Ossi Oswalda

Ossi Oswalda

Born: January 31, 1897
Died: March 7, 1947
in Berlin, Germany
Ossi Oswalda (born Oswalda Amalie Anna Stäglich, 2 February 1897 – 7 March 1947) was a German actress, who mostly appeared in silent films. She was given the nickname 'The German Mary Pickford' due to her popularity at the time.

Oswalda trained as a ballerina and became a dancer for a theater in Berlin. She made her film debut in Richard Oswald's Nächte des Grauens (Night of Horrors) before being discovered by the actor and screenwriter Hanns Kräly, who in turn recommended her to director Ernst Lubitsch. During her early career, she starred in several films by Lubitsch, including The Merry Jail, I Don't Want to Be a Man, The Oyster Princess and The Doll. Her popularity at the time earned her the nickname 'The German Mary Pickford'.

In 1921, Oswalda started her own film production company with her husband at the time, the Hungarian Baron Gustav Wilhelm Viktor Freiherr von Koczian-Miskolczy (1877–1958). However, during the next four years they only produced four films, all starring Oswalda. From 1925 on, she was contracted to Ufa. The couple divorced in 1925, and Oswalda began a high profile affair with Wilhelm, German Crown Prince.

Oswalda's career waned along with the silent film era, and she only acted in two sound films, making her final appearance on screen in the 1933 film The Star of Valencia. She escaped Nazi Germany and emigrated to Prague with her partner Julius Aubenberg in the 1930s.

Later on, she became a stage actor, and in 1943, wrote the screenplay for the Czechoslovakian film Čtrnáctý u stolu. By spring 1947, Oswalda went bankrupt and was suffering from multiple health problems.

Oswalda died penniless in Prague at the age of 50. She is buried at Olsany Cemetery.

Movies for Ossi Oswalda...

