Olga Chekhova


Olga Konstantinovna Chekhova, known in Germany as Olga Tschechowa, was a Russian-German actress. Her film roles include the female lead in Alfred Hitchcock's Mary.

Biography

Olga Konstantinovna Knipper was born on 14 April 1897, the daughter of Konstantin Knipper, a railway engineer, and Yelena Luise "Lulu" Knipper, both Lutherans of ethnic German ancestry. Olga was the niece and namesake of Olga Knipper. She went to school in Tsarskoye Selo but, after watching Eleonora Duse, joined the Moscow Art Theatre's studio. There she met the Russian-Jewish actor Mikhail Chekhov in 1914 and married him the same year, taking his surname as her own. Their daughter, also named Olga, was born in 1916. She became an actress under the name of Ada Tschechowa.
During the year of the 1917 October Revolution, Chekhova divorced her husband but kept his name. In the first year of the revolution, she joined a cabaret-theatre group called Sorokonozhka, as the troupe consisted of twenty members and forty feet. Chekhova also was given a part in a silent movie, Anya Kraeva, in 1917. In 1918, she was given roles in Cagliostro and in The Last Adventure of Arsène Lupin. Although part of the social circle around the Moscow Art Theatre, she never played a role there, despite her later claims to having her first theatre role in The Cherry Orchard.
She managed to get a travel passport from the Soviet government, possibly in exchange for her cooperation, which led to permission to leave Russia. She was accompanied by a Soviet agent on a train to Vienna, then she moved to Berlin in 1920. That same year, she married Frederick Yaroshi, though they divorced in 1921. Her first cinema role in Germany was in F. W. Murnau silent movie Schloß Vogelöd. She played in Max Reinhardt's productions at UFA. She made the successful transition from silent film to talkies. In the 1930s, she rose to become one of the brightest stars of the Third Reich and was admired by Adolf Hitler. She appeared in such films as The Hymn of Leuthen although she preferred comedies. In 1936 she married for the third time, to Marcel Robbins, which ended in divorce in 1938.

Joseph Goebbels

A published photograph of her sitting beside Hitler at a reception gave the leaders of the Soviet intelligence service the impression that she had close contacts with Hitler. She had more contact with the Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, who referred to her in his diaries as "eine charmante Frau".
She is also rumored to have been a communist spy in a Soviet conspiracy. According to the book Killing Hitler by the British author Roger Moorhouse, she was pressured by Stalin and Beria to flirt with Adolf Hitler in order to gain and transfer information so that Hitler could be killed by secret Soviet agents.

Later years

Olga achieved great success in the motion picture industry. Her filmography includes 138 credits as an actor, director, and producer between 1917 and 1974. After the war she lived in the Soviet sector of Berlin, but eventually she managed to escape from her Soviet contacts. In 1949, she moved to Munich, Bavaria, and launched a cosmetics company, Olga Tschechowa Kosmetik.
At the same time she continued acting, and played supporting roles and cameos in more than 20 films. She largely retired from acting in the 70s, after publishing a book of memoirs. Her correspondence with Russian actresses Olga Knipper and Alla Tarasova was published posthumously.
Her niece Marina Ried and granddaughter Vera Tschechowa also became actresses.

