German postcard by Ufa (Universum-Film Aktiengesellschaft) Berlin-Tempelhof, no. CK-114. Retail price: 30 Pfg. Photo: Arthur Grimm.
German postcard by Filmbilder-Vertrieb Ernst Freihoff, Essen, no. 109. Retail price: 10 Pfg. Photo: Joe Niczky.
German postcard by WS-Druck, Wanne-Eickel, no. 229. Photo: Bavaria / Schorcht / Ringpress / Vogelmann.
German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag, Minden/Westf., no. 467. Photo: Zeyn / Union / Arrthur Grimm. Publicity still for Der lachende Vagabund/The Laughing Vagabond (Thomas Engel, 1958).
German postcard by Ufa (Universum-Film Aktiengesellschaft) Berlin-Tempelhof, no. CK-84. Retail price: 30 Pfg. Photo: Ufa.
Suicide efforts
Susanne Cramer, also known as Susan Cramer and Suzanne Cramer was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany in 1936. At 20 she married actor Hermann Nehlsen, who was 17 years her senior. He stimulated her film ambitions. After beginning her acting career on stage working in stock companies, she was discovered by film director Wolfgang Liebeneiner during a casting call for bit players. Impressed by her blonde good looks, poise, and charm, he arranged for a supporting role in his film Waldwinter/Winter in the Woods (Wolfgang Liebeneiner, 1956) with Claus Holm.
She continued her career with another supporting role in the Heimatfilm Rot ist die Liebe/Love is Red (Karl Hartl, 1956) starring Cornell Borchers. She then was the leading lady opposite Heinz Erhardt in the comedy Die gestohlene Hose/The Stolen Trousers (Géza von Cziffra, 1956), and opposite Claus Biederstaedt in another comedy, Kleines Zelt und große Liebe/Two in a Sleeping Bag (Rainer Geis, 1956). That year she also appeared in the French drama Les assassins du dimanche/Every Second Counts (Alex Joffé, 1956).
Her marriage quickly went sour, and she had an affair with Claus Biederstaedt whom she had met in 1956 while filming the literary adaptation Kleines Zelt und große Liebe/Two in a Sleeping Bag (Rainer Geis, 1956). The affair ended in two suicide efforts. In 1957 she played in seven films, including Wie ein Sturmwind/The Night of the Storm (Falk Harnack, 1957) with Lilli Palmer and Ivan Desny, and the comedy Witwer mit 5 Töchtern/Widower with 5 Daughters (Erich Engels, 1957) again opposite Heinz Erhardt.
In Italy, she appeared in Vacanze a Ischia/ Holiday Island (Mario Camerini, 1957) with Vittorio de Sica. In 1958 Susanne married colleague actor Helmuth Lohner, but a divorce followed already after only five months. They married a second time and a daughter was born, Konstanze Lohner, but after a short time, a second divorce followed.
Other films in which she appeared were the crime film Der Greifer/The Copper (Eugen York, 1958) with Hans Albers, Nick Knattertons Abenteuer - Der Raub der Gloria Nylon/The Kidnapping of Miss Nylon (Hans Quest, 1959), and another comedy with Heinz Erhardt, Drei Mann in einem Boot/Three men in a Boat (Helmut Weiss, 1961). In 1961, she married Allan A. Buckhantz and the couple had a son, video operator Neil S. Buckhantz (1964-1991).
German postcard by Ufa, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. FK-3573. Photo: Eberhard Schmidt / Ufa.
German postcard by Ufa, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. FK-3714. Photo: Rhombus / Herzog-Film / Dittner.
Dutch postcard by Gebr. Spanjersberg N.V., Rotterdam, no. 3570/958. Photo: Eberhard Schmidt / UFA (Universum-Film Aktiengesellschaft, Berlin-Tempelhof).
Dutch postcard by Gebr. Spanjersberg N.V., Rotterdam, no. 3305. Photo: Arthur Grimm / CCC-NF-Film. Publicity still for Wie ein Sturmwind/Tempestuous Love (Falk Harnack, 1957) with Ivan Desny. Spanjersberg was the Dutch licency holder for Ufa/Film-Foto (Universum-Film Aktiengesellschaft, Berlin-Tempelhof).
Dutch postcard by Gebr. Spanjersberg N.V., Rotterdam, no. 3712. Photo: Rhombus / Herzog-Film / Dittner / Ufa.
Shocking experience
Susanne Cramer moved to Hollywood and there she appeared in episodes of several popular TV series like Perry Mason (1964-1965), Get Smart (1965), Bonanza (1965), Hogan's Heroes (1966) and Ironside (1967). She was often typecast as playgirls, glamour dolls, femme fatales, nurses, secretaries, love interests, comic reliefs, faithful friends, retail clerks, and white-collared workers.
She also played small parts in the comedy films Bedtime Story (Ralph Levy, 1964) starring Marlon Brando and David Niven, and Dear Brigitte (Henry Koster, 1965) starring James Stewart. During her career, she held dual citizenship between the United States and Germany, was a member of the Screen Actors Guild,and was supportive of the Motion Picture and Television Fund.
In 1966, when she wanted to visit her colleague Renate Ewert in München (Munich), she found her friend dead. According to some sources Renate was already dead for six days; other sources say even for three weeks. This shocking experience bothered Susanne deeply.
She married the American actor Kevin Hagen in 1967. Two years later, Susanne Cramer fell ill with the Hong Kong flu that was rampant in the USA and died in a private clinic at the age of just 32. Her last screen appearance was in an episode of the TV series The Guns of Will Sonnett (1967-1969) starring Walter Brennan. TV Series
The official cause of Susanne Cramer's death was pneumonia. However, there are numerous rumours about her death, ranging from suicide to medical malpractice. Her grave is located in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills.
German postcard by Ufa (Universum-Film Aktiengesellschaft) Berlin-Tempelhof, no. CK-63. Retail price: 30 Pfg. Photo: Gérard Décaux / Ufa.
German postcard by WS-Druck, Wanne-Eickel, no. F 77. Photo: Klaus Collignon.
German postcard by Ufa (Universum-Film Aktiengesellschaft) Berlin-Tempelhof, no. CK-59. Retail price: 30 Pfg. Photo: Gérard Décaux / Ufa.
German postcard by WS-Druck, Wanne-Eickel, no. F-30. Photo: Ringpress / Vogelmann / Bavaria.
German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin-Charlottenburg, no. C D 15.
Sources: Lowell Thurgood (Find A Grave), Peter Hoffmann (Biografie.de - now defunct), Wikipedia (German), and IMDb.
This post was last updated on 5 November 2023.
6 comments:
Saw Susanne Cramer in "Bonanza". Very beautiful and with a nice voice too while playing the harpsecord. What a shame she had to die so young.
Love her soft beautiful German accent.
Thanks. Yes, hers is a sad story.
Sad story indeed, for such a beautiful young woman. Just saw her on the old Bonanza episode. Was so curious as to who the beautiful blonde was that I had to look her up thinking it was a name I would recognize, just to learn that she died when I was six. Kind of ironic that the Bonanza episode was entitled, "Dead and Gone". Very sad indeed.
Thanks for your comment. You made me quite curious about that Bonanza period.
Tania Lupescu! In Get Smart 86
Post a Comment