Leopoldine Konstantin

Leopoldine Konstantin (born Leopoldine Eugenie Amelie Konstanti; 12 March 1886 – 14 December 1965) was an Austrian actress. She played in Frank Wedekind's Spring Awakening, Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (1907), A Winter's Tale (1908), and A Midsummer Night's Dream (1910). She also had a notable supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious (1946).

Early life Leopoldine Konstantin was born as Leopoldine Eugenie Amelie Konstanti on 12 March 1886 in Moravia, Austria-Hungary. She made her debut in the Deutsches Theater in Berlin in 1907. From 1911 she was to be found at the Kammerspiele in Berlin and became known in the Berlin salons. She moved to Vienna in 1916 and by 1924 she was playing the title role in Friedrich Schiller's Mary Stuart.

Career

Starting in 1912 she also played in silent films, initially in title roles. She turned away from this medium when, after the First World War, she was offered increasingly minor parts. In 1923 she had a house built in Westerland for herself and her son, Alexander.

From 1933 she returned to film work, and in 1935 she returned to Austria. In that same year she moved to the United States via Britain. As she spoke no English at that time, she had to take a job as a factory worker until, after intensive language study, she landed a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's 1946 film Notorious, in which she played Claude Rains' mother, although she was only three years older than Rains.

Personal life Konstantin took acting lessons with Alexander Strakosch, whom she married shortly afterwards in 1906. They divorced in 1924. In the same year, she married Hungarian counsellor and author Géza Herczeg, and had a son, Alexander. They divorced in 1938.

Later years and death She performed in two television series in 1948 and returned to Vienna. Her last acting work involved sporadic theatre roles and poetry readings on the radio. She died on 14 December 1965 in Hietzing, Vienna, Austria at the age of 79.

Filmography

1910: Sumurûn - Tänzerin 1912: Gebannt und erlöst (Banned and redeemed) (Short) 1912: Die Heldin der schwarzen Berge (The Heroine of the Black Mountains) 1913: Schuldig - Tochter Julia Lehr 1913: Die Insel der Seligen (The Isle of the Blessed) - Circe 1913: Ultimo - Gouvernante 1913: Die Hand des Schicksals (The Hand of Fate) 1913: Vater und Sohn (Father and Son) (Short) 1914: Maria Magdalena - Klara, Anton's Tochter 1914: Verhängnisvolles Glück 1914: Kleine weiße Sklaven (Little White Slaves) - Schwester Luise Sanden 1915: Der Dolch im Strumpfband 1915: Die zerbrochene Puppe (The Smashed Doll) (Short) 1915: The Dancer 1916: Das Wiegenlied (The Lullaby) 1916: Der Radiumraub - Räuberin 1917: Aus vergessenen Akten (From Forgotten Files) - Täterin 1917: The Onyx Head - Geliebte von Deebs 1917: Eine Nacht in der Stahlkammer - Kunstschützin Celestine 1918: Der Volontär 1918: Lola Montez - Lola Montez 1919: Der Volontär (The Volunteer) - A táncosnõ 1919: Lilli's Marriage - Suse 1919: Der Verrat der Gräfin Leonie (The Betrayal of Countess Leonie) 1920: Können Gedanken töten? (Can Thoughts Kill?) - Frau Luda 1920: Christian Wahnschaffe 1920: Der Shawl der Kaiserin Katharina II (The Shawl of Empress Catherine II) 1920: President Barrada 1921: Der Silberkönig (The Silver King) 1932: Ein toller Einfall 1933: Season in Cairo - Ellinor Blackwell 1934: A Precocious Girl - Maria, her mother 1934: Es tut sich was um Mitternacht (It's happening at midnight) - Frau Dr. Wegener 1934: Liebe dumme Mama - Helene Burkardt 1934: Princess Turandot - Kaiserin 1935: The Old and the Young King - Königin Sophie Dorothee 1935: Fresh Wind from Canada - Frau Olden 1936: Girls' Dormitory - Fräulein Leers 1937: Und du, mein Schatz, fährst mit (And you, my darling, go with them) - Donna Juana de Villafranca 1937: Another World - Lady Brandmore 1946: Notorious - Madame Anna Sebastian

Gallery