Lya de Putti

Hungarian-born film star Lya de Putti (1897-1931) portrayed vamps in German and American silent films. In 1925, she reached the zenith of her career with the leading role in the Weimar classic Variété, as the alluring femme fatale between Emil Jannings and Warwick Ward.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1268/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Ufa. Lya de Putti in Varieté (Ewald André Dupont, 1925).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1273/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Hans Natge.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 2023/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Fanam.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3020/4, 1928-1929. Photo: Roman Freulich.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3178/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Roman Freulich.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3370/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Roman Freulich.


British postcard by Ross Verlag Foreign, no. 58. Photo: Terra-Film. Lya de Putti in Manon Lescaut (Artur Robison, 1926).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 727/2, 1925-1926. Photo: Alex Binder. Collection: Didier Hanson.

To the capital of the European silent cinema of the 1920s

Amalia 'Lia' de Putty was born in Vécse, Austria-Hungary (now Vojcice, Slovakia) in 1897 (some sources say 1899). She was the daughter of a Hungarian baron and cavalry officer and a former countess. Lia had two brothers, Geza and Alexander, and a sister, Mitzi.

In 1913 (or 1912 according to some sources), she married county magistrate Zoltán Szepessy, and she had two daughters with him.

In Budapest, she began her stage career with a short stint in the Vaudeville circuit. In 1918, she made her screen debut with A császár katonái / The Emperor's Soldiers (Béla Balogh, 1918).

That year, she divorced Szepessy. Shortly after her divorce, she married Ludwig Christensen, who died in 1922.

She made her next film in Romania, Pe valurile fericirii / The Waves Of Happiness (Dolly A. Szigethy, 1920). Then she moved on to the capital of the European silent cinema of the 1920s, Berlin.


French postcard by Edition de la Cinematographie Française. Photo: Grandes Productions Cinématographiques (G.P.C.). Photo: Ica von Lenkeffy as Desdemona and Lya de Putti as Emilia in Othello (Dimitri Buchowetzki, 1922).


French postcard by Edition de la Cinematographie Française. Photo: Grandes Productions Cinématographiques (G.P.C.). Photo: Werner Krauss as Jago and Lya de Putti as Emilia in Othello (Dimitri Buchowetzki, 1922).


French postcard by Edition de la Cinématographie Française, Paris. Photo: G.P.C. Publicity still for Der brennende Acker / Burning Soil / La terre qui flambe (Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, 1922). Helga, Count Rudenburg's second wife (Stella Arbenina), and Gerda, the Count's daughter (Lya de Putti), in a fierce get-together.


French postcard by Edition de la Cinématographie Française, Paris. Photo: G.P.C. Publicity still for Der brennende Acker / Burning Soil / La terre qui flambe (Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, 1922). Gerda (Lya de Putti) and her maid (Leonie Taliansky).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 578/1. Luciano Albertini and Lya de Putti in Die Schlucht des Todes (Luciano Albertini, Francis A. Bartoni, 1923). The card depicts the final scene: Luciano has just saved Lya from falling down the Devil's Canyon and reconciles with her after he refuses to acknowledge her illegal child and his failed attempt at suicide.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 578/2, 1919-1924. Photo: Leo Klaude, Berlin / Phoebus Film. Luciano Albertini and Lya de Putti in Die Schlucht des Todes / The Ravine of Death (Luciano Albertini, Albert-Francis Bertoni, Max Obal, 1923).

An alluring femme fatale

In 1920, Lya de Putti progressed to perform classical ballet in Berlin. She became the premier danseuse at the Berlin Winter Garden in 1924.

In Germany, she played supporting roles in films by famous directors. She worked twice with F.W. Murnau, first at the drama Die brennende Acker / Burning Soil (1921) with Vladimir Gajdarov, and then at Phantom (1922) starring Alfred Abel.

She starred in six films produced by Joe May, including the exotic adventure epic Das Indische Grabmal / The Indian Tomb (Joe May, 1921), starring Olaf Fønss.

