Hermine Sterler


Minna Stern, known professionally as Hermine Sterler, was a German-American actress whose career spanned both the silent and the talkie film eras on two continents.

Career

Sterler, who appeared in several Hollywood films, was once affiliated with the Burgtheater in Vienna.
She debuted in 1918 at the Residenztheater Hannover and later performed in Berlin, where she appeared at the Kleinen Theater. She played a saloon lady and, from 1921, often appeared in German silent film. She flourished as a character actor in roles of young wives and mothers. In 1930, she appeared as Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna in Rasputin, Demon with Women.
In 1933, a German government decree was enacted by Joseph Goebbels under the auspices of a newly created agency called Die Reichskulturkammer. The decree stipulated that Jewish actors were, among other things, prohibited from performing on German stage.
Sterler, who was a Jew, relocated to Vienna in 1933, where she continued to work in theater and cinema. The Anschluss of Austria ended her artistic career there. Sterler next moved to London. In 1938, she immigrated to the United States from Zurich under her birth name Minna Stern. Film director Wilhelm Dieterle gave Sterler her first role in American cinema.
During World War II and after, Sterler played mostly small roles in Hollywood productions portraying German or other European women. In the 1944 anti-Nazi film The Hitler Gang, she played the wife of Ernst Hanfstaengl.
On November 10, 1944, Sterler became a United States naturalized citizen in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California at Los Angeles.
She gave actress Piper Laurie private acting lessons when Laurie was a child.

Death

Hermine Sterler died on 25 May 1982, aged 88, in her native Stuttgart.

Selected filmography

Silent filmDie Hexe Hannele's Journey to Heaven - Frau BergerLumpaci the Vagabond The Five Frankfurters - Gräfin StadionThe Love Nest Der Mann mit der eisernen Maske Paganini - The DuchessPeople in Need - Elisabeth Ditten, GutsbesitzerinThe Hanseatics People to Each Other - Oberin des GefängnissesChildren of No Importance - Frau BerndtOrphan of Lowood - LehrerinWie bleibe ich jung und schön - Ehegeheimnisse German Women - German Faithfulness - Regine VollrathPrinz Louis Ferdinand - Rahel LewisPotsdam Regine - Die HausdameDas Schicksal einer Nacht Dame Care - Seine FrauEndangered Girls The Lady from Argentina The Sinner - Odettes MutterMädchenschicksale - Irinas MutterDer Ladenprinz - RosannaStrauss Is Playing Today - Anna, seine FrauThe Republic of Flappers - Fräulein HelmersAdam and Eve - Frau Konsul JensenThe Blue Mouse - Frau LebodierThe Hero of Every Girl's Dream - Madame TurbonThe Girl from the Provinces - Magda RonacherThe Right to Love - Frau Gebhard - eine Offizierswitwe
TalkiesLes saltimbanques - Stella DanielaDie Somme: Das Grab der Millionen Zärtlichkeit - Frl. Lorrmann - HaushälterinThe Other - Hallers SchwesterMarriage in Name Only - Hanna v. Späth, Schwester VeltensTwo People - Gräfin EnnaMary - Miß MillerI Go Out and You Stay Here - Stephanie Derlett, Inhaberin eines ModesalonsThe Theft of the Mona Lisa 24 Hours in the Life of a Woman - ErikaRasputin, Demon with Women - Zarin - Geheimrätin von SchendellEine von uns Mieter Schulze gegen alle The First Right of the Child Adventures on the Lido - LucenaVoices of Spring Unfinished Symphony - Princess KinskyEverything for the Company - Ella SonndorferLittle Mother - LeontineTe quiero con locura - LeontineScandal Sheet - Mrs. KopalMy Son Is Guilty - Barney's Mother Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet - Miss MarquardtJennie - Mother SchermerSo Ends Our Night - Berlin Nurse Shining Victory - Miss HoffmanNazi Agent - Mrs. Mohr Kings Row - Secretary Secret Agent of Japan - Mrs. AlecsandriReunion in France - Woman Bomber's Moon - Greta - Maid Hostages - Gestapo Agent Women in Bondage - German Mother The Hitler Gang - Frau Hanfstaengel They Live in Fear - Frau Stoesen Betrayal from the East - Keller The Falcon in San Francisco - Ms. Carla Keyes Renegades - Mrs. Jackorski The Razor's Edge - Nurse Golden Earrings - Greta KrosigkRailroaded! - Mrs. RyanLetter from an Unknown Woman - Mother Superior Berlin Express - Frau Borne The Dark Past - Mrs. Linder The Mating Season - German Woman The Congregation How to Marry a Millionaire - Madame There's Always Tomorrow - Tourist's WifeMy Father, the Actor - Frl. Dr. MahlkeKelly and Me - Hilda Torn Curtain - Old Woman Entering at Bus Stop

Family

Sterler was born 20 March 1894 in Bad Cannstatt, Stuttgart, to Max Stern and Bertha Wormser , both of whom married each other on 5 July 1888.

General bibliography