Maria Brockerhoff

German actress and model Maria Brockerhoff (1942) was a popular starlet and magazine pin-up in the late 1960s. Her films may be forgotten but her postcards with photos by Bernard of Hollywood are still popular.


German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/368. Photo: Bernard of Hollywood.


German postcard by Krüger, no. 903/366. Photo: Bernard of Hollywood.


German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/364. Photo: Bernard of Hollywood.

Attractive eyecatcher

Maria Brockerhoff was born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1942.

When she studied graphic design, she also worked as a mannequin. During a contest, she was chosen as ‘Deutschen Gretchen 65’.

This led to parts in a series of film comedies. The first was Die schwedische Jungfrau/The Virgin from Sweden (Kurt Wilhelm, 1964), starring Paul Hubschmid and Letícia Román.

Other titles are the Schlagerfilms Ich kauf' mir lieber einen Tirolerhut/I Rather Buy Myself a Tirolean Hat (Hans Bilian, 1965) with Manfred Schnelldorfer and Hannelore Auer, and Komm mit zur blauen Adria/Come Along To The Blue Adriatic (Lothar Gündisch, 1966) with Dietmar Schönherr.

In all these light entertainment films, the beautiful blonde Brockerhoff was merely an attractive eye-catcher.


German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/367. Photo: Bernard of Hollywood.


German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/365. Photo: Bernard of Hollywood.

Playboy Covergirl

In 1965 Maria Brockerhoff travelled to Hollywood to play a part in the action film The Silencers (Phil Karlson, 1966), starring Dean Martin as secret agent Matt Helm. This opportunity fell through because she had not obtained a working permit.

In 1966 she could be seen in 26 illustrated magazines, and she appeared in an uncredited bit role at the side of French star Jean Marais in Le saint prend l’affut/The Saint Lies in Wait (Christian-Jacque, 1966) based on the detective novels by Leslie Charteris.

In 1967 she went again to Hollywood, but negotiations with Columbia Pictures failed when the film studio demanded a seven-year contract.

In Germany she played in erotic films like Pension Clausewitz/Clausewitz Inn (Ralph Habib, 1967) and Komm nur, mein liebstes Vögelein/Come Now, My Dear Little Bird (Rolf Thiele, 1968).

And she was the Covergirl of the US edition of Playboy in December 1968. IMDb lists also several cover photos of magazines like Parade (UK), Wochenend (West Germany) and Quick (West Germany).


German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/369. Photo: Bernard of Hollywood.


German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/362. Photo: Bernard of Hollywood.

Sex comedies

Maria Brockerhoff then played in six films in two years, and she finally appeared in an English-language film. She had a supporting part in the American-British war film Hannibal Brooks (Michael Winner, 1969) starring Oliver Reed.

Albert Ohayon at IMDb: "What can you say about a war movie where an elephant crosses the Alps? It's silly but a heck of a lot of fun. The scenery is gorgeous, the acting is light and the action sequences are top-notch. Oliver Reed is perfectly cast as our hero Brooks. He has played so many villain roles that it's great to see him play a nice guy for a change."

Her other, less interesting films were made in Germany: the comedy Unser Doktor ist der Beste/Our Doctor Is The Best (Harald Vock, 1969) starring Schlager singer Roy Black, Hugo der Weiberschreck/Hugo, the Woman Chaser (Hans Albin, 1969) with Peter Garden, the sex comedy Die Jungfrauen von Bumshausen/Run, Virgin, Run (Hans Billian, 1970), another sex comedy Frisch, fromm, fröhlich, frei/Renewed, Pious, Happy and Free (Rolf Thiele, 1970) with Horst Frank, and Hurra, ein toller Onkel wird Papa/Hooray, a Super Uncle is a Father (Hans Albin, 1970).

Maria also appeared regularly on German television. She was a permanent cast member of the series Luftsprünge/Bounces (1969). She also made guest appearances in episodes of popular Krimi series like Tatort (1972), Der Kommissar (1973) and Bitte keine Polizei/Please No Police (1975). In the mid-1970s the media lost their interest in her. She worked for a while for an advertising agency in München (Munich).

In 1979, Maria Brockerhoff married to George E. Lombard, an American manager of the Lockheed firm. The couple moved to California. There she lives under the name of Maria Lombard.


German postcard by Krüger, no. 900/290. Photo: Bernard of Hollywood.


German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/363. Photo: Bernard of Hollywood.

Sources: Wikipedia (German), and IMDb.

This post was last updated on 12 August 2023.