Christiane Schmidtmer

Christiane Schmidtmer (24 December 1939 – 13 March 2003) was a German actress, fashion model, nude model, and memoirist.

Biography Early life

Christiane Schmidtmer was born in Mannheim, Germany, to Gertrud and Jakob Schmidtmer on Christmas Eve 1939. Also in 1965 she played Lufthansa stewardess Lise Bruner in Boeing Boeing (1965).

Schmidtmer was one of just a few German actresses successful in 1960s Hollywood, and was praised by critics as the most exciting German import since Marlene Dietrich. Schmidtmer, with her attractive and typically German appearance, was often reduced to playing the sexualized "attractive German". Her nickname which stuck throughout her career was "Liebesbombe"/"Love Bomb". A 1965 article in The New York Times described her as a "chesty wonder".

Throughout the 1970s and towards the end of her career, Schmidtmer appeared in numerous US talk shows, television series and B-movie productions such as The Giant Spider Invasion (1975). She played a sadistic white prison wardress who is raped in an act of revenge in the 70s "shock movie" The Big Doll House (1971). In 1981, she appeared in Hot Bubblegum – one of the sequels in the Israeli Eskimo Limon series. Most sources list this as her last film; in it she portrayed a nymphomaniac piano teacher.

Schmidtmer continued to do commercials and voiceover work in a number of productions.

Later years and death

Following her movie career, Schmidtmer worked as a licensed real estate agent in Southern California. She lived both in the US and Heidelberg. In 1980, shortly before ending her movie career, she published her autobiography My Wild Nights in Hollywood in German magazines, which detailed her claimed affairs with many actors, including a relationship with Glenn Ford. It was later translated into several languages. During that time, she lived in Munich-Schwabing.

In 1995, Schmidtmer permanently moved back to Germany. She led a quiet life, but her health started to fail. Schmidtmer died in her sleep on 13 March 2003 at her home in Heidelberg, Germany, from natural causes following an accident. Schmidtmer is interred at the family grave in Heidelberg-Handschuhsheim.

Filmography Geld sofort (1961, TV Short) as die Sekretärin Ein Todesfall wird vorbereitet (1963, TV movie) as Sandra Williams Stop Train 349 (1963) as Karin Hafenpolizei (1963, TV Series) as Hannelore Fanny Hill (1964) as Fiona (1964, TV movie) as Carla de la Osta DM-Killer (1965) as Miranda (uncredited) Ship of Fools (1965) as Lizzi Boeing Boeing (1965) as Lise Bruner / Lufthansa Blue Light (1966, TV series) as Erika von Lindendorf The Wild Wild West (1966, TV Series) as Lucretia Ivronin 12 O'Clock High (1966, TV series) as Frieda von Heurtzel I Deal in Danger (1966) as Erika von Lindendorf Hogan's Heroes (1968, TV series) as Heidi Baum Our Doctor is the Best (1969) as Frau Janssen The Most Deadly Game (1970, TV Series) as Bettina The Big Doll House (1971) as Miss Dietrich Scream, Pretty Peggy (1973, TV movie) as Jennifer Elliot Police Story (1974-1976, TV series) as Lynn / Hilda Airport 1975 (1974) as Angie Bell - Passenger (uncredited) The Specialist (1975) as Nude Model Half a House (1975) as Gina The Giant Spider Invasion (1975) as Helga (wrongly credited as Christiana Schmidtmer) Wonder Woman (1977, TV Series) as Lisa Engel Star Struck (1978, short) as Kimberly Shaw Half a House (1979) as Gina Hot Bubblegum (1981) as Fritzi (final film role)