Truus Van Aalten

Truus van Aalten was a Dutch girl who won a magazine competition in 1926 and found herself acting in a movie in Berlin. Her bosses soon realized that she was a gifted comedienne, and she went on to make many silent movies. She became very popular all over Europe and moved successfully into sound films. When the Nazis came to power they stopped her working. They then tried to use her in propaganda movies, but she refused - and she eventually had to give up her career. She tried to make a comeback in films after WW2, but without success. She became a businesswoman in the 1950s and married in 1964. Her last years were marred by mental illness, and she died in the Dutch town of Warmond in 1999.