Nora Gregor(3 February 1901 – 20 January 1949) was an Austrian stage and film actress.
Nora Gregor | |
---|---|
Born | Eleonora Hermina Gregor 3 February 1901 |
Died | 20 January 1949 Viña del Mar,Chile | (aged 47)
Years active | 1920–1945 |
Spouse(s) | Mitja Nikisch(ca. 1925 – ca. 1934) Ernst Ruediger, Prince von Starhemberg(1937–1949) |
Biography
editShe was bornEleonora Hermina GregorinGörz,a town which then belonged toAustria-Hungary,but is now part of Italy, to Austrian-Jewish parents.[1][2]
Her first husband wasMitja Nikisch,a pianist and son of celebrated orchestral conductor Arthur Nikisch. They divorced circa 1934.
In the mid-1930s, Gregor became the mistress of the married vice chancellor of Austria, theAustro-fascist,nationalist politicianPrince Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg,with whom she had a son, Heinrich vonStarhemberg(1934–1997).[3]On 2 December 1937, five days after the prince's marriage to his first wife (the former Countess Marie-Elisabeth vonSalm-Reifferscheidt-Raitz) was annulled, he and Gregor wed in Vienna.
In 1938, the Starhembergs emigrated to France through Switzerland, and her husband joined the Free French forces; cut off from their money and 80 family estates, they were supported for a period by Starhemberg's close friendFriedrich Mandl,the Austrian armaments magnate. In 1942, the Starhembergs moved to Argentina where they lived under humble circumstances. She was depressed by her exile to South America, and many sources claim her early death in Viña del Mar, Chile was a suicide.[4]However, her biographer Hans Kitzmüller calls a suicide unlikely and notes that her death was probably from natural causes.[5]
Career
editGregor entered films in the early 1920s. She worked briefly in Hollywood during the early sound era, appearing in the foreign-language versions of films such asThe Trial of Mary Dugan(1929) andHis Glorious Night(1929). She was considered to be one of Austria's more popular film stars during this time, and she appeared as a stage actress at the famousBurgtheater.[6]
During her French exile, Gregor played her most famous screen role as Christine de la Chesnaye inJean Renoir's 1939 filmLa Règle du Jeu.Her last appearance was in the 1945 Chilean filmLa Fruta mordida.
See also
editFilmography
editYear | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1920 | Gefesselt | ||
1920 | Wie Satan starb | ||
1921 | The Grinning Face | Herzogin Josiane | |
1921 | Die Schauspielerin des Kaisers | ||
1922 | The Venus | Yvonne | |
1922 | Meriota the Dancer | Lukrezia Borgia | |
1922 | The Daughter of the Brigadier | ||
1922 | The Separating Bridge | ||
1922 | Der Mann, der das Lachen verlernte | ||
1923 | Irrlichter der Tiefe | ||
1923 | The Little Sin | ||
1924 | Modern Vices | ||
1924 | Mikaël | Fürstin Lucia Zamikoff | |
1925 | The Man Who Sold Himself | Daisy Bracca | |
1925 | The Girl with a Patron | Revuestar Orina Norowna | |
1926 | The Fiddler of Florence | Renées Stiefmutter | |
1927 | Eheskandal im Hause Fromont jun. und Risler sen. | Claire | |
1930 | Olympia | Olympia | |
1931 | Mordprozeß Mary Dugan | Mary Dugan | |
1931 | That's All That Matters | Renée Roettlinck | |
1931 | Wir schalten um auf Hollywood | Himself | |
1932 | But the Flesh Is Weak | Mrs. Rosine Brown | |
1933 | What Women Dream | Rina Korff | |
1933 | Abenteuer am Lido | Evelyn Norman | |
1939 | La règle du jeu | Christine de la Chesnaye | |
1945 | La Fruta mordida | La mère | final film role |
Names and Styles
edit- 1901 –ca. 1920:FräuleinEleanora Gregor
- ca. 1925–ca.1934:FrauMitja Nikisch (privately),FräuleinNora Gregor (professionally)
- ca. 1934–1937:FräuleinNora Gregor (professionally)
- 1937–1949:Her Most Serene HighnessPrincess von Starhemberg (privately; seeAustrian nobilityandAdelsaufhebungsgesetz),FräuleinNora Gregor (professionally)
References
edit- ^"Nora Gregor - CinéArtistes.com".www.cineartistes.com.Retrieved2021-04-19.
- ^Alexander Waugh, "The House of Wittgenstein", Random House, 2009, page 201
- ^Born Heinrich Ruediger Gregor in Switzerland and legally named his father's heir in 1937 as Prince Heinrich von Starhemberg, the couple's only child was an actor, novelist, and playwright, professionally known as Heinrich Gregor, Henry Gregor, and Heinrich von Starhemberg.
- ^Kinn, Gail; Piazza, Jim (2008)."Rules of the Game".The Greatest Movies Ever.Black Dog Publishing. p. 156.ISBN978-1-57912-782-4.RetrievedNovember 22,2009.
- ^"Österreichs Diva: Wieso Nora Gregor in Vergessenheit geriet".news.ORF.at(in German). 2015-02-20.Retrieved2021-04-19.
- ^"Österreichs Diva: Wieso Nora Gregor in Vergessenheit geriet".news.ORF.at(in German). 2015-02-20.Retrieved2021-04-19.