27 October 2012

Marianne Hold

In the 1950s and 1960s attractive actress Marianne Hold (1933-1994) became the queen of the Heimatfilm - the romantic German film genre set in rural, especially Alpine, areas.

Marianne Hold
German collectors card by Lux.

Marianne Hold
German postcard by WS-Druck, Wanne-Eickel, no. F 35. Photo: Niczky.

Marianne Hold
German postcard by UFA, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. CK-34. Retail price: 30 Pfg. Photo: Arthur Grimm / Constantin Film.

Cinecittà


Marianne Hold was born Marianne Weiss in Johannisburg, East Prussia, in 1933. In the last days of the Second World War, her father went missing.

At age 15, she ran away from home because she couldn’t stand her stepfather. She went to Rome where she started working in the kitchen of a Protestant convent and later worked as a cutter at the Cinecittà film studio.

She was spotted by director Gabriel Pascal, who offered her a scholarship at the Cinecittà acting school.

In 1950 she was offered her first role by mountaineer-turned-director Luis Trenker in Barriera a Settentrione/Mountain Smugglers (Luis Trenker, 1950) starring Amedeo Nazzari.

This was followed up by a small role in the Italian production Benvenuto, reverendo!/Welcome Reverend (Aldo Fabrizi, 1950) and bigger roles in German films like Ave Maria (Alfred Braun, 1953) with Zarah Leander.

Marianne Hold
German postcard by ISV, no. H 1. Photo: Sahm.

Marianne Hold
German-Dutch postcard, no. 1259.

Marianne Hold
German postcard by WS-Druck, Wanne-Eickel, no. F 58. Photo: Theo Huster.

Heimatfilms


Soon Marianne Hold became a popular actress in Heimatfilms like Hochzeitsglocken/Marriage Bells (Georg Wildhagen, 1954), Wenn die Alpenrosen blüh'n/When the alpine roses blossom (Hans Deppe a.o., 1955) and Heimatland/Homeland (Franz Antel, 1955) with Rudolf Prack and Adrian Hoven.

Her breakthrough role was as a fishergirl in Die Fischerin vom Bodensee/The Fisher-girl from Lake Bodensee (Harald Reinl, 1956). She proved her versatility as an actress in the poetic Marianne de ma jeunesse/Marianne, meine Jugendliebe/Marianne of My Youth (Julien Duvivier, 1955).

She co-starred with Gerhard Riedmann in Die Prinzessin von St. Wolfgang/The Princess of Saint Wolfgang (Harald Reinl, 1957), Bei der blonden Kathrein/At Blonde Kathrein's (Hans Quest, 1959) and Waldrausch/Forest Flush (Paul May, 1962).

With her discoverer Luis Trenker she made Prigioniero della montagna/Prisoner of the Mountains (Luis Trenker, 1955), Von der Liebe besiegt/Conquered by Love (Luis Trenker, 1956) and Wetterleuchten um Maria/Lightning Around Maria (Luis Trenker, 1957).

While filming Die Diamantenhölle am Mekong/Mission to Hell (Gianfranco Parolini, 1964), she met Czech-born actor Frederick Stafford and married him. Their son, Roderick Stafford, was born in the same year. She then retired from the film business to take care of her son. Her last film was the Karl May adaptation Der Schut/The Yellow One (Robert Siodmak, 1964) starring Lex Barker. In 1994 Marianne Hold died of a heart attack in her house in Lugano, Switzerland.

Marianne Hold and Lex Barker in Der Schut (1964)
German postcard by Heinerle Karl-May-Postkarten, no. 29. Photo: CCC / Gloria. Lex Barker as Kara Ben Nemsi and Marianne Hold as Madame Galingré in Der Schut/The Yellow One (Robert Siodmak, 1964). Caption: "How glad I am that nothing happened to you, Mister Kara. I heard the shots ...." - "As you can see, everything went well with this Mübarek, Madame Galingré. Fine that you brought the horses. Omar, Halef and I can immediately do on with the persecution of The Yellow One."

Der Schut (1964) with Lex Barker, Ralf Wolter and Marianne Hold
German postcard by Heinerle Karl-May-Postkarten, no. 31. Photo: CCC / Gloria. Lex Barker as Kara Ben Nemsi, Ralf Wolter as Halef and Marianne Hold as Madame Galingré in Der Schut/The Yellow One (Robert Siodmak, 1964). Caption: The fully loaded raft. A good target for the bandits, who are hiding between the rocks.

Der Schut (1964) with Ralf Wolter and Marianne Hold
German postcard by Heinerle Karl-May-Postkarten, no. 46. Photo: CCC / Gloria. Ralf Wolter as Halef and Marianne Hold as Madame Galingré in Der Schut/The Yellow One (Robert Siodmak, 1964). Caption: By a ruse and with the help of Turkish soldiers, the faithful servant Halef can free his beloved Lord, Kara Ben Nemsi, from the hands of the Yellow One, who has imprisoned him.

Sources: Stephanie D'heil (Steffi-line.de), Wikipedia, Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen and IMDb.

This post was last updated on 12 October 2024.

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