Mathilde Danegger

Mathilde Danegger ( Mathilde Deutsch; 2 August 1903 – 27 July 1988) was an Austrian stage and movie actress. Sources may also identify her by the pseudonym, Mathilde Leusch; Leusch is apparently a variant of her second husband's surname (Lesch).

Life Mathilde Danegger was born and attended school in Vienna. Her father was an Austrian character actor and stage producer (real name, Joseph Deutsch: 1865–1933) who later took over as director of the City Theatre in Zürich.

Her third husband, the university lecturer and author Herbert Crüger, became caught up in the political persecution that was a feature of East Germany in the 1950s. In 1956, he was overheard criticising the arrest of Bernhard Steinberger in the aftermath of the remarkable party conference of the Soviet Communist Party.

In March 1958 Crüger was himself arrested by the Ministry for State Security (Stasi). At a secret trial in December 1958 he was found guilty of "high treason" ("schweren Staatsverrats") and sentenced to an eight-year jail term. In the end he was released in 1961 and rehabilitated by the High Court in May 1990.

Filmography (selection)

Cinema films 1921: Wege des Schreckens – producer: Mihály Kertész 1933: – producer: Walter Lesch und Richard Schweizer 1935: – producer: Walter Lesch und Leopold Lindtberg 1940: – producer: Leopold Lindtberg 1942: Der Schuss von der Kanzel 1944: Marie-Louise – producer: Leopold Lindtberg 1947: Madness Rules – producer: Leopold Lindtberg 1956: Lissy – producer: Konrad Wolf 1959: Ehesache Lorenz – producer: Joachim Kunert 1960: – producer: Konrad Wolf 1962: Das verhexte Fischerdorf 1962: A Lively Christmas Eve – producer: Günter Reisch 1963: Die Glatzkopfbande – producer: Richard Groschopp 1963: Frau Holle – producer: Gottfried Kolditz 1964: Geliebte weiße Maus – producer: Gottfried Kolditz 1964: Der fliegende Holländer – producer: Joachim Herz 1965: Solange Leben in mir ist 1965: 1968: Abschied 1969: Zeit zu leben – producer: Horst Seemann 1969: Seine Hoheit – Genosse Prinz – producer: Werner W. Wallroth 1987: – producer: Günter Reisch

Television films 1960: Steine im Weg – producer: Wilhelm Gröhl 1967: Kleiner Mann – was nun? – producer: Hans-Joachim Kasprzik 1970: Anlauf – producer: Egon Günther 1977: (TV series) 1978: (TV series) 1979: (TV series) – producer: Hans Werner 1980: Archiv des Todes – producer: Rudi Kurz

Documentary films (Narrator) 1954–1956: Du und mancher Kamerad – producer: Annelie and Andrew Thorndike 1962: Unbändiges Spanien – producer: Kurt and Jeanne Stern

Theatre (selection)

1952: Nikolai Pogodin: Das Glockenspiel des Kreml (Sabelins Frau) – producer: Ernst Busch (Berliner Ensemble) 1953: Heinar Kipphardt: Shakespeare dringend gesucht (Frau Mellin) – producer: Herwart Grosse (Deutsches Theater Berlin – Kammerspiele) 1953: Julius Hays: Der Putenhirt – producer: Fritz Wendel (Deutsches Theater Berlin – Kammerspiele) 1953: Friedrich Wolf: Thomas Müntzer, der Mann mit der Regenbogenfahne (Mutter) – producer: Wolfgang Langhoff (Deutsches Theater Berlin) 1955: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Faust. The Tragedy, Part I – producer: Wolfgang Langhoff (Deutsches Theater Berlin) 1955: Johann Nestroy: Theaterg’schichten (Katharina) – producer: Emil Stöhr (Deutsches Theater Berlin) 1955: Gerhart Hauptmann: Vor Sonnenuntergang (Mutter Peters) – producer: Wolfgang Heinz (Deutsches Theater Berlin) 1956: Hermann Bahr: Das Konzert (Almhütten-Verwalterin) – producer: Robert Meyn (Deutsches Theater Berlin – Kammerspiele) 1957: Mary Chase: Mein Freund Harvey (Veta) – producer: Wolfgang Thal (Deutsches Theater Berlin – Kammerspiele) 1958: Anton Tschechow: Three sisters – producer: Heinz Hilpert (Deutsches Theater Berlin) 1960: Erwin Strittmatter: Die Holländerbraut – producer: Benno Besson (Deutsches Theater Berlin) 1961: Pavel Kohout: Die dritte Schwester – producer: Karl Paryla (Deutsches Theater Berlin – Kammerspiele) 1962: Nikolai Pogodin: Der Mann mit dem Gewehr (Jelisaweta Nikitischna) – producer: Horst Schönemann (Deutsches Theater Berlin) 1962: Peter Hacks (after Aristophanes): Der Frieden (Trygaios Tochter) – producer: Benno Besson (Deutsches Theater Berlin) 1963: Sean O'Casey: Rote Rosen für mich (Frau Breydon) – producer: Ernst Kahler (Deutsches Theater Berlin) 1964: Molière: Tartuffe (Madame Pernelle) – producer: Benno Besson (Deutsches Theater Berlin – Kammerspiele) 1967: Horst Salomon: Ein Lorbaß – producer: Benno Besson (Deutsches Theater Berlin) 1968: Hermann Kant: Die Aula – producer: Uta Birnbaum (Deutsches Theater Berlin) 1975: Heinrich von Kleist: Der zerbrochne Krug (Brigitte) – producer: Adolf Dresen (Deutsches Theater Berlin)

Awards and honours

1955: Clara Zetkin Medal 1960: Art Prize of the German Democratic Republic 1963: Patriotic Order of Merit in Bronze 1969: National Prize of the German Democratic Republic 2nd Class, for arts and literature 1978: Patriotic Order of Merit in Gold 1983: Patriotic Order of Merit Gold clasp 1985: Wolfgang Heinz Ring 1988: Star of People's Friendship in Gold