Lisl Handl

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Elisabeth "Lisl" Handl , in the USA: Poldi Dur , (born October 29, 1917 in Vienna ; † March 27, 1996 in Beverly Hills , United States ) was an Austrian-American actress and dancer .

Live and act

Elisabeth Handl received dance training in her hometown of Vienna and began working as a body dancer at the Vienna State Opera in 1933 . The following year, the 17-year-old was given her first film role alongside Paula Wessely in the successful production Masquerade , based on a script by Walter Reisch . Reisch cast Lisl Handl in 1935 when he directed his first film " Episode ". Finally, the two married on September 14, 1937 and shortly afterwards, before the annexation of Austria by Hitler's Germany, emigrated to the USA via Mexico, where the couple arrived on December 1, 1937.

While Reisch quickly made a career as a sought-after screenwriter in Hollywood, Lisl Handl could not establish himself as an actress. Only during the Second World War was Handl, who now chose the pseudonym Poldi (or Poldy) major - based on Wessely's role name in " Masquerade ", Leopoldine "Poldi" major - with several small and minor roles in mostly anti-Nazi propaganda films such as Fritz Langs also considered the executioners and John Farrow's The Hitler Gang . In the latter production she played Geli Raubal , Adolf Hitler's niece , who died tragically in 1931. It was to be Lisl Handls / Poldi Dur's greatest film role in exile.

Filmography

  • 1934: masquerade
  • 1935: The journey into the youth
  • 1935: episode
  • 1935: Knox and the funny vagabonds
  • 1936: silhouettes
  • 1942: Hangmen Also Die ( Hangmen Also Die )
  • 1943: Margin for Error
  • 1943: They Came to Blow Up America
  • 1943: Paris After Dark
  • 1944: The Hitler Gang
  • 1944: Resisting Enemy Interrogation

literature

  • 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. ACABUS Verlag, Hamburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-86282-049-8 , p. 580.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Handl, Lisl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Handl, Elisabeth (maiden name); Dur, Poldi (pseudonym); Dur, Poldy (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian-American actress and dancer
DATE OF BIRTH October 29, 1917
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH March 27, 1996
Place of death Beverly Hills , United States