19 November 2017

Evi Kent

Beautiful and sexy Evi Kent (1938) was an Austrian actress and singer who appeared in dozens of German-language films and TV shows of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

Evi Kent
Dutch postcard by P. Moorlag, Heerlen, Sort 14/6. Photo: E. Schneider.

Wallflower


Evi Kent was born in Brünn, Austria (now Brno, Czech Republic) in 1938.

According to the IMDb, Evi Kent’s first appearances were in 1953 on German television, in the comedy Spiel mit dem Glück/Love Game (Peter A. Horn, 1953) and in the musical show Knallbonbons (Hanns Farenburg, 1953).

From early on she worked both as an actress and a singer. In Spiel mit dem Glück, the Trinidad born singer Mona Baptiste starred and Evi was billed fourth. In Knallbonbons some then well-known artists performed like Belgian singer-actress Angèle Durand and the dance group The Hiller Girls.

Evi’s appearances must have been successful, while in the following years some supporting roles followed in theatrical films like the comedy Mamitschka (Rolf Thiele, 1955) starring Rudolf Platte, Friederike von Barring (Rolf Thiele, 1956) starring Nadja Tiller, Mein Vater, der Schauspieler/My Father, the Actor (Robert Siodmak, 1956) with O.W. Fischer, and Jede Nacht in einem anderen Bett/Each Night in Another bed (Paul Verhoeven, 1957) with Gerhard Riedmann.

Among her hit songs was Papa Tanzt Mambo, a German cover of Perry Como's Papa Loves Mambo, which decades later re-appeared on compilations like 100 Goldene Schlager 1930-1955. In 1956 she also made a great German cover version of Teresa Brewer’s hit A Sweet Old Fashioned Girl: Mauerblümchen (Wallflower) - genuine German Rock and Roll.

That same year she also sang the cheeky and equally enjoyable Warum drehn' sich alle Männer nach mir um? (Why Do All the Men Turn Around for Me?). Both can be heard on YouTube (and thanks to Blackeyedjoe also here below).

Evi Kent
German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. I 493. Photo: Filmaufbau / Deutsche London / Lindner. Publicity still for Friederike von Barring (Rolf Thiele, 1956).

Evi Kent
German postcard by F.J. Rüdel, Filmpostkartenverlag, Hamburg-Bergedorf, no. 1773. Photo: Filmaufbau / Deutsche London / Lindner. Publicity still for Friederike von Barring (Rolf Thiele, 1956).

Fluffy and Forgettable


For four years Evi Kent did not appear in films, but in 1961 she played small parts in the Austrian comedy Unsere tollen Tanten/Our Mad Aunts (Rolf Olsen, 1961) with Günter Philipp and Vivi Bach, and the sequel Unsere tollen Nichten/Our Mad Nieces (Rolf Olsen, 1962).

During the early 1960s, she appeared mainly in small roles in Austrian films: in comedies and Schlager films. Some titles are Das haben die Mädchen gern/That’s What the Girls Like (Kurt Nachmann, 1962) with Ann Smyrner, and Tanze mit mir in den Morgen/Dance with Me Into the Morning (Peter Dörre, 1962) with Rex Gildo.

She also played the female lead in the adventure comedy Unter Wasser küßt man nicht/Under Water One Doesn’t Kiss (Erich Heindl, 1962) opposite Gunther Philipp. It would not become her breakthrough role, and in the following years her parts in films became smaller.

Those films included Rote Lippen soll man küssen/Red Lips Should Be Kissed (Franz Antel, 1963) starring Johanna Matz, Allotria in Zell am See/Larking about in Zell am See (Franz Marischka, 1963) and Jetzt dreht die Welt sich nur um dich/The World Turns Around Now (Wolfgang Liebeneiner, 1964), all fluffy and forgettable.

Evi found bigger roles in comedies on television, like next to Hannelore Auer in Eheinstitut Harmonie/Marriage Institute Harmony (Dieter Pröttel, 1964), in Mitternachtszauber/Midnight Magic (Ralph Lothar, 1964) with Beppo Brem, and in Der doppelte Moritz/Thre Double Moritz (Fred Kraus, 1966) starring popular comedian Willy Millowitsch.

She often performed as a singer on TV, like in the Silvester Show (Dieter Pröttel, 1964) and Es funkeln die Sterne - Eine musikalische Silvesterreise um die Welt/Stars Twinkle - A Musical Christmas Trip Around the World (Paul Martin, Dieter Wendrich, 1966).

The following years her appearances became rarer. On TV she was seen next to Georg Thomalla in an episode of Komische Geschichten mit Georg Thomalla/Funny Stories With Georg Thomalla, and in the musical Auf der grünen Wiese/At the Green Meadow (Edwin Zbonek, 1971).

In the cinema she was last seen in Blau blüht der Enzian/Blue Blossoms the Gentian (Franz Antel, 1973), a comedy set in the winter resort of Kitzbühel in Tyrol, Austria, starring TV host Ilja Richter. On television she was last seen in an episode of the Austrian TV series Alfred auf Reisen/Afred on Voyage (1982, Kurt Junek, Hemut Pfandler) featuring Alfred Böhm.

And from then on all traces of beautiful Evi Kent disappeared…

Evi Kent
German postcard by WS-Druck,Wanne-Eickel. Photo: Delos / Constantin/Gabriele.

Evi Kent
German autograph card. Photo: Sponner.


Evi Kent sings Warum drehn' sich alle Männer nach mir um? (1956). Source: Blackeyedjoe (YouTube).


Evi Kent sings Mauerblümchen (1956). Source: Blackeyedjoe (YouTube).

Sources: BlackeyedJoe (YouTube) and IMDb.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kitzbühel in Tyrol, Austria not Bavaria

Anonymous said...

Evi Kent was born
08.03.1938 in Brünn
(former CSSR)
(BRAVO, Nr. 17 /1964)

Paul van Yperen said...

This is great. We've changed the information immediately. Thank you again.