Wikipedia

Paula Wessely

Paula Anna Maria Wessely(20 January 1907 – 11 May 2000) was anAustriantheatre and filmactress.Die Wessely(literally "The Wessely" ), as she was affectionately called by her admirers and fans, was Austria's foremost popular postwar actress.

Paula Wessely
Wessely in 1935
Born
Paula Anna Maria Wessely

(1907-01-20)20 January 1907
Vienna,Austria-Hungary
Died11 May 2000(2000-05-11)(aged 93)
Vienna, Austria
Alma mater
OccupationActress
Years active1924–1987
Spouse
​
​
(m.1935; died 1987)​
Children3, includingChristiane Hörbiger
RelativesJosephine Wessely(paternal aunt)

Life and career

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Wessely was born inVienna,the daughter of butcher Carl Wessely, younger brother of the lateBurgtheateractressJosephine Wessely(1860–1887). Like her adored aunt, Paula Wessely prepared for an artistic career. From 1922 she attended the ViennaState Academy of Music and Performing Artsand later theMax Reinhardt Seminar,while she made her debut as an actress in 1924 at theVolkstheater,followed by several minor roles of the boulevard repertoire, also performing at theRaimund Theater.

Her career proceeded, when in 1926, she became a member of theNew German Theatreensemble inPrague,where she and her future husbandAttila Hörbiger(1896–1987) performed inLes Nouveaux MessieursbyFlersandCroisset.

In 1927, she returned to the Volkstheater, playing in Ibsen'sThe Lady from the Seaand Wedekind'sSpring Awakening.After being denied the role of Jenny in Brecht'sThreepenny Operain 1929, she quit and joined the ensemble of theTheater in der Josefstadtunder directorMax Reinhardt.

Strongly insisting on major roles, she performed inDer GemeinebyFelix Salten,together with Attila Hörbiger andHans Moser.Supported by Reinhardt, she played in Schiller'sIntrigue and Loveat the 1930Salzburg Festival.In 1932, she appeared in Hauptmann'sRose Berndunder directorKarlheinz Martinat theDeutsches TheaterinBerlin,acclaimed by the audience as well as by critics likeAlfred Kerrand colleagues likeWerner Krauss.

On 23 December 1932, having taken singing lessons, she played the leading role in the premiere ofFritz Kreisler's SingspielSissyat theTheater an der Wien.From 1933 until 1938 she again performed at the Salzburg Festival as Gretchen in Goethe'sFaust,together withEwald Balser.In 1936, she made her first appearance on the Burgtheater stage in Shaw'sSaint Joan.

Wessely (r.) at a reception with Propaganda MinisterGoebbelsspeaking, ViennaHofburg,30 March 1938

Wessely, who was not particularly photogenic, was passed over in favor ofMagda Schneiderfor the role of Christine inMax Ophüls' 1933 film version ofArthur Schnitzler'sLiebelei,a part she had played at Theater in der Josefstadt. Her first major movie role was that of Leopoldine Dur in the 1934 filmMaskeradedirected byWilli Forst,together withAdolf Wohlbrück.Further appearances in films likeEpisodebyWalter Reisch,for which she was awarded theVolpi Cupas best actress at the 1935Venice Film Festival,finally made her a star.

Like her brother-in-lawPaul Hörbiger,Wessely had publicly acclaimed theAnschluss,after which she smoothly continued her film and theatre career.

Her most notorious movie appearance was in the anti-PolishNazi propagandafilmHeimkehr( "Homecoming" ) byGustav Ucickyin 1941. Heavily criticized by Austrian intellectuals afterWorld War II,she later publicly regretted her involvement.

On 23 November 1935, she married Attila Hörbiger at the ViennaRathaus.They had three daughters: Elisabeth Orth (born 1936),Christiane Hörbiger(born 1938) and Maresa Hörbiger (born 1945). All three daughters went on to become actresses.

After WWII, she was initially under a ban by theAlliedauthorities. She resumed her career in 1945 at theInnsbruckState Theatre with the role of Christine inLiebelei,and again at the Theater in der Josefstadt in Brecht'sThe Good Person of Szechwanthe next year. She participated in the filming ofErnst Lothar's novelThe Angel with the Trumpetin 1947, playing a half-Jewish woman. In 1957 she was again criticized[citation needed]for her role in thehomophobicfilmAnders als du und ich( "Different from you and me" ) byVeit Harlan.

Wesselly, along with her husband, worked for many years at the Vienna Burgtheater, performing inRaimund'sDer Alpenkönig und der MenschenfeindandDer Diamant des Geisterkönigs,again as Gretchen in Goethe'sFaust,in Schnitzler'sDas weite Land,inHofmannsthal'sDer UnbestechlichewithJosef Meinradand as Ella Rentheim in Ibsen'sJohn Gabriel Borkman.When Attila Hörbiger died of a stroke in April 1987, aged 91, Wessely, by then undisputed doyenne of the Burgtheater, retired at the age of 80.

In her last years she lived a very secluded life in her hometown Vienna and suffered from majordepression,caused by the death of her beloved husband. On 20 January 2000, she celebrated her 93rd birthday quietly, with only her three daughters and grandchildren at her home in Vienna-Grinzing.The following April she suffered an acute attack ofbronchitisand was admitted to a hospital in Vienna. She died on 11 May 2000, aged 93, "peacefully in her sleep", as the Burgtheater management announced the following day. She was buried two weeks later at the side of her husband in anEhrengrabof the Grinzing cemetery.

Selected filmography

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Awards and decorations

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References

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Notes

Further reading

  • Georg Markus:Die Hörbigers. Biografie einer Familie.Wien: Amalthea Verlag, 2006.ISBN3-85002-565-9
  • Edda Fuhrich & Gisela Prossnitz (ed.):Paula Wessely, Attila Hörbiger. Ihr Leben – ihr Spiel. Eine Dokumentation.München: Langen Müller, 1985.ISBN3-7844-2035-4
  • André Müller:Entblößungen.München: Goldmann, 1979.ISBN3-442-03887-1
  • Elisabeth Orth:Märchen ihres Lebens. Meine Eltern Paula Wessely und Attila Hörbiger.Wien: Molden, 1975.ISBN3-217-05032-0
  • Maria Steiner:Paula Wessely. Die verdrängten Jahre.Wien: Verlag für Gesellschaftskritik, 1996.ISBN3-85115-224-7
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