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Hildegard Knef

Weitere Namen
Hildegard Frieda Albertine Knef (Geburtsname)
Hildegarde Neff (Pseudonym)
Date of Birth
12/28/1925 - 12:00
Geburtsort
Ulm
Sterbedatum
02/01/2002 - 12:00
Sterbeort
Berlin
Biography

Hildegard Frieda Albertine Knef was born in Ulm on December 12, 1925 but grew up in Berlin. After attending school in the district of Schöneberg, she started training as an animation artist at the Ufa studios, later transferring to the Federal Film School Babelsberg. From 1944 on, she was cast in small roles in Ufa productions. After the war, Knef primarily worked as a stage actress in Berlin, before she got her first major screen role in 1946, playing a former concentration camp inmate in Wolfgang Staudte's drama "Die Mörder sind unter uns", the first German feature film to be produced after the fall of the Nazi regime.

In 1948, Knef was named Best Actress at the Locarno Film Festival for her performance in Rudolf Jugert's "Film ohne Titel". After marrying American Army officer Kurt Hirsch, she permanently moved to the US for three years (1947-50), working under the stage name Hildegarde Neff.

Between 1954-65, Knef enjoyed a spectacular success as Ninotchka in the Broadway production of Cole Porter's musical "Silk Stockings". At the same time, her sometimes harsh beauty, which radiated both eroticism and confidence, made her a star in the post-war cinema of West-Germany. Her very brief – and compared to today's standards very tame – nude scene in Willi Forst's "Die Sünderin" caused a public uproar and turned the film into a box-office hit. Legendary producer Erich Pommer cast her in several features directed by Rudolf Jugert, and in 1959, Knef won a German Film Award as Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Josef von Baky's "Der Mann, der sich verkaufte".

Meanwhile, her international career also flourished, taking her to the States, France and Great Britain. In the early 1960s, she returned to do theatre work in Berlin. French director Claude Chabrol cast her for "Landru", and Wolfgang Staudte gave her the role of Pirate Jenny in Brecht's "Die Dreigroschenoper" (Three-Penny-Opera). From 1963 onwards, Knef pursued a parallel career as a distinguished and unique singer and songwriter, and her chansons about her beloved home town Berlin became immensely popular.

Although now even more successful as a music artist, she continued to act in movies: She won an Actor's Award at the International Film Festival in Karlovy Vary for her performance in Alfred Vohrer's "Jeder stirbt für sich allein" (1965), and received another German Film Award for her lifetime achievement and her contribution to German cinema in 1977. The same year, she appeared in the German-American production "Fedora", which was directed by Billy Wilder.

After a disappointing world tour in 1982, she retreated to Hollywood, but eventually returned to Berlin in the early 1990s. From time to time, she appeared in small cameos in feature films and became a regular on German Television.

Over the years, Hildegard Knef suffered from several severe health problems. She candidly talked about her private condition in public and published several books, the most famous probably her autobiography "Der geschenkte Gaul", which was published in 1970 and became a huge bestseller.

After suffering from a severe case of pneumonia, Hildegard Knef died in Berlin on February 1, 2002.

 
Filmography
2024/2025
Ich will alles. Hildegard Knef
  • Participation
2005
Knef - Die frühen Jahre
  • Participation
2002
Rückblende: Die Mörder sind unter uns. Der erste deutsche Nachkriegsfilm
  • Participation
2001/2002
Marlene Dietrich - Her Own Song
  • Participation
2001
A Woman and a Half - Hildegard Knef
  • Participation
1995
Für mich soll's rote Rosen regnen
  • Cast
  • Participation
1993/1994
Tödliches Erbe
  • Cast
1992
Wenn ich sonntags in mein Kino geh'... Ein Film zum 75. Geburtstag der Ufa
  • Participation
1991
Hoppla, jetzt komm ich. Hans Albers, ein Idol wird 100
  • Participation
1989
In inniger Feindschaft / Champ clos
  • Cast
1984
Die 24-Stunden-Stadt
  • Music
1984
Flügel und Fesseln
  • Cast
1982
Thalia unter Trümmern - Das Berliner Theater der Nachkriegszeit 1945 - 1951
  • Participation
1979/1980
Warum die UFOs unseren Salat klauen
  • Cast
1979
Illusionen über einen Mord
  • Cast
1978
Großstadt-Miniaturen. Geschichten zwischen Kiez und Ku'damm
  • Cast
1977/1978
Fedora
  • Cast
1976
Der Augenzeuge [Jg. 1976 / Nr. 020]: 30 Jahre DEFA / 30 Jahre Filmkunst im Auftrag der Arbeiterklasse (Erinnerungen an Filme und Filmschöpfer)
  • Participation
1975
Hildegard Knef und ihre Lieder
  • Cast
1975
Jeder stirbt für sich allein
  • Cast
1973
Knef '73
  • Cast
1971
'Ich brauch' Tapetenwechsel...'
  • Cast
1969
Die Knef. Bericht über ein Konzert
  • Cast
1968
Eine Berlinerin, Hildegard Knef
  • Music
1968
Eine Berlinerin - Hildegard Knef
  • Participation
1963/1964
Wartezimmer zum Jenseits
  • Cast
1964
Verdammt zur Sünde
  • Cast
1963
Das große Liebesspiel
  • Cast
1963
Curd Jürgens erzählt
  • Cast
1962/1963
Die Dreigroschenoper
  • Cast
1962/1963
Nur tote Zeugen schweigen
  • Cast
1962
Laura
  • Cast
1962
Lulu
  • Cast
1959
Der Mann, der sich verkaufte
  • Cast
1957
Madeleine und der Legionär
  • Cast
1954
Geständnis unter vier Augen
  • Cast
1954
Bei Dir war es immer so schön
  • Cast
1953/1954
Eine Liebesgeschichte
  • Cast
1953
The Man Between
  • Cast
1952
Illusion in Moll
  • Cast
  • Vocals
1952
Alraune
  • Cast
  • Vocals
1951/1952
Nachts auf den Straßen
  • Cast
1951
Es geschehen noch Wunder
  • Cast
1950
Die Sünderin
  • Cast
1947/1948
Film ohne Titel
  • Cast
1947
Zwischen gestern und morgen
  • Cast
1946
Die Mörder sind unter uns
  • Cast
1946
Der Augenzeuge [Jg. 1946 / Nr. 026]
  • Participation
1944/1945
Unter den Brücken
  • Cast
1944/1945
Frühlingsmelodie
  • Cast
1944/1945
Fahrt ins Glück
  • Cast
1944/1945
Die Brüder Noltenius
  • Cast
1944
Schauspielschule
  • Cast
Source-URL: https://www.filmportal.de/en/person/hildegard-knef_efc121b067256c3fe03053d50b3736f2