Lya Ley

Lya Ley (1899-1992) was an Austro-Hungarian-born actress whose parents were stage actors too. After a career on the stage, she was discovered for film in 1914 by Paul Heidemann, who engaged her for various film comedies. In 1916, Franz Hofer became her regular director, who directed her in 13 films in 1916-1918, such as Heidenröschen / Rose on the Heath (1916) and Der gepumpte Papa / The Pumped-Up Dad (1916). In the early 1920s, she withdrew from film acting.


German postcard by NPG, no. 1511.


German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin-Wilm., no. 5429. Photo: Memelsdorf, Berlin.


German postcard by Kunstverlag Juno, Charlottenburg, no. 120. Photo: Atelier Eberth.

Comedies and detective films

Lya Ley a.k.a. Lia Ley was born in 1899 as Maria Antonia Wilhelmine Steiner in Troppau. She was the daughter of opera singer Michael Steiner and his wife Elisabeth, née Sauppe.

She made her stage debut around 1910 as a small child in the role of Hansel in Ferdinand Raimund's folk theatre play 'The Spendthrift'. She failed, literally: a fall into obscurity ended with a minor injury; the next day, she was able to play the role again.

In 1914, at the age of 15, she was discovered for film by the director and producer Paul Heidemann during an engagement at the Berlin Theater am Nollendorfplatz, where she adopted the stage name Lya Ley.

Heidemann cast Ley in a series of comedies. Starting in 1916, Franz Hofer filmed a series with her, the most successful of which were the silent drama Heidenröschen / Rose on the Heath (1916) and Der gepumpte Papa / The pumped-up dad (1916), both with Fritz Achterberg.

Ley then starred in a detective series with director Hubert Moest. She made eight Lya Ley comedies for the Kowo Film Company.


German postcard in the Film Sterne series by Rotophot, no. 179/4. Photo: Becker & Maass, Berlin.


German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, no. 5428. Photo: Memelsdorf.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 3177. Photo: Binder.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 3178. Photo: Binder.

Half-Jewish and Nazi

At the height of her career, Lya Ley was depicted in a 1920 caricature by Olaf Gulbransson in Simplicissimus magazine, alongside Pola Negri, Asta Nielsen, Henny Porten, Fern Andra, Mia May, Marija Leiko, and Lya Mara – with the simple caption 'Stars.'

In 1921, Lya Ley married the writer Wilhelm von Klitzing in Munich and retired from the film business. The marriage produced three daughters.

Although the former actress was considered 'half-Jewish' by the Nazi definition, she joined the Nazi Party in 1933.

After her husband's early death in 1934, she worked as an insurance clerk and endeavoured to exploit his literary legacy. Nothing is currently known about her later life.

Lya Ley died in 1992 in her apartment in Munich and was buried in Munich's Nordfriedhof Cemetery.


German postcard in the Film Sterne series by Rotophot, no. 179/1. Photo: Becker & Maass, Berlin.


German postcard in the Film Sterne series by Rotophot, no. 179/2. Photo: Becker & Maass, Berlin.


German postcard in the Film Sterne series by Rotophot, no. 179/3. Photo: Becker & Maass, Berlin.

Sources: Wikipedia (German and English) and IMDb.