Die Puppe
Title: Die Puppe
Released: January 1, 1990
Type: Movie
A child is moved around like a doll
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Der Stern von Valencia
Title: Der Stern von Valencia
Character: Rita
Released: July 4, 1933
Type: Movie
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The chaste Joseph
Title: The chaste Joseph
Released: September 19, 1930
Type: Movie
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Der Dieb im Schlafcoupée
Title: Der Dieb im Schlafcoupée
Released: July 11, 1929
Type: Movie
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Die vierte von rechts
Title: Die vierte von rechts
Released: February 4, 1929
Type: Movie
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Sir or Madame
Title: Sir or Madame
Released: November 13, 1928
Type: Movie
A girl posing as a knight's male valet is vamped by his fiancée
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Eddy Polo mit Pferd und Lasso
Title: Eddy Polo mit Pferd und Lasso
Released: March 16, 1928
Type: Movie
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Frühere Verhältnisse
Title: Frühere Verhältnisse
Character: Pepi
Released: June 15, 1927
Type: Movie
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A Crazy Night
Title: A Crazy Night
Character: Margot Olschinsky
Released: January 21, 1927
Type: Movie
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Gräfin Plättmamsell
Title: Gräfin Plättmamsell
Released: November 25, 1926
Type: Movie
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Schatz, mach' Kasse
Title: Schatz, mach' Kasse
Character: Ossi
Released: November 25, 1926
Type: Movie
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Die Kleine vom Varieté
Title: Die Kleine vom Varieté
Character: Rositta, die Kleine vom Varieté
Released: October 25, 1926
Type: Movie
Peter Verdy falls in love with Lola (Ossi Oswalda) who is mistaken for a boy when she appears in stage regalia before a rich uncle who has other marriage plans for his nephew. The tangle ensuing is finally sorted out with excellent results all round.
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Die Fahrt ins Abenteuer
Title: Die Fahrt ins Abenteuer
Released: April 16, 1926
Type: Movie
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Herrn Filip Collins Abenteuer
Title: Herrn Filip Collins Abenteuer
Character: Daisy Cuffler
Released: February 19, 1926
Type: Movie
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The Girl with a Patron
Title: The Girl with a Patron
Released: December 21, 1925
Type: Movie
The Girl with a Patron (German: Das Mädchen mit der Protektion) is a 1925 German silent comedy film directed by Max Mack and starring Ossi Oswalda, Willy Fritsch, and Nora Gregor. It was one of a number of popular comedies released by UFA during the era alongside its more prestigious art films.
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Express Train of Love
Title: Express Train of Love
Character: Kitty
Released: May 6, 1925
Type: Movie
Silent romantic comedy set on a train.
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Niniche
Title: Niniche
Character: Niniche
Released: February 13, 1925
Type: Movie
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Colibri
Title: Colibri
Character: Colibri
Released: March 1, 1924
Type: Movie
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Das Mädel mit der Maske
Title: Das Mädel mit der Maske
Character: Hothilde van Erlenkamp
Released: February 24, 1922
Type: Movie
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Amor am Steuer
Title: Amor am Steuer
Released: October 7, 1921
Type: Movie
A millionaire daughter is to be married to a man unknown to her. To get to know him, she slips into men's clothes, sticks on a mustache and is hired as a chauffeur.
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Kakadu und Kiebitz
Title: Kakadu und Kiebitz
Character: Ossi Schönbeck
Released: June 26, 1920
Type: Movie
German silent film directed by Erich Schönfelder.
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Hundemamachen
Title: Hundemamachen
Character: Ossi
Released: February 13, 1920
Type: Movie
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The Housing Shortage
Title: The Housing Shortage
Character: Frau
Released: February 6, 1920
Type: Movie
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Amsterdam Artists From the Film 'Housing Shortage' on a Trip to Volendam
Title: Amsterdam Artists From the Film 'Housing Shortage' on a Trip to Volendam
Character: Herself
Released: January 1, 1920
Type: Movie
In the summer of 1920, the staff of the Rembrandt Theatre in Amsterdam went on strike, which was especially unfortunate for the management of the theatre, since they had invited the German film stars Ossi Oswalda, Marga Köhler, and Victor Janson to the Dutch premiere of their film Wohnungsnot (Ernst Lubitsch, 1920). For this special occasion, there were even two extra segments shot with Ossi Oswalda playing the lead role. In one of those films, we see how Oswalda, dressed in traditional Volendam costume, cheerfully makes contact with the local inhabitants. But not every Volendammer seems charmed by the advances of the German diva. Because of the strike, the film could only be screened one time in the presence of the three stars.
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The Doll
Title: The Doll
Character: Ossi / The Doll
Released: December 5, 1919
Type: Movie
The misadventures of an effete young man who must get married in order to inherit a fortune. He opts to purchase a remarkably lifelike doll and marry it instead, not realizing that the doll is actually the puppet-maker’s flesh-and-blood daughter in disguise.
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The Oyster Princess
Title: The Oyster Princess
Character: Ossi, his daughter
Released: June 26, 1919
Type: Movie
A pampered American oyster tycoon decides to buy a husband for his daughter, but things don’t go quite as planned. Along the way there are mishaps, misunderstandings and a foxtrot sequence that must be seen to be believed.
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The Swabian Maiden
Title: The Swabian Maiden
Character: Lorle Schmied
Released: February 21, 1919
Type: Movie
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My Wife, the Movie Star
Title: My Wife, the Movie Star
Character: Ossi, der Filmstar der Fabrik
Released: January 24, 1919
Type: Movie
While making a movie in the Alps, the female star falls in love with a nobleman.
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Meyer from Berlin
Title: Meyer from Berlin
Released: January 17, 1919
Type: Movie
Sally Meyer, a young Berliner, persuades his Doctor to convince his wife that he is ill, so that he is able to take a holiday in the Austrian Alps in order to pursue women. Meyer dresses up in what he considers Tyrolean attire. However, he mistakenly travels to the Bavarian Alps rather than Austria. Meyer becomes infatuated with Kitty, a young, attractive woman at the hotel where he is staying. His pursuit of her angers many of her other suitors who are also staying at the hotel. In order to impress Kitty, Meyer agrees rather reluctantly to climb Mount Watzmann. While they are approaching the summit, both Meyer's wife and Kitty's fiancee unexepectedly arrive from Berlin.
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I Don't Want to Be a Man
Title: I Don't Want to Be a Man
Character: Ossi
Released: October 1, 1918
Type: Movie
A teenage tomboy, tired of being bossed around by her strict guardian, impersonates a man so she can have more fun. She quickly discovers that being the opposite sex isn’t as easy as she had hoped for. What ensues is a gender-bending comedy decades ahead of its time.
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The Ballet Girl
Title: The Ballet Girl
Character: Ossi, eine junge Tänzerin
Released: June 6, 1918
Type: Movie
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The Toboggan Cavalier
Title: The Toboggan Cavalier
Character: Ossi Hannemann
Released: March 1, 1918
Type: Movie
A young woman is forced by her father to marry a man she doesn't love and flees before the marriage takes place. In a small village she falls in love with a young man, but her father disapproves of the match.
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Prinz Sami
Title: Prinz Sami
Character: Herzogin Maria
Released: January 1, 1918
Type: Movie
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The Merry Jail
Title: The Merry Jail
Released: November 30, 1917
Type: Movie
A neglected wife disguises herself in order to lure her wastrel husband into a compromising position.
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When Four Do the Same
Title: When Four Do the Same
Character: Segetoffs Tochter
Released: November 16, 1917
Type: Movie
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch. Lubitsch plays a book shop employee who falls in love with Jannings' daughter.
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Ossis Tagebuch
Title: Ossis Tagebuch
Character: Ossi
Released: October 5, 1917
Type: Movie
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch.
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A Night of Horror
Title: A Night of Horror
Released: February 9, 1917
Type: Movie
An extremely jealous artist slips into a monkey costume and kills all those men who come too close to his wife, another artist.
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The Tenor, Inc.
Title: The Tenor, Inc.
Character: Sallys Cousin
Released: December 22, 1916
Type: Movie
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Der Hilferuf
Title: Der Hilferuf
Released: July 1, 1916
Type: Movie
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Pinkus's Shoe Palace
Title: Pinkus's Shoe Palace
Character: Apprentice
Released: June 9, 1916
Type: Movie
Sally Pinkus is an German-Jewish boy who takes a job as a shoe store clerk after being expelled from school for goofing around. Soon fired for trying to court the owner's daughter, Pinkus lands another job in a more 'upmarket' shoe salon, only to be fired again, before charming a rich benefactress to fund his ultimate dream: Pinkus' Shoe Palace.