Lilian Harvey

Lilian Harvey (born Helene Lilian Muriel Pape; 19 January 1906 – 27 July 1968

In 1931, Harvey played the leading part in the film Der Kongreß tanzt (The Congress Dances); her song Das gibt's nur einmal written by Werner R. Heymann became a most popular melody. Her subsequent movies were filmed in English and French versions, so Harvey became known outside of Germany. She was invited to Hollywood and made four movies for the Fox Film Corporation, but these were not as successful as her German films. She eventually abandoned George White's Scandals, leading executives to cast Alice Faye in the part, and Faye became an overnight sensation. After leaving Hollywood she appeared in a British film Invitation to the Waltz. In 1935, Lilian Harvey returned to Germany.

Emigration from Germany

As she was still in touch with her Jewish colleagues, Harvey was placed under close observation by the Gestapo. Nevertheless she pushed the career of her protégé, director Paul Martin, performing in his screwball comedy Lucky Kids (1936) and further successful movies for UFA until 1939, such as Seven Slaps, the biographical film Fanny Elssler (1937) together with Willy Birgel and Capriccio; as well as Woman at the Wheel in 1939.

In June 1937 Harvey had helped the choreographer Jens Keith, prosecuted under the homosexual acts Paragraph 175, by posting a bail for him. Released from custody, Keith escaped to Paris; this led to a stern interrogation by the Nazi authorities. He subsequently returned to Berlin and UFA. In spring 1939, Harvey left Germany without her real-estate fortune, which was confiscated; she was to be deprived of her German citizenship in 1943 because she had performed for French troops.

Harvey went to live at her residence in Juan-les-Pins in France. In France she made two movies before the German invasion in 1940 – Serenade and Miquette (her last), both directed by Jean Boyer.

After the occupation of southern France by German forces in November 1942, Harvey emigrated to the United States. She spent most of the time in Los Angeles working as a volunteer nurse, but also went on tour performing in Noël Coward's Blithe Spirit.

After World War II

On May 19th 1947, Harvey flew to Paris to star in the hit revue Paris Qui S'Amuse by Jean Valmy and Jules Borkon; she also took the opportunity to recover her requisitioned French villa. In the following years, she travelled as a singer through Scandinavia and Egypt. In 1949, she returned to West Germany giving several concerts. Harvey retired to the resort town of Antibes on the French Riviera, where she operated a souvenir shop and raised edible snails. In 1955/1956 she met Else Wirth on a tour of the GDR, who from then on became her partner and colleague. Harvey received compensation in the form of a pension from the federal government for the assets confiscated during the Nazi era.

Private life On 7 February 1953 Harvey married the Danish concert manager Hartvig Valeur-Larsen in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Death Lilian Harvey died in her own hotel in Juan-les-Pins of liver failure on 27 July 1968, aged 62. She was buried at the Robiac Cemetery in Antibes.

Filmography Year Title Role LanguageNotes1925 The Motorist Bride (uncredited) Silent Stunt double for Lee Parry The Curse Ruth Silent Passion Hella von Gilsa Silent Love and Trumpets Komtesse Maria Charlotte Silent The Girl on the Road Die 'Kleine' Silent 1926 Princess Trulala Prinzessin Trulala Silent Chaste Susanne Jacqueline Silent It's Easy to Become a Father Harriet Silent 1927 Fabulous Lola Tänzerin Tilly Schneider aka Lola Cornero Silent Vacation from Marriage Hella Strakosch Silent 1928 The Love Commandment Lotte Silent A Knight in London Aline Morland Silent 1929 Her Dark Secret Lilian von Trucks / Yvette Silent Rund um die Liebe Silent Archive footage The Model from Montparnasse Mascotte Silent Once You Give Away Your Heart Dolly German 1930 Waltz of Love Princess Eva German MLV The Love Waltz Princess Eva English MLV Hocuspocus Kitty Kellermann German MLV The Three from the Filling Station Lilian Cossmann German MLV The Temporary Widow Kitty Kellermann English MLV Burglars Reneé German The Road to Paradise Liliane Bourcart French MLV 1931 The Girl and the Boy Jenny Berger / Ria bella French MLV Princess, At Your Orders! La princesse Marie-Christine French No More Love Gladys O'Halloran German MLV Calais-Dover Gladys O'Halloran French MLV Der Kongreß tanzt Christel Weinzinger, Gloves-seller German MLV Le congrès s'amuse Christine "Christel" Weizinger French MLV 1932 Two Hearts Beat as One Jenny Müller German MLV Congress Dances Christel English MLV Quick Eva German MLV Quick Christine Dawson French MLV A Blonde Dream Jou-Jou German MLV Un rêve blond Jou-Jou French MLV Happy Ever After Jou-Jou English MLV 1933 The Empress and I Juliette German MLV Moi et l'impératrice Juliette French MLV The Only Girl Juliette English MLV My Weakness Looloo Blake English My Lips Betray Lili Wieler English I Am Suzanne Suzanne English 1935 Let's Live Tonight Kay 'Carlotta' Routledge English Invitation to the Waltz Jenny Peachey English Schwarze Rosen Tania Fedorovna German MLV 1936 Roses noires Tatiana French MLV Black Roses Tania Fedorovna English MLV Lucky Kids Ann Garden German MLV Les gais lurons Ann Garden French MLV 1937 Seven Slaps Daisy Terbanks German Fanny Elssler Fanny Elssler German 1938 Capriccio Madelone d’Estroux German 1939 Castles in the Air Annie Wagner Italian MLV Ins blaue Leben Annie Wagner German MLV Woman at the Wheel Maria Kelemen German 1940 Serenade Margaret Brenton French Miquette Miquette Grandier French

In popular media In Quentin Tarantino's 2009 film Inglourious Basterds, Lillian Harvey's duet with Willy Fritsch from the 1936 film Lucky Kids, ("I wish I were a chicken") can be heard playing on a phonograph in the basement scene as well as in the extended scene "Lunch With Goebbels", as Joseph Goebbels (Sylvester Groth) happily sings a portion of the song after deciding to hold a private screening of the film. After the screening, cinema owner Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent), under the alias "Emmanuelle Mimieux", comments on liking Lilian Harvey in the film – to which an irritated Goebbels angrily insists her name never be mentioned again in his presence. The song as performed by the Comedian Harmonists remains popular in Germany to date.

The music from appears in Hayao Miyazaki’s 2013 animated movie The Wind Rises.

There is a Blue Plaque on the house where Lilian Harvey was born in Crouch End, North London.