Lilli Palmer (; born Lilli Marie Peiser; 24 May 1914 – 27 January 1986) was a German actress and writer. After beginning her career in British films in the 1930s, she later transitioned to major Hollywood productions, earning a Golden Globe Award nomination for her performance in But Not for Me (1959).
Other roles include in the comedy The Pleasure of His Company (1961), the Spanish horror film The House That Screamed (1969), and in the miniseries Peter the Great (1986), which earned her another Golden Globe Award nomination. For her career in European films, Palmer won the Volpi Cup, and the Deutscher Filmpreis three times.
Early life Palmer, who took her surname from an English actress she admired, was one of three daughters born to , a German Jewish surgeon, and Rose Lißmann (or Lissmann), a German Jewish stage actress, in Posen, Germany (today Poznań, Poland).
When Lilli was four years old, her family moved to Berlin-Charlottenburg. She was a junior table tennis champion as a young girl.
Career In France, she appeared in an operetta at the Moulin Rouge, and then went to London, where she began her film career. While performing in cabarets, she attracted the attention of British talent scouts and was offered a contract by Gaumont. She made her screen debut in Crime Unlimited (1935) and appeared in numerous British films for the next decade.
She married British actor Rex Harrison on 25 January 1943, and travelled with him to Hollywood in 1945. She signed with Warner Brothers and appeared in several films, notably Cloak and Dagger (1946) and Body and Soul (1947).
She periodically appeared in stage plays as well as hosting her own television series in 1951. Harrison and Palmer appeared together in the hit Broadway play Bell, Book and Candle in the early 1950s. They also appeared in the 1951 British melodrama The Long Dark Hall, and later starred in the film version of The Four Poster (1952), which was based on the award-winning Broadway play of the same name, written by Jan de Hartog. She won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress in 1953 for The Four Poster."Venice Film Festival: History 1932–2018 – Coppa Volpi for best actors since 1935", labiennale.org. Accessed 31 July 2023.
Harrison and Palmer divorced in 1957; they had one son, Carey, born in 1944.
Palmer returned to Germany in 1954, where she played roles in many films and television productions. She also continued to play both leading and supporting parts in the U.S. and abroad. In 1957, she won the Deutscher Filmpreis for Best Actress for her portrayal of Anna Anderson in The Story of Anastasia, called Is Anna Anderson Anastasia? in the UK. In 1958, she played the role of a teacher opposite Romy Schneider in Mädchen in Uniform (Girls in Uniform), the remake of the 1931 film of the same title.
Palmer starred with Fred Astaire and Debbie Reynolds in The Pleasure of His Company in 1961.
She starred opposite William Holden in The Counterfeit Traitor (1962), an espionage thriller based on fact, and opposite Robert Taylor in another true Second World War story, Disney's Miracle of the White Stallions (1963). On the small screen, in 1974 she starred as Manouche Roget in the six-part television drama series The Zoo Gang, about a group of former underground freedom fighters from the Second World War, with Brian Keith, Sir John Mills and Barry Morse."TV: Zoo Gang on NBC" by John J. O'Connor, The New York Times, July 16, 1975. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
Palmer published a memoir, Change Lobsters and Dance, in 1975. She wrote a full-length work of fiction presented as a novel rather than a memoir, The Red Raven, in 1978.
Personal life Palmer's first marriage was to Rex Harrison in 1943. They divorced amicably in 1957, so that he could marry ailing actress Kay Kendall before her untimely death. Palmer agreed since she was already involved with her future husband, Carlos Thompson.
Palmer was married to Argentine actor Carlos Thompson from 1957 until her death in Los Angeles from abdominal cancer in 1986 at the age of 71. She was survived by her husband, son, sisters, and her ex-husband.
Palmer is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California. A portion of the ashes of her first husband, Rex Harrison, were scattered on her grave.
