, 2004.
1897 births
1980 deaths
People from Gyumri
People from Erivan Governorate
People from the Russian Empire of German descent
German film actresses
German silent film actresses
NKVD
Soviet emigrants to Germany
Soviet actresses
Actresses from the Russian Empire
Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
20th-century German actresses