Silja Lésny

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Silja Lésny , née Gerda Lésny , (born December 11, 1923 in Hamburg , † probably July 24, 2010 in Berlin ) was a German actress and dancer with probably Indonesian and French roots. She was cast in several Asian female roles.

Life

Lésny was born to a cashier in Hamburg. Nothing is known about her father; Lésny himself stated that he was a Javanese doctor and described her mother in later years as a French singer, dancer or actress. She also kept her age a secret. After completing commercial training, Lésny first took dance lessons, but had to give up dancing after the end of the Second World War due to osteoarthritis and switched to acting. After minor roles at various Hamburg theaters, including under Gustaf Gründgens at the Hamburger Schauspielhaus , she moved to Berlin , where she took on roles at the Schillertheater and Schlossparktheater.

Lésny came to film in the late 1940s. In 1949 she played a small role in the second-hand film Fate, directed by Wolfgang Staudte . Staudte also cast her in the role of Princess Amarza in the fairy tale film The Story of Little Muck . In the course of the 1953 uprisings in the GDR, she fled to England , where she stayed with Erich Fried , but returned to Germany to finish filming for The Story of Little Muck (1953). During the filming, she took the stage name Silja Lésny . She became known through the role of Princess Amarza. This was followed by film appearances in the Federal Republic, where she often took on exotic female roles. She was also active as a voice actress.

Since she was unable to build on her success, she traveled to Pergamon , Africa and Turkey in the 1960s as an assistant to the archaeologist Erich Boehringer , where she toured with a friend. In 1985 Lésny returned to Germany and settled in Munich . She performed with literary programs and read texts by Bertolt Brecht , Stefan Heym and Erich Fried , with whom she had been close friends since her time in London. She was also active as a storyteller and has been in demand as a contemporary witness in film discussions since the 1990s, especially on the subject of The Story of Little Muck . Lésny finally moved to Berlin-Wilmersdorf in 2000 . Here she worked part-time in the call center of the Infas Institute until her death , as her pension was not enough to live on. She was also active in the theater and played roles in the Jewish theater, among other things. Most recently she worked on the preparation of a solo program about the actress Asta Nielsen . Lésny died completely impoverished in Berlin in 2010; Icestorm took over part of the burial costs .

Filmography (selection)

  • 1949: Second hand fate
  • 1952: The land of smiles
  • 1953: The story of little Muck
  • 1956: Beloved Corinna
  • 1957: Montserrat (TV movie)
  • 1958: Meeting in Singapore (TV movie)
  • 1959: The Most Beautiful Flower (TV movie)

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b DEFA great hours : Silja Lésny. In: DEFA - Sternstunden. Retrieved March 10, 2013 .
  2. ↑ Lésny was found dead in her apartment on August 2, 2010; there was an unread newspaper from July 24 in the apartment. See Bärbel Beuchler: The lonely death of Princess Amarza . In: Super Illu , No. 35, August 26, 2010, pp. 14-17.
  3. ↑ a b Audience with Princess Amarza . In: Super-Illu , No. 49, December 1, 2005, p. 36.
  4. ↑ Bärbel Beuchler: The lonely death of Princess Amarza . In: Super Illu , No. 35, August 26, 2010, pp. 14-17.
  5. ↑ Katja Malich: Icestorm donates . In: Super Illu , No. 37, September 9, 2010, p. 77.
personal data
SURNAME Lésny, Silja
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lésny, Gerda (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German actress and dancer with probably Indonesian and French roots
DATE OF BIRTH December 11, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg
DATE OF DEATH uncertain: July 24, 2010
Place of death Berlin