Her biggest hit – especially in the US – was the UFA production Varieté / Jealousy (Ewald André Dupont, 1925). De Putti played the alluring femme fatale Bertha-Marie, who seduces the simple carnival concessionaire Stephan Huller (Emil Jannings) and then betrays him with the handsome acrobat (Warwick Ward). Feeling doubly impotent because he himself had been a famous aerialist before suffering a crippling accident, Jannings fantasises about killing his rival - and, finally, does so.

De Putti followed this success with star performances in Manon Lescaut (Arthur Robison, 1925) opposite Vladimir Gajdarov, and Junges Blut / Young Blood (Manfred Noa, 1926) with Walter Slezak.


French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 134. Photo: Phoebus Film. Publicity still for Im Namen des Kaisers / In the Name of the Emperor (Robert Dinesen, 1925).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 560/1, 1919-1924. Photo: Atelier Balazs, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 868/1, 1925-1926. Photo: Binder. Collection Didier Hanson. Early card of De Putti in which her name is still spelt Lia instead of Lya.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1267/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Alex Binder / Ufa. Lya de Putti in Manon Lescaut (Arthur Robison, 1926).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1267/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Alex Binder / Ufa. Lya de Putti in Manon Lescaut (Arthur Robison, 1926).


Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 129. Photo: A. Stefano Pittaluga. Lya de Putti and Vladimir Gajdarov in Manon Lescaut (Arthur Robison, 1926).


Italian postcard by S.A. Stefano Pittaluga, no. 131. Photo: Lya de Putti in Manon Lescaut (Arthur Robison, 1926).

Invitation to Hollywood

Studio mogul Adolph Zukor invited Lya de Putti to come to Hollywood. At her arrival in New York in February 1926, she told American reporters that she was twenty-two years old. Her ocean liner's records list her as having been twenty-six.

Her American debut was David Wark Griffith's Sorrows of Satan (D.W. Griffith, 1926), starring Adolphe Menjou. The film was released in two versions, one in America and the other in Europe. In the American version, one scene had De Putti fully dressed. The same scene in the European release had De Putti topless.

She went to work for Universal in such films as The Heart Thief (Nils Olaf Chrisander, 1927) starring Joseph Schildkraut, Buck Privates (Melville W. Brown, 1928) with Zasu Pitts, and The Scarlet Lady (Alan Crosland, 1928).

In between these films, she returned to Germany for a short time in order to shoot Charlotte etwas verrückt / Charlott something crazy (Adolf E. Licho, 1928). During this stay, a serious accident happened. Lya de Putti fell from a window. The press interpreted it as an attempted suicide. But de Putti recovered quickly and returned to the US.

Hollywood generally cast her as a vamp, and she often wore her dark hair short in a style similar to that of Louise Brooks.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1028/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Alex Binder.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1028/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Alex Binder.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1028/3, 1927-1928. Photo: Alex Binder.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1268/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Alex Binder / Ufa.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1269/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Alex Binder / Ufa.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1269/4, 1927-1928. Photo: Alex Binder / Ufa.


French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, no. 618. Photo: Universal. Lya de Putti and Kenneth Harlan in Midnight Rose (James Young, 1928).

An attempt to make a restart on Broadway

Lya de Putti was rumoured to be engaged to Count Ludwig Salm von Hoogstraten, a former husband of the American oil heiress Millicent Rogers, but she denied the engagement.

De Putti failed to make it big in Hollywood, and her Hollywood efforts were inhibited by her foreign accent when the sound film arrived.

She left the screen in 1929 to attempt to make a re-start on Broadway. Later that year, she returned to Europe.

In Germany, she could be seen in Rund um die Liebe / About Love (Oskar Kalbus, 1929), a documentary compilation film showing footage from various films, with a.o. Lilian Harvey and Valerie Boothby.

She went to England to study the language and also made the silent film The Informer (Arthur Robison, 1929) with Lars Hanson and Warwick Ward. It would turn out to be her final film.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1273/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Hans Natge.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1349/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Terra Film. Lya de Putti in Junges Blut / Young Blood (Manfred Noa, 1926).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1350/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Terra Film. Walter Slezak and Lya de Putti in Junges Blut / Young Blood (Manfred Noa, 1926).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1562/3, 1927-1928. Photo: Alwin Steinitz.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1819/3, 1927-1928. Photo: Fanamet. Lya de Putti in The Sorrows of Satan (D.W. Griffith, 1926).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1819/4, 1927-1928. Photo: Fanam.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1931/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Melbourne Spurr, Hollywood.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3020/3, 1928-1929.

