Maria Schell
| Maria Schell | |
|---|---|
Maria Schell in Le notti bianche (1957)
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| Born |
Maria Margarethe Anna Schell 15 January 1926 Vienna, Austria |
| Died | 26 April 2005 (aged 79) Preitenegg, Carinthia, Austria |
| Cause of death | pneumonia |
| Occupation | Actress, producer |
| Years active | 1942–1996 |
| Spouse(s) | Horst Hächler (1957–1965; divorced; 1 child) Veit Relin (1966–1986; divorced; 1 child) |
Maria Margarethe Anna Schell (15 January 1926 – 26 April 2005) was an Austrian-Swiss actress. She ranged among the stars of German cinema in the 1950s and '60s. In 1954 she was awarded the Cannes Best Actress Award for her performance in Helmut Käutner's war drama The Last Bridge and in 1956 won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival for Gervaise.
Schell was born in the Austrian capital Vienna, the daughter of actress Margarethe (née Noé von Nordberg; 1905–1995), who ran an acting school, and Hermann Ferdinand Schell (1900–1972), a Swiss poet, novelist, playwright, and owner of a pharmacy. Her parents were Roman Catholics. She was the older sister of actor Maximilian Schell and lesser-known actors Carl Schell and Immy (Immaculata) Schell.
After the Anschluss in 1938, her family moved to Zürich in Switzerland. Maria Schell began commercial training, but soon entered the film business when she met the Swiss actor and director Sigfrit Steiner.
Schell premiered in Steiner's 1942 film Steibruch, side by side with the well-known Swiss actor Heinrich Gretler, and took acting lessons for several theatre engagements. After World War II, she was cast in her first leading role in the 1948 film The Angel with the Trumpet, directed by Karl Hartl. She starred in such films as Dr. Holl (1951), So Little Time (1952), The Heart of the Matter (1953). Her emotional acting earned her the nickname Seelchen ("little soul"), coined by her colleague Oskar Werner.
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