Selected filmography

  • Anya Kraeva as Unknown role
  • Poslednie priklucheniya Arsena Lupena as Unknown role
  • Kaliostro as Unknown role
  • The Haunted Castle as Baronin Safferstätt
  • Impostor as Unknown role
  • Violet as Violet
  • The Circle of Death as Olga Petrowna
  • Der Kampf ums Ich as Unknown role
  • Nora as Nora
  • The Pagoda as Unknown role
  • Certificates of Death as Unknown role
  • Tatjana as Tatjana
  • The Lost Shoe as Estella
  • Debit and Credit as Sabine
  • The Enchantress as Unknown role
  • The Venus of Montmartre as Gräfin Sullivan
  • The City of Temptation as Unknown role
  • The Old Ballroom as Unknown role
  • Should We Get Married? as Unknown role
  • Love Story as Lilli, das Verhältnis
  • The Company Worth Millions as Unknown role
  • The Fallen as Malwa, Freundin von Hammer
  • The Mill at Sanssouci as Tänzerin Barberina
  • Malice as Seine Frau
  • The Schimeck Family as Olga, seine Frau
  • Trude as Unknown role
  • The Man in the Fire as Diva Romola
  • His Toughest Case as Mary Melton
  • Grandstand for General Staff as Gräfin Landieren
  • Aftermath as Nadja
  • The Sea as Rosseherre
  • His Late Excellency as Baronin von Windegg
  • The Italian Straw Hat as Anaïs de Beauperthuis
  • Moulin Rouge as Parysia
  • Pawns of Passion as Ala Suminska
  • Woman in Flames as Gräfin Clarissa Thalberg
  • After the Verdict as Vivian Denys
  • Diane as Diane Mervil
  • The Love of the Brothers Rott as Theresa Donath
  • Foolishness of His Love as Director
  • Incest as Lisbeth Kröger - deren Tochter aus erster Ehe
  • Helene Willfüer, Student of Chemistry as Helene Willfüer
  • Love in the Ring as Lilian
  • Troika as Vera Walowa
  • Der Detektiv des Kaisers as Olga
  • The Three from the Filling Station as Edith von Turoff
  • Darling of the Gods as Olga von Dagomirska
  • Zwei Krawatten as Mabel
  • The Road to Paradise as Edith de Tourkoff
  • A Girl from the Reeperbahn as Hanne Bullová
  • The Great Longing as Herself
  • Liebe auf Befehl as Manuela
  • Mary as Mary Baring
  • Panic in Chicago as Florence Dingley
  • The Night of Decision as Maria Iwanowa
  • The Concert as Maria Heink, Gattin
  • Night Convoy as Inka Maria, seine Frau
  • Trenck as Elisabeth, Zarin von Rußland
  • The Gala Performance as Miß Harris
  • The Hymn of Leuthen as Gräfin Mariann
  • Liebelei as Baronin v. Eggersdorff
  • A Love Story as Baronin von Eggersdorf
  • Ways to a Good Marriage as Claire Veiler, die unbefriedigte Frau
  • Ein gewisser Herr Gran as Frau Mervin
  • Un certain monsieur Grant as Mme Merwin - une espionne
  • The Country Schoolmaster as Teresa van der Straaten
  • Um ein bisschen Glück as Helene, seine Frau
  • Police Report as Gisela Ostercamp
  • Between Two Hearts as Inge Leuthoff
  • L'amour qu'il faut aux femmes as Le troisième couple
  • The World Without a Mask as Betty Bandelow
  • Maskerade as Anita Keller - seine Braut
  • What Am I Without You as Lilly Petrowa, Schauspielerin
  • Abenteuer eines jungen Herrn in Polen as Gräfin Lubenska
  • Peer Gynt as Baronin
  • Regine as Floris Bell, Schauspielerin
  • Asew as Tanja Asew, seine Frau
  • The Eternal Mask as Madame Negar
  • Dreams of Love as Gräfin Madeleine Duday
  • Artist Love as Olivia Vanderhagen
  • Ein Walzer um den Stephansturm as Sylvia von Polonska
  • The Empress's Favourite as Elisabeth Kaiserin von Russland
  • L'argent as Baronne Sandorff
  • Manja Valewska as Gräfin Pola Valewska
  • His Daughter is Called Peter as Nora Noir
  • Hannerl and Her Lovers as Frau von Stahl
  • Court Theatre as Baroness Seebach
  • Die weissen Teufel as Jenny Morel
  • Liebe geht seltsame Wege as Antonia Delvarez
  • Unter Ausschluß der Öffentlichkeit as Brigitte Sparrenberg
  • The Yellow Flag - Helen Roeder as amerikanische Journalistin
  • Gewitterflug zu Claudia as Frau Mainburg
  • Das Mädchen mit dem guten Ruf as Mirandolina
  • Red Orchids as Maria Dorando
  • Zwei Frauen as Paula Corvey
  • Verliebtes Abenteuer as Olivia
  • The Stars Shine as Herself
  • Bel Ami as Madeleine Forestier
  • Ich verweigere die Aussage as Nora Ottendorf
  • Parkstraße 13 as Evelyne Schratt
  • Die unheimlichen Wünsche as Feodora, Schauspielerin
  • Liberated Hands as Kerstin Thomas
  • Passion as Gerda
  • Angelika as Angelika
  • The Fox of Glenarvon as Gloria Grandison
  • Menschen im Sturm as Vera seine Frau
  • Andreas Schlüter as Gräfin Vera Orlewska
  • With the Eyes of a Woman as Marie-Louise v. Ditmar, Baronin von Stein
  • The Eternal Tone as Josephine Malti, Singer
  • Reise in die Vergangenheit as Marianne von der Halden
  • Gefährlicher Frühling as Juliane von Buckwitz
  • Melusine as Nora
  • In the Temple of Venus as Carola Weber
  • One Night Apart as Vera, seine Frau
  • Kein Engel ist so rein as Margot
  • Two in One Suit as Catherine Turner
  • as Susanne de Bogne - Journalistin
  • Trouble in Paradise as Myriam Esneh
  • The Man Who Wanted to Live Twice as Irene Hesse
  • Begierde as Frau des Bankpräsidenten
  • Eine Frau mit Herz as Vera von Wesener
  • The Secret of a Marriage as Tina Camphausen
  • My Friend the Thief as Percys Schwester
  • Behind Monastery Walls as Priorin
  • Everything for Father as Frau von Pleskow
  • Rose-Girl Resli as Mrs. von Weidersheim
  • Heute nacht passiert's as Herself - Gast im Modesalon
  • Captain Wronski as Frau von Eichhoff
  • I Was an Ugly Girl as Luise Raymond
  • The Barrings as Amelie von Eyff
  • U 47 – Kapitänleutnant Prien as Die Fürstin
  • Jack and Jenny as Mutter Johannsen
  • The Twins from Immenhof as Großmutter Arkens
  • Spring in Immenhof as Großmutter