Loni von Friedl

Loni von Friedl (1943) is an Austrian film and television actress. She began as a child actress in the early 1950s, before graduating to mature roles during the following decade. The daughter of cinematographer Fritz von Friedl, she also has an actor brother of the same name. Her nephew is actor Christoph von Friedl. She was married to actor Götz George from 1966 to 1976. She later married Jürgen Schmidt.


West-German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag, Minden/Westf, no. 1362.


West-German postcard by Franz Josef Rüdel, Filmpostkartenverlag, Hamburg. Photo: Peter Schommertz, Berlin.

The youngest ensemble member of the Burgtheater

Loni von Friedl was born Leontine Anna Maria Friedl von Liebentreu in 1943 in Vienna, Austria. Her parents, the Austrian cameraman Fritz von Friedl and his wife, had returned to Vienna to escape the Allied air raids on Berlin in 1943. Loni was born shortly afterwards.

Loni took on children's roles on stage and radio at an early age. Her film career began in 1950 when, at the age of seven, she appeared in the English children's film, The Lone Climber (William C. Hammond, 1949).

The following year, together with her brother Fritz (Vinzenz as a child), who was two years older, she played the role of little Annamirl Raudaschl in the musical comedy Der fidele Bauer/The Merry Farmer (Georg Marischka, 1951) starring alongside Paul Hörbiger.

After her school years, she took ballet lessons with Pia Lucca and three years of acting lessons with Vera Balser-Eberle in Vienna. In 1958 Loni von Friedl got an engagement at the famous Burgtheater in Vienna, where she became the youngest ensemble member in 1962. She acted at the Burgtheater until 1965.

She also appeared at the Städtische Bühnen in Cologne (1958-1959), the Kleine Komödie in Munich (1961) and the Renaissance Theatre in Berlin (1962). She made several guest appearances at the Thalia Theatre in Hamburg. In 1966-1967 she appeared at the Munich Residenztheater, and then at the Berlin Schillertheater.


West-German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag G.m.b.H., Minden/Westf, no. 1808.


West-German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag G.m.b.H., Minden/Westf, no. 1596. Photo: Gabriele / Alfa / Gloria Film. Loni von Friedl in Zu jung für die Liebe/Too young for love? (Erica Balqué, Helmut Käutner, 1961).

Best newcomer actress

In 1962, Loni von Friedl received the Filmband in Gold in the category "Best Newcomer Actress" at the German Film Awards, for her role in the Berlin film Zwei unter Millionen/Two Among Millions (Wieland Liebske, Victor Vicas, 1961), in which Hardy Krüger was her partner.

She also won for her role in the Swiss-German film drama Die Schatten werden länger/The Shadows Grow Longer (Ladislao Vajda, 1961) in which she appeared alongside Luise Ullrich, Barbara Rütting and Hansjörg Felmy.
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In the US war film The Blue Max (John Guillermin, 1966), she starred alongside George Peppard, James Mason and Ursula Andress.
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Von Friedl also had a role in the British science fiction film Doppelgänger/Journey to the Far Side of the Sun (Robert Parrish. 1969), about a journey to the mythical Counter-Earth.

She subsequently appeared in other films. From 1973 to 1975 and again from 1980-1981, she belonged to the ensemble of the Staatliche Schauspielbühnen Berlin, from 1976 to 1980 she was under contract at the Thalia Theatre in Hamburg, and most recently again at the Schiller Theater in 'Die Katze auf dem heißen Blechdach' (Cat on a hot tin Roof).


West German postcard by Ufa/Film-Foto, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. FK 5159. Photo: Ufa-Film / Deutsche Film Hansa / Dittner. Loni von Friedl in Zwei unter Millionen/Two Among Millions (Wieland Liebske, Victor Vicas, 1961).


West-German postcard by Franz Josef Rüdel, Filmpostkartenverlag, Hamburg. Photo: Schweigmann, Hamburg.

Solo for Bette Davis

Since the 1970s Loni von Friedl has also been a busy TV actress. In the adventure series Diamantendetektiv Dick Donald/Diamond Detective Dick Donald (1971), she played assistant Daisy alongside her then-husband Götz George, who played the title role.

From 1984 to 1991, von Friedl appeared as the doctor Dr. Ingrid Probst in 20 episodes of the television series Ein Heim für Tiere/A Home for Animals (1984-1991) which revolved around the veterinary practice of Dr. Willi Bayer, portrayed by Siegfried Wischnewski. In 1986 she appeared in 12 episodes of the family series Teufels Großmutter/Devil's Grandmother, in which she played Hetty, the daughter of Dorothea Teufel, portrayed by Brigitte Horney.

In 1987 and 1988 she played one of the family members of the large Kurwaski family, who run the Waldhaus country hotel together, in 18 episodes. In the comedy series Peter and Paul, which ran on television from 1994 to 1998, Von Friedl played the role of Freifrau von Rabenberg. Helmut Fischer and Hans Clarin were the eponymous main characters Peter and Paul, two mayors by marriage. Her last role to date was in two episodes of the television series Um Himmels Willen (2018).

In June 2007, Loni von Friedl appeared on stage at the St. Pauli Theatre in Hamburg as Bette Davis in 'Solo for Bette', a play she had written in collaboration with Horst Königstein. She also performed this play in Berlin at the O-TonArt theatre in 2010. One of Königstein's students, Julia Bossert, shot her film diploma thesis (screenplay and direction) Elli & Richard (2013) with Von Friedl. This film received the audience award at the festival in Kyoto.

Loni von Friedl was married to Götz George from 1966 to 1976. From this marriage came Tanja George, who lives in Australia and works as a sculptor. In her second marriage, Von Friedl was married from 1995 to the actor Jürgen Schmidt, who died of leukaemia in November 2004 in Munich, where she still lives today. Loni von Friedl's brother Fritz von Friedl and her nephew Christoph von Friedl are also actors.


West German postcard by Franz Josef Rüdel, Filmpostkartenverlag, Hamburg. Photo: Schweigmann, Berlin.


German autograph card.

Sources: Wikipedia (German and English) and IMDb.

This post was last updated on 16 April 2024.