Lilia scale

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lilia Skala (born November 28, 1896 in Vienna , Austria ; † December 18, 1994 on Long Island , New York ), born Lilia Sofer, was an Austrian - American film and theater actress .

Life

Born and raised in Vienna, Skala attended the Technical University of Dresden because her first career aspiration was to become an architect . It is not for nothing that for a long time Skala had the reputation of being Austria's first architect in .

Soon after, however, she met Max Reinhardt , who recognized her real talent, acting, accepted her into his acting ensemble and promoted it. Between 1931 and 1937 she took part in six feature films, including in 1936 in the girls' boarding school directed by Géza von Bolváry .

In the early 1930s she married Erik Skala, a Jew; both had two sons together. Erik Skala, who was interned by the National Socialists shortly after the Anschluss , was only released because Lilia Skala was able to bribe the guards with cigarettes. Her husband managed to escape across the border, but was forced to leave his wife and children behind in Austria. Lilia Skala later managed to escape from Austria with her children; the family was reunited in England and emigrated to the USA in 1939, penniless.

Here Skala, who was a celebrated stage and film star in Austria and in some cases also in Germany, had to start all over again and took up odd jobs to support the family. But thanks to her talent for learning the English language quickly, she also managed to gain a foothold in the USA, first on Broadway and later also in film and television.

Your best-known film should be the drama Lilien auf dem Felde , produced in 1963 ; for her portrayal of Matron Maria she was nominated for both a Golden Globe and an Oscar in the category of Best Supporting Actress in 1964 . Another famous film in Skala's career was Flashdance , produced in 1983.

Lilia Skala made films and stood on stage until she was old. Her last film was the 1991 thriller Mann mit Ehre - You only pay attention to what you fear , which Skala was 95 years old when it was made.

Filmography (selection)

Awards

  • 1964: Oscar nomination: Best Supporting Actress , for: Lilien auf dem Felde
  • 1964: Golden Globe nomination: Best Supporting Actress, for: Lilien auf dem Felde
  • 1976: Emmy nomination: Best Supporting Actress, for: Eleanor and Franklin (TV)
  • 1978: Golden Globe nomination: Best Supporting Actress, for: The Dance Palace

literature

  • Matthias Franke: Lilia Sofer - student of the TH Dresden, architect and actress , in: Küllchen, Hildegard u. a. [Ed.]: Women in Science - Women at the TU Dresden. Conference on the occasion of the admission of women to study in Dresden 100 years ago, Leipzig 2010, pp. 135–143, ISBN 978-3-86583-428-7 .
  • Kay Less : 'In life, more is taken from you than given ...'. Lexicon of filmmakers who emigrated from Germany and Austria between 1933 and 1945. A general overview. P. 462 f., ACABUS-Verlag, Hamburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-86282-049-8

Web links

Commons : Lilia Skala  - Collection of Images
personal data
SURNAME Skala, Lilia
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film and theater actress of Austrian origin
DATE OF BIRTH November 28, 1896
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH December 18, 1994
Place of death Long Island , New York , United States