Accolades 1953: Volpi Cup for Best Actress for The Four Poster 1956: Deutscher Filmpreis (Silver) for Best Actress in Teufel in Seide 1957: Deutscher Filmpreis (Silver) for Best Actress in Anastasia, die letzte Zarentochter 1959: Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy nomination for But Not for Me 1972: Goldene Kamera for Eine Frau bleibt eine Frau (ZDF TV) Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7013 Hollywood Blvd. 1974: Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Großes Verdienstkreuz der Bundesrepublik Deutschland) 1978: Deutscher Filmpreis (Gold) for Lifetime Achievement 1986: Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film nomination for Peter the Great
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes1935 Crime Unlimited Natacha 1936 Wolf's Clothing Lydia The First Offence Jeannette Secret Agent Lilli 1937 Good Morning, Boys Yvette The Great Barrier Lou Command Performance Susan 1938 Crackerjack Baroness Von Haltz 1939 A Girl Must Live Clytie Devine Blind Folly Valerie 1940 Sunset in Vienna Gelda Sponek The Door with Seven Locks June Lansdowne Also known as: Chamber of Horrors1942 Thunder Rock Melanie Kurtz 1943 The Gentle Sex Erna Debruski 1944 English Without Tears Brigid Knudsen Also known as: Her Man Gilbey1945 The Rake's Progress Rikki Krausner Also known as: Notorious Gentleman 1946 Beware of Pity Baroness Edith de Kekesfalva Cloak and Dagger Gina 1947 Body and Soul Peg Born 1948 My Girl Tisa Tisa Kepes No Minor Vices April Ashwell 1949 Wicked City Tania 1951 The Long Dark Hall Mary Groome 1952 The Four Poster Abby Edwards 1953 Main Street to Broadway Lilli Palmer 1954 Fireworks Iduna 1956 Devil in Silk Melanie The Taming of the Shrew Katherina TV movie The Story of Anastasia Anna Anderson Between Time and Eternity Nina Bohlen 1957 The Night of the Storm Marianne Eichler The Glass Tower Katja Fleming 1958 A Woman Who Knows What She Wants Julia Klöhn, Lehrerin & Angela Cavallini The Lovers of Montparnasse Beatrice Hastings Also known as: Modigliani of Montparnasse Girls in Uniform Elisabeth von Bernburg Also known as: Mädchen in Uniform Life Together Odette de Starenberg Also known as: La Vie à deux1959 But Not for Me Kathryn Ward 1960 Mrs. Warren's Profession Mrs. Kitty Warren Conspiracy of Hearts Mother Katharine 1961 The Pleasure of His Company Katharine Dougherty The Last of Mrs. Cheyney Mrs. Cheney Dark Journey Mother Also known as: Leviathan 1962 The Constant Wife Constanze Calonder The Counterfeit Traitor Mrs. Marianne Möllendorf Le rendez-vous de minuit Eva / Anne Leuven Adorable Julia Julia Lambert Of Wayward Love Hilde Also known as: Sex Can Be Difficult, (segment "Il serpente") 1963 Miracle of the White Stallions Vedena Podhajsky Torpedo Bay Lygia da Silva And So to Bed Actress 1964 Le Grain de sable Anna-Maria di Scorza 1965 Operation Crossbow Frieda Silver Shell for Best Actress The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders Dutchy God's Thunder Marie Brassac Also known as: Le Tonnerre de Dieu 1966 Two Girls from the Red Star Olga Nikolaijewna Also known as: An Affair of States Congress of Love Princess Metternich Also known as: Der Kongreß amüsiert sich Le Voyage du père Isabelle Quantin Also known as: Father's Trip 1967 The Dance of Death Alice Jack of Diamonds Herself The Diary of Anne Frank Edith Frank TV movie 1968 Sebastian Elsa Shahn Oedipus the King Jocasta Nobody Runs Forever Sheila Quentin 1969 Hard Contract Adrianne De Sade Mademoiselle de Montreuil The House That Screamed Señora Fourneau Also known as: La residencia 1970 Only the Cool Helen Hauser's Memory Anna Hauser TV movie1971 Murders in the Rue Morgue Mrs. Charron 1972 What the Peeper Saw Dr. Viorne 1975 Lotte in Weimar Lotte 1978 The Boys from Brazil Esther Lieberman 1980 Weekend Judith Bliss TV movie1981 Kinder Mother TV movie, Also known as: Children 1982 High Society Limited Hilde Imaginary Friends Ellen Pitblado TV movie1985 The Holcroft Covenant Althene Holcroft 2018 The Other Side of the Wind Zarah Valeska (final film role, released posthumously)
Television Year Title Role Notes1938 Starlight Episode: "Richard Hearne" 1938 S-s-s-h! The Wife! The Wife Short1949 Suspense Julia Episode: "The Comic Strip Murder"1950 The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse Molly Collicutt Episode: "The Uncertain Molly Collicutt"1952 Lux Video Theatre Nancy Episode: "Three Hours Between Planes"1952 Omnibus Anne Boleyn Episode: "The Trial of Anne Boleyn"1953 The United States Steel Hour Mrs. Chrystal Weatherby Episode: "The Man in Possession"1954 Four Star Playhouse Stacy Lawrence Episode: "Lady of the Orchids"1971 Der Kommissar Hilde Larasser Episode: 1972–1979 Eine Frau bleibt eine Frau Various 5 episodes1974 The Zoo Gang Manouche 'The Leopard' Roget 6 episodes1974 Derrick Martha Balke / Johanna Jensen Episode: 1984 The Love Boat Lilly Marlowe 2 episodes1986 Peter the Great Natalya Miniseries
Radio appearances Year Program Episode/source 1946 Suspense "Philomel Cottage" 1952 Theatre Guild on the Air An Ideal Husband 1953 Star Playhouse No Time for Comedy 1953 Star Playhouse Twentieth Century
References
Bibliography
Further reading
Palmer, Lilli. Change Lobsters and Dance: An Autobiography. New York: Macmillan, 1975.
External links
Photographs and literature