Ekaterina Nagy von Cziser, stage name Käthe von Nagy (4 April 1904 – 20 December 1973), was a Hungarian actress, model, dancer, and singer who worked in German and French cinema.
Early life and education Käthe von Nagy, the daughter of a wealthy bank manager and part of an aristocratic Serbian family, spent very little time at monastery school."Portrait of the Actress Käthe von Nagy", cyranos.ch; retrieved 30 May 2014.
When she wanted to get married at age 16, her parents did not approve and placed her in the Sancta Christiana Convent in Frohsdorf near Vienna to prevent the early marriage. After 18 months in the convent, she went to high school in Vienna, and then finally to boarding school. During this period, she took riding and fencing lessons.
Career As a young adult, Nagy's dream was to become an author, also unusual for a woman of her time. She went to Budapest, where she wrote a few short articles that were eventually published in a magazine. Shortly after this, she decided to pursue her interest in acting and enrolled in the acting school of Béla Gáal, near Budapest. There she learned acting, dancing, and singing. Her parents were unhappy about her change of career and frequent moves. To satisfy her parents (especially her father), she returned and worked with him in his bank for a period of time, while secretly writing novels.
In 1926, Nagy moved to Berlin to pursue a career in the film industry, but, as an unknown, she took a position as correspondent for the Hungarian newspaper Pesti Hírlap to earn a living."Postcard Friendship Friday – Käthe von Nagy". Film Star Postcards. Retrieved 2014-30-05. After numerous futile applications in the city, Hungarian film director Alexander Korda got her a role as an actress in the 1927 comedy film Männer vor der Ehe, opposite her future husband, Constantin J. David. Soon after, in 1928, she starred in the successful Wien, die Stadt meiner Träume ("Vienna, City of My Dreams"), which made her known as the "up-and-coming young actress of the European cinema". She later appeared in many leading roles and became famous for her countless postcards which also benefitted her modeling career. In 1931, she starred in Le Capitaine Craddock, which made her popular in France where she would later make half her movies. After 1937, she appeared mainly in French-speaking roles, but also appeared in Italian and Austrian film productions. Her last film was the German film The Forester's Daughter, in 1952, alongside Johanna Matz.
During the Second World War, Nagy virtually retired from the acting industry, appearing in only one movie, Mahlia la métisse. Because of her famous and hugely popular postcards, she was, in 1940, reportedly approached by Reichsführer-SS, Heinrich Himmler, who asked her to be the face and body for sex dolls provided to German soldiers as a way to combat syphilis at the front, but she refused. This story has come to be considered a hoax, due to the lack of reliable sources.
Personal life Nagy's first marriage was to film director Constantin J. David, in 1927, the year they met. Her second marriage was to Jacques Fattini; little is known about their relationship and marriage. She died of cancer in 1973, in Ojai, California, aged 69.
Filmography Year TitleRole Notes1927 Männer vor der Ehe The young girl Silent film Der Anwalt des Herzens (Attorney for the Heart) Silent film Le bateau de verre (The Glass Boat) Anni Silent film Gustav Mond ... Du gehst so stille (You Walk So Softly) Frieda Krause Silent film1928 Die Sandgräfin Silent film Die Durchgängerin (The Runaway Girl) Ilsebill Thoms Silent film Wien, du Stadt meiner Träume (Vienna, City of My Dreams) Countess Mizzi Lichtenau Silent film Die Republik der Backfische (The Republic of Flappers) Billie van Santen Silent film1929 Der Weg durch die Nacht Silent film Rotaie (Rails) The young girl Silent film / Italian-language film Mascottchen (Mascots) Margot Silent film Aufruhr im Junggesellenheim (Revolt in the Batchelor's House) Käthe Silent film Die kleine Veronika Veronika Weber Silent film1930 Les Saltimbanques / Gaukler Suzanne Daniela German- and French-language film Der Andere (The Other) Amalie Frieben German-language film1931 Ihre Majestät die Liebe (Her Majesty the Barmaid) Lia Török German-language film Ihre Hoheit befiehlt (Her Grace Commands) Princess Marie-Christine German-language film Meine Frau, die Hochstaplerin (My Wife, the Impostor) Jutta Bergmann German-language film Le Capitaine Craddock (Captain Craddock) Queen Yola French-language film Ronny Ronny German-language film Ronny Ronny French-language film1932 Der Sieger (The Victor) Helene German-language film Le Vainqueur Helene French-language film Das schöne Abenteuer (The Beautiful Adventure) Hélène de Trevillac German-language film La Belle Aventure (The Beautiful Adventure) Hélène de Trevillac French-language film Ich bei Tag und Du bei Nacht (I by Day, You by Night) Grete German-language film À moi le jour, à toi la nuit Juliette French-language film 1933 Refugees Kristja Laudy German-language film1934 Au bout du monde (At the End of the World) Christine Laudy French-language film Einmal eine große Dame sein (Just Once a Great Lady) Kitty Holm German-language film Un jour viendra (A Day Will Come) Kitty French-language film Die Freundin eines großen Mannes (The Girlfriend of a Big Man) Marga Köhler German-language film Die Töchter ihrer Exzellenz Gerti von Petrin German-language film La Jeune Fille d'une nuit Betty French-language film Der junge Baron Neuhaus (The Young