Steffi Duna
Steffi Duna , actually Stefánia Berindey Erzsébet , (born February 8, 1910 in Budapest , Austria-Hungary , † April 22, 1992 in Beverly Hills , California , United States ) was a Hungarian-American dancer, singer and stage and film actress with moderate Hollywood career.
Live and act
Stefánia "Steffi" Duna began her show career at the age of nine as a stage dancer in fairy tale productions in Budapest's children's theater and toured Europe as a ballet dancer aged thirteen. Professional dance training followed. In the following years the attractive up-and-coming artist also appeared on international stages, for example in Berlin and London, where she could be heard and heard singing in 1932 at the Adelphi Theater in the revue Words and Music by and with Noël Coward . Another success was her in April 1933 with Brechts / Weill's Die Dreigroschenoper .
Steffi Duna came into contact with the film during her stay in England and in 1932 she received the title role in the comedy The Indiscretions of Eve . The following year she found herself in Hollywood and made her US debut alongside another European Hollywood debutant, Francis Lederer . Her exotic-looking beauty made Steffi Duna the ideal cast for hot-blooded women of all kinds, especially Latinas. In addition to leading roles in B-films, she also received supporting roles in a few A-productions such as A restless life (as a partner of Fredric March ) and your first husband (at the side of Vivien Leigh ). In Hi, Gaucho! In 1935, her US colleague John Carroll was her film partner, whom she was to marry that same year. The marriage, which resulted in a daughter in 1937, was short-lived. In 1936 Steffi Duna returned briefly to London and received another British leading role in Nedda in the opera film Der Bajazzo , this time as Richard Tauber's singing and performance partner . In 1939 she was seen with the female lead in the anti-Nazi propaganda film Hitler - Beast of Berlin , the following year with a very small dance role in the bilious political satire The Great McGinty , one of her last films.
Late years
In the same year 1940 Duna ended her film career suddenly and married her US colleague Dennis O'Keefe . The marriage lasted until his death in 1968 and remained completely scandal-free - she was "the perfect wife, European style", as O'Keefe once remarked about his wife in an interview. The couple had a son. After the death of her husband, Steffi Duna changed careers and worked as a real estate agent for Stan Herman & Assoc. in their luxurious residential community of Beverly Hills.
Filmography
- 1932: The Indiscretions of Eve
- 1933: The Iron Stair
- 1933: Aigo, the man of two worlds ( Man of Two Worlds )
- 1934: Red Morning
- 1934: La Cucaracha
- 1935: One New York Night
- 1935: Hi, Gaucho!
- 1935: La Fiesta de Santa Barbara
- 1936: Dancing pirate ( Dancing Pirate )
- 1936: A Restless Life ( Anthony Adverse )
- 1936: The Bajazzo ( Pagliacci )
- 1937: Escape by Night
- 1938: Rascals
- 1938: Flirting with Fate
- 1939: Panama Lady
- 1939: Way Down South
- 1939: Hitler - Beast of Berlin
- 1939: The Law of the prairie ( Law of the Pampas )
- 1939: Her first husband ( Waterloo Bridge )
- 1940: Phantom Raiders
- 1940: The Great McGinty ( The Great McGinty )
- 1940: Girl from Havana
Web links
- Steffi Duna in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ A b David Ragan: Who's Who in Hollywood 1900–1976. Arlington House Publishers. New Rochelle, New York. P. 126
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Duna, Steffi |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Berindey Erzsébet, Stefánia (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Hungarian-American dancer, singer, stage and film actress with a moderate Hollywood career |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 8, 1910 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Budapest , Austria-Hungary |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 22, 1992 |
| Place of death | Beverly Hills , California , United States |