About Brigitte Horney
Lived 1911 – 1988 (aged 77). Brigitte Horney was a German and American stage actor, film actor, actor and musician.
Brigitte Horney (; 29 March 1911 – 27 July 1988) was a German theatre and film actress. Best remembered was her role as Empress Katherine the Great in the film Münchhausen, directed by Josef von Báky, with Hans Albers in the title role.
Early life Brigitte Horney was born and grew up in Dahlem, Berlin, the daughter of noted psychoanalyst Karen Horney.
Career She was, for more than a decade, engaged with Berlin's Volksbühne. When she accepted the starring role in the highly popular film Love, Death and the Devil (1934), a new star was born with the Leitmotif song "So oder so ist das Leben". Two years later she would play the love interest of famous actor Hans Albers’s character in the film Savoy Hotel 217.
Horney was a good friend of the actor Joachim Gottschalk and appeared in four films with him. Although Gottschalk had fallen from favor with Nazi officials, Horney attended Gottschalk's funeral (Germany, 1941), regardless of the political and career implications of doing so.
Personal life After the Second World War she became an American citizen, but continued to visit Germany frequently, where she had a house in Bavaria. She married the eminent Jewish art historian Hanns Swarzenski, a leading authority on German Romanesque manuscripts.
Death She continued to work in films and television (i.e. Oliver Twist) until her death. She died in Hamburg, June 27, 1988.
Selected filmography Film
Farewell (1930) - Hella, retailer Fra Diavolo (1931) - Anita Rasputin, Demon with Women (1932) The Country Schoolmaster (1933) - Martha Detlefsen A Man Wants to Get to Germany (1934) - Manuela Ortiguez The Eternal Dream (1934) - Maria Love, Death and the Devil (1934) - Ruby Blood Brothers (1935) - Mara, die Magd The Eternal Dream (1935) - Marie The Green Domino (1935) - Ellen Fehling / Marianne Fehling Savoy Hotel 217 (1936) - Nastasja Andrejevna Daschenko City of Anatol (1936) - Franziska Maniu The House of the Spaniard (1936) - Margarita de Guzman Secret Lives (1937) - Lena Schmidt Der Katzensteg (1937) - Dienstmagd Regine Hackelberg - Tochter Faded Melody (1938) - Barbara Lorenz Revolutionary Wedding (1938) - Aline Anna Favetti (1938) - Anna Favetti You and I (1938) - Anna Uhlig Uproar in Damascus (1939) - Vera Niemayer Target in the Clouds (1939) - Margot Boje The Governor (1939) - Maria A Woman Like You (1939) - Dr. Maria Pretorius Liberated Hands (1939) - Dürthen, Schafhirtin Enemies (1940) - Anna The Girl from Fano (1941) - Patricia (1941) - Maria Roth Beloved World (1942) - Karin Ranke Baron Munchhausen (1943) - Tsarin Catherine II Am Ende der Welt (1947) - Roberta Bell (1948) - Christine Verspieltes Leben (1949) - Ulyssa von Siebenmühlen Melody of Fate (1950) As Long as You're Near Me (1953) - Mona Arendt Prisoners of Love (1954) - Dr. Hildegard Thomas The Last Summer (1954) - Tatjana Tolemainen The Glass Tower (1957) - Dr. Bruning Darkness Fell on Gotenhafen (1960) - Generalin von Reuss The Inheritance of Bjorndal (1960) - Tante Eleonore The Cry of the Wild Geese (1961) - Mrs. Sandbo Miracle of the White Stallions (1963) - Countess Arco-Valley Neues vom Hexer (1965) - Lady Aston I Am Looking for a Man (1966) - Helene Schmidt The Trygon Factor (1966) - Sister General (1972, TV film) - Cordula Hellwig (1977, TV film) - Julia Charlotte (1981) - Grandma Bella Donna (1983) - Jutta
Television Derrick - Season 4, Episode 3: "Eine Nacht im Oktober" (1977) - Mrs. Lechner (1978, TV series) - Grandmother Derrick - Season 7, Episode 6: "Die Entscheidung" (1980) - Ina Hauff Huckleberry Finn and His Friends (1980, TV miniseries) - Aunt Polly Jakob und Adele (1982–1989, TV series) - Adele Schliemann Teufels Großmutter (1986, TV series) - Dorothea Teufel Das Erbe der Guldenburgs (1987–1989, TV series) - Hertha von Guldenburg (final appearance)
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Important facts
Family & relationships
People in Brigitte Horney's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Brigitte Horney's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Brigitte Horney?
actress (1911–1988)
When was Brigitte Horney born?
Brigitte Horney was born on 29 March 1911 in Berlin.
When did Brigitte Horney die?
Brigitte Horney died on 27 July 1988 in Hamburg.
What was Brigitte Horney's occupation?
Brigitte Horney was a stage actor, film actor, actor and musician.
What nationality was Brigitte Horney?
Brigitte Horney was German and American.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Brigitte Horney. https://biography.guide/brigitte-horney/
MLA: "Brigitte Horney." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/brigitte-horney/.
Chicago: "Brigitte Horney." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/brigitte-horney/.
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