Martha Eggerth

Marta Eggerth
Marta Eggerth in Presenting Lily Mars, 1943
Born	(1912-04-17)17 April 1912 Budapest, Austria-Hungary (now Hungary)
Died	26 December 2013(2013-12-26) (aged 101) Rye, New York
Occupation	Actress, singer
Years active	1930–1957
Spouse(s)	Jan Kiepura (1936–1966; his death; 2 children)

Marta Eggerth (17 April 1912 – 26 December 2013) was a Hungarian-born American actress and singer from "The Silver Age of Operetta". Many of the 20th century's most famous operetta composers, including Franz Lehár, Fritz Kreisler, Robert Stolz, Oscar Straus and Paul Abraham, composed works especially for her.

Eggerth was born in Budapest, the daughter of Tilly (née Herzog, or Herzegh), a dramatic coloratura soprano, and Paul Eggerth, a bank director. Her mother was Jewish. Eggerth began singing during her early childhood. Her mother dedicated herself to her daughter, who was called a "Wunderkind" at the age of 11 making her theatrical debut in the operetta Mannequins. It was during this time and the years that followed that Eggerth began singing the most demanding coloratura repertoire by composers including Rossini, Meyerbeer, Offenbach and Johann Strauss II. While still a teenager, Eggerth embarked on a tour of Denmark, Holland and Sweden before arriving in Vienna at the invitation of Emmerich Kálmán. Kálmán invited her to Vienna to understudy Adele Kern, the famous coloratura of the Vienna State Opera, in his operetta Das Veilchen vom Montmartre (The Violet of Montmartre). Eggerth eventually took over the title role to great critical acclaim after Kern suddenly became indisposed. Subsequently, Eggerth performed the role of Adele in Max Reinhardt's famous 1929 Hamburg production of Die Fledermaus at the age of 17.

During the early 1930s, Eggerth was discovered by the film industry, and her career took off resulting in international fame. She made more than 40 films in five languages: Hungarian, English, German, French and Italian. Among the highlights were, Where is this Lady (1932); Ein Lied, ein Kuss, ein Mädel (Berlin 1932, music Robert Stolz); Die Czardasfürstin (1934); Die blonde Carmen (Berlin 1935); Casta Diva, the story of Bellini (Rome 1935); Das Hofkonzert (1936); Zauber der Bohème, with Jan Kiepura (Vienna 1936, music Robert Stolz); as well as two films written especially for her by Franz Lehár, Es war einmal ein Walzer (1932) and Die ganze Welt dreht sich um Liebe (Vienna 1935). It was on the set of the 1934 film Mein Herz ruft immer nach dir (My Heart is Calling You, music [Robert Stolz) that she met and fell in love with the young Polish tenor, Jan Kiepura. They were married in 1936 and together became known as Europe's Liebespaar (Love Pair) causing a sensation wherever they appeared.