Leny Marenbach

Lady-like Leny Marenbach was Germany's answer to Irene Dunne. She seemed to have little artifice about her and was therefore ideally suited to play gentle, impeccably well-mannered model wives or brave battlers against the forces of adversity. In more emancipated mode, she added a much-needed sparkle to assorted mainstream melodramas and could also occasionally display a deft talent for comedy. Leny already had a distinguished theatrical career under her belt by the time she entered the movies. On stage from 1926, she became an audience favorite at the Schauspielhaus Zürich where she starred in plays by Molières, Shakespeare, Guitry and Molnar. She briefly joined the ensemble of the Theater in der Josefstadt in Vienna (1934-35) which led directly to an offer from the Czech production company Meissner and a starring role in the German-language film Jana, the Girl from the Bohemian Forest (1935). Stardom was almost instantaneous with her next breakthrough role as Heinz Rühmann's loyal wife in Wenn wir alle Engel wären (1936). The financial success of the picture led to two further pairings with Germany's number one box-office star: Model Husband (1937) and the enjoyably farcical Five Millions Seek an Heir (1938). Leny showcased her versatility as a dramatic actress in more demanding fare, especially with her dual role in Helmut Käutner's Frau nach Maß (1940) and as the devoted Countess Kollowrat in Friedemann Bach (1941) (a depiction of the dissipated life of Johann Sebastian Bach's eldest son). In the aftermath of World War II, audience tastes in screen entertainments had changed fundamentally and Leny's popularity declined. She managed to secure a short-term contract with East Germany's Defa, but her espionage thriller Geheimakten Solvay (1953) aroused criticism in the West for its blatant propagandist content. With no prospective offers, Leny's film career was all but over. She briefly returned to the stage, did some voice-over work and went on tour with a show in which she recited poems and performed sketches. By the end of the 60's, she had left the limelight, and acting, behind her.