A fatal chicken bone

Lya de Putti returned to America. At the end of 1931, a macabre and bizarre accident followed. De Putti swallowed a chicken bone, which had to be surgically removed. At the hospital, she reportedly behaved irrationally and eluded her nurses. Eventually, she was found in a corridor. She contracted an infection, then pleurisy in her right side, followed by pneumonia in both lungs.

Lya de Putti died in 1931 in the New York hospital. She was only 34. According to Wikipedia, she left "just £800 (UK equivalent at the time) and a few bits of jewellery. Four years earlier, £800 was her weekly wage."

She was survived by her third husband, Louis Jahnke, whom she had married in 1922. Her first husband, Zoltán Szepessy, committed suicide shortly after her death.

They had two daughters, Ilona (1914) and Judith (1916). Both daughters were interviewed as old ladies for the documentary Das dritte Leben der Lya de Putti / The Third Life of Lya de Putti (Gisela Scheelein, 1996).

In the film Cabaret (Bob Fosse, 1972), singer Sally Bowles (Liza Minnelli) tells her friend Brian Roberts (Michael York) that Lya de Putti is her 'favourite screen siren'. In a subsequent scene, Bowles dismisses de Putti, claiming that she "makes too many faces."


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3220/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Phoebus-Film. Lya de Putti in the German silent film Charlott etwas verrückt / Charlott a little crazy (Adolf E. Licho, 1929).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3220/3, 1928-1929. Photo: Phoebus-Film. Lya de Putti in the German silent film Charlott etwas verrückt / Charlott a little crazy (Adolf E. Licho, 1929).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3221/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Phoebus-Film AG. Livio Pavanelli and Lya de Putti in the German silent film Charlott etwas verrückt / Charlott a little crazy (Adolf E. Licho, 1929).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, Foreign, no. 3452, 1928-1929. Photo: G.L. Manuel Frères, Paris.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3494/2, 1928-1929. Photo: probably a still from The Heart Thief (Nils Olaf Chrisander, 1927).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3495/1, 1928-1929. Photo: LPG. Lya de Putti and Joseph Schildkraut in The Heart Thief (Nils Olaf Chrisander, 1927).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3717/2, 1928-1929.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 3817/3, 1928-1929.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4081/1, 1929-1930.

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie - Page now defunct), Jessica Keaton (Silence is Golden), Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Jarod Hitching (IMDb), Wikipedia, Filmportal.de and IMDb.

Published by Uhrig

Little is known about the West German printer, Hanns Uhrig, in Frankfurt a. M. He published this series of small collector cards with sexy female stars from the European cinema and Hollywood in 1957. Of course, French sex kitten no. 1, Brigitte Bardot, is present with two cards for her o-la-la! comedy La mariée est trop belle / The Bride Is Much Too Beautiful (Pierre Gaspard-Huit, 1956). There are several girls from the German cinema on the cards, including Austrian sex symbol Nadja Tiller and the always shining Kessler Twins. There are also some pin-up pictures from Hollywood, including one from serious actress Vera Miles in a bikini, but also from B-movie starlets like Playboy Playmate Mara Corday and Helen Stanton, known for The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues (1955). All pictures were submitted by Neue Filmverleih (NF) in Munich, which distributed films such as El Hakim (Rolf Thiele, 1957) and Vier Mädel aus der Wachau / Four Girls from the Wachau (Franz Antel, 1957) in West Germany.


West German collector card by Druckerei Hanns Uhrig, Frankfurt a. M. / NF Films. Photo: Pathé-Cinema. Brigitte Bardot in La mariée est trop belle / The Bride Is Much Too Beautiful (Pierre Gaspard-Huit, 1956).

French actress Brigitte Bardot (1934) died on 28 December 2025, at the age of 91. In the 1950s, she was the sex kitten of the European film industry. BB starred in 48 films, performed in numerous musical shows, and recorded 80 songs. After her retirement in 1973, she became an animal rights activist.


