Evi Eva

German actress Evi Eva (1899-1985) was a popular star of the silent cinema. She often impersonated 'Berliner Gören' or 'Backfische' (brats) in film comedies. Later, the once-famous actress lived in very poor conditions.


Austrian postcard by Iris-Verlag, no. 938. Photo: Lux Film Verleih. Collection: Didier Hanson.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1240/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Ohlmütz, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1240/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Ohlmütz, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1790/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Becker & Maass, Berlin.

Successful New Generation of Actresses

Evi Eva was born Johanna Martha Elly Giese in Berlin, Germany, on the penultimate day of 1899.

She worked in the cigarette industry when the 19-year-old was discovered for the film. Her first film was Mulle, der Frechdachs/Mulle, the cheeky one (William Wauer, 1919).

Evi belonged to the successful new generation of actresses who conquered the film business, and she was immediately given leading roles such as in the six-part series Nirvana (Fritz Bernhardt, 1920).

She next appeared in such films as Der Eid des Stephan Huller/The Oath of Stephan Huller (Reinhard Bruck, 1921) with Hanni Weisse, Am Rande der Grossstadt/At the Edge of the Great City (Hanns Kobe, 1922), Der Mönch von Santarem/The Monk from Santarem (Lothar Mendes, 1924) with Vivian Gibson, and the spectacular action film Mister Radio (Nunzio Malasomma, 1924) starring Luciano Albertini.

To her other well-known silent films belong Athleten/Athletes (Friedrich Zelnik, 1925) with Hans Albers, Der Veilchenfresser/The Violet Eater (Friedrich Zelnik, 1926) starring Lil Dagover, and Venus im Frack/Venus in Tails (Robert Land, 1927) starring Carmen Boni.


German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, no. 3748. Photo: Atelier Eberth.


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 939. Photo: Lux Film Verleih.


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 5125. Photo: Ernst Sandau, Berlin.


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 938. Photo: Lux Film Verleih.

Berlin Brats

Evi Eva often embodied 'Berliner Gören' (Berlin Brats) in film comedies, she rarely appeared in films with dramatic content. In addition to her film work, she also appeared on the Berlin stage.

Already in the late 1920s, Evi Eva had to be content with less important film roles. She played small supporting parts in films like Morgenröte/Dawn (Wolfgang Neff, Burton George, 1929) with Paul Henckels.

When the sound era began, she hardly received any offers. She played roles in the operetta film Die lustigen Weiber von Wien/The Merry Wives of Vienna (Géza von Bolváry, 1931) with Willi Forst, and the Marika Rökk musical Und du mein Schatz fährst mit/And You My Dear Comes Along (Georg Jacoby, 1937). Her final film was the Propaganda film Urlaub auf Ehrenwort/Furlough on Word of Honour (Karl Ritter, 1937). Urlaub auf Ehrenwort was a 'Staatsauftragsfilm', commissioned by the Ministry of Propaganda and aggressively promoted by the Ufa. Evi Eva's part in the film was only minor.

Evi Eva was married from January 1922 to January 1930 with Paul Oppen, a merchant from Mainz who was 15 years older than her. Their son Wolf-Dieter Oppen was born in Berlin-Charlottenburg in 1923.

In her later years, the once-famous actress lived in very poor conditions. In 1962 she moved to Munich, but later she returned to Berlin. Evi Eva passed away in 1985 in her hometown Berlin. The former actress died long forgotten, five days after her 85th birthday.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1010/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Alex Binder.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1082/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Alex Binder.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3317/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Suse Byk, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3518/2, 1928-1929. Photo: Atelier Balázs, Berlin.


Big German card by Ross Verlag. Photo: Ufa / Hämmerer.

Sources: Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Wikipedia (German) and IMDb.

This post was last updated on 17 September 2022.