Biography.guide
Home › People › Model › Marlene Schmidt
Portrait of Marlene Schmidt

Marlene Schmidt

b. 1937

German beauty pageant winner and actress (born 1937)

Don't just read it — keep itBiographies to ownE-book · Audio · Video From $7 →

About Marlene Schmidt

Born 1937. Marlene Schmidt is a German model, beauty pageant contestant, film actor, screenwriter, film producer and actor.

Marlene Schmidt (born 11 November 1937) is a German control engineer, actress, television host, and beauty queen who won Miss Universe 1961.

Life Born in Breslau, Germany and raised in East Germany, where she earned a master's degree in engineering. In 1960, she and her family risked their lives fleeing to Stuttgart in West Germany, where she got a job as an electronics engineer. In 1961, she entered the state pageant of Baden-Württemberg in the hope of winning the car that was offered as a prize. From there, she went on to represent her state in the national pageant in Baden-Baden, where she was crowned Miss Germany in 1961. She then went on to win the Miss Universe pageant against 47 other participants. She was at that time the tenth consecutive German entrant to reach the semifinals of the event (then a record) and is the first (and to date only) German to be crowned Miss Universe.

In 1962, Schmidt became the third of eight wives of the American actor Ty Hardin. They settled in the United States. The marriage lasted until 1966. They had one daughter, Schmidt's only child.

She continued her engineering career for a while, and in 1967 was a technical consultant for Sier-Bath Gear Co, New Jersey.

Filmography Marlene Schmidt was involved in the following movies as actress and producer: 1968: Red Plain 1972: The Stepmother ¹ 1974: The Teacher ¹ 1975: The Specialist ² 1975: Dr. Minx ¹ 1976: Scorchy ¹ 1978: Texas Detour ¹ 1978: The Fifth Floor ² 1981: Separate Ways ² 1983: Mortuary ¹ 1984: They're Playing with Fire ² 1986: Kidnapped ¹

¹ actress and producer ² additional writing credit

Biography shop

Don’t just read it —
keep it.

Full-length biographies made to live with: read them, listen on the way to work, watch them tonight.

  • E-book
  • Audio
  • Video
Browse the shop — from $7

Instant download · yours to keep · every purchase keeps this site free

Important facts

People in Marlene Schmidt's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Marlene Schmidt's

Frequently asked questions

Who is Marlene Schmidt?

German beauty pageant winner and actress (born 1937)

When was Marlene Schmidt born?

Marlene Schmidt was born on 11 November 1937 in Wrocław.

What is Marlene Schmidt's occupation?

Marlene Schmidt is a model, beauty pageant contestant, film actor, screenwriter, film producer and actor.

What nationality is Marlene Schmidt?

Marlene Schmidt is German.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Marlene Schmidt

· Wikidata: Q72379

· DBpedia: Marlene Schmidt

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Marlene Schmidt. https://biography.guide/marlene-schmidt/

MLA: "Marlene Schmidt." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/marlene-schmidt/.

Chicago: "Marlene Schmidt." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/marlene-schmidt/.

Data last updated: 2026-09-20 · Spot an error? Report a correction.

Page generated 2026-09-27 05:27 UTC