West German collector card by Druckerei Hanns Uhrig, Frankfurt a. M. Nadja Tiller in El Hakim (Rolf Thiele, 1957).

Austrian actress Nadja Tiller (1929-2023) was one of the erotic stars of European cinema of the 1950s and 1960s. Her international breakthrough role was that of the high-class prostitute Rosemarie Nitribitt in the German film Das Mädchen Rosemarie / Rosemary (1958).


West German collector card by Druckerei Hanns Uhrig, Frankfurt a. M. Photo: Warner Bros Pictures, Inc.

Vera Miles (1929) is an American actress who worked closely with Alfred Hitchcock, most notably as Lila Crane in the classic Psycho (1960), reprising the role in the sequel Psycho II (Richard Franklin, 1983). Other great films in which she appeared include The Wrong Man (Alfred Hitchcock, 1956), The Searchers (John Ford, 1956), and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (John Ford, 1962).


West German collector card by Druckerei Hanns Uhrig, Frankfurt a. M. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.

American actress Mara Corday (1930-2025) was also a popular showgirl, model and Playboy Playmate of the 1950s. She starred in the cult classic Tarantula (1955) and many other B-pictures. Corday later appeared in several films with her friend Clint Eastwood.


West German collector card by Druckerei Hanns Uhrig, Frankfurt a.M. Photo: NF. Ludmila Tchérina in Oh... Rosalinda!! (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, 1955).

Beautiful Ludmila Tchérina (1924-2004) was a legendary prima ballerina, who was also an internationally-famous actress, artist and sculptor. She starred in several films, including a quartet by British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger: The Red Shoes (1948), The Tales of Hoffmann (1951), Oh... Rosalinda!! (1955) and Luna de Miel (1959).


West German collector card by Druckerei Hanns Uhrig, Frankfurt a. M. Photo: Columbia. Helene Stanton in Jungle Moon Men (Charles S. Gold, 1955).

Jungle Moon Men (1955) is the fifteenth Jungle Jim film produced by Columbia Pictures. It features Johnny Weissmuller in his second performance as the adventurer under the name Johnny Weissmuller. Weissmuller played Jungle Jim in 13 films, in chronological order. After which, for the remaining three Jungle Jim films, the character was renamed to Johnny Weissmuller due to copyright issues. The film was directed by Charles S. Gould and written by Dwight Babcock and Jo Pagano. The film centres on jungle roamer Johnny Wismuller and his team attempting to rescue an acquaintance in the jungle of Baku, which is inhabited by "moon men". The Moon Men are devoted to the Moon Goddess Oma, Who Must Be Obeyed (Helen Stanton), a wicked priestess who is apparently forever young and whose only weakness is sunlight. A reviewer for the magazine Variety wrote that it "fits into the past offerings in the Sam Katzman series and should do the same type of biz in program situations". The Hollywood Reporter's review criticised it for being "negligently written and executed". In evaluating the film in his 2012 book 'Columbia Pictures Movie Series, 1926—1955: The Harry Cohn Years', Gene Blottner praised Gould's directorial effort, as well as the fine cinematography and "superb" lighting. He stated that the film was "far-fetched" in its plot, yet "it isn't dull".


West German collector card by Druckerei Hanns Uhrig, Frankfurt a. M. Photo: Columbia. Helene Stanton in Jungle Moon Men (Charles S. Gold, 1955).

Helene Stanton was born in 1925 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, as Eleanor Stansbury. As a child, she took ballet lessons. At the age of 13, she took voice lessons. At 21, she became involved with the Cosmopolitan Production Company in Philadelphia in productions such as 'The Merry Widow', 'The Vagabond King', 'The Desert Song', and 'Fledermaus'. In 1949, Stanton married former silent film star Kenneth Harlan, but they divorced in 1953. She made her film debut in One Girl's Confession (Hugo Haas, 1953), starring Cleo Moore. In 1953 and 1954, she was part of the opening act for Frank Sinatra for his first performance at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas, in part performing with the Ben Blue Orchestra. In October 1955, a nightclub act was arranged for her to perform in Vegas. With her marriage in 1957 to Morton D. Pinsky, she effectively ended her Hollywood career. As an actress, she is probably best known for The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues (Dan Milner, 1955). Helen Stanton died in 2017 in Pasadena, California. She was buried at Forest Lawn Glendale under her married name, Helene Pinsky, along with her husband, Morton Pinsky. With Pinsky, she had a son, Dr. Drew Pinsky and a daughter, Dana Pinsky.


West German collector card by Druckerei Hanns Uhrig, Frankfurt a. M. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.

Tall, sultry, green-eyed blonde Peggie Castle (1927-1973) was an American actress who specialised in playing the "other woman" in B-movies. Castle was Miss Cheesecake in 1949.


West German collector card by Druckerei Hanns Uhrig, Frankfurt a.M. Photo: Cosmos / NF / Wanke. Alice and Ellen Kessler in Vier Mädel aus der Wachau / Four girls from the Wachau (Franz Antel, 1957).

Alice & Ellen Kessler (1936-2025) were popular in Europe, especially in Germany and Italy in the 1950s and 1960s, as singing, dancing and acting twins. The German sisters are usually credited as the Kessler Twins or Die Kessler-Zwillinge.


West German collector card by Druckerei Hanns Uhrig, Frankfurt a.M. Photo: Donau / NF-Film / Haenchen. Erika Remberg and Michael Cramer in Der Page von Palast-Hotel / The Bellboy of the Palace Hotel (Thomas Engel, 1958).

Beautiful Austrian film actress Erika Remberg (1932-2017) was the star in the tearjerker Laila / Make Way for Lila (Rolf Husberg, 1958), as a foundling who is adopted and raised by a Lapland chieftain. Remberg appeared in 31 films between 1950 and 1970.

Michael Cramer (1930-2000) was the nice young man of the German cinema in the Adenauer era. Later, he gave Clint Eastwood a German voice in several films.


West German collector card by Druckerei Hanns Uhrig, Frankfurt a. M. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.

Sandra Wirth (1936-2007) wasn't one of Hollywood's greatest actresses. She was certainly just as hardworking, though. Her smile, poise, and femininity gave her the girl-next-door quality that producers sought. Later, she became an animal trainer and agent for the film industry.


West German collector card by Druckerei Hanns Uhrig, Frankfurt a. M. Photo: Cosmos / NF / Wanke. Cora Roberts and Carl W. Fernbach in Vier Mädels aus der Wachau / Four girls from Wachau (Franz Antel, 1957).

German actress Cora Roberts (1935) was known for such German light entertainment films as Vier Mädels aus der Wachau / Four girls from Wachau (Franz Antel, 1957) and Freddy, die Gitarre und das Meer (1959). She attended the Reinhardt Drama School in Berlin, but she initially worked primarily as a model. From 1956 onwards, she concentrated on her film career. She starred alongside Paul Hubschmid and Dietmar Schönherr in Alle Tage ist kein Sonntag / Every Day is Not Sunday (1959) and with O. W. Fischer in Abschied von den Wolken / Farewell to the Clouds (1959). In the 1960s, she mainly appeared in television series.

Austrian actor Carl W. Fernbach (1915-1967) studied acting at the Academy for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna and Salzburg. He made his stage debut in 1935 at the Theater Scala in Vienna, followed by engagements at other theatres like the Wiener Bürgertheater. He made his film debut in Manja Valewska (1936) with Maria Andergast and Olga Tschechowa. His career came to a halt during World War II, and he served in the military. During a long interruption, he acted for the theatre exclusively. He returned to the screen in the mid-1950s in supporting parts.


West German collector card by Druckerei Hanns Uhrig, Frankfurt a. M. / NF Films. Photo: Pathé-Cinema. Brigitte Bardot and Louis Jourdan in La mariée est trop belle / The Bride Is Much Too Beautiful (Pierre Gaspard-Huit, 1956).

French actress Brigitte Bardot (1934) died on 28 December 2025, at the age of 91. In the 1950s, she was the sex kitten of the European film industry. BB starred in 48 films, performed in numerous musical shows, and recorded 80 songs. After her retirement in 1973, she became an animal rights activist.

Sources: AVID, Filmportal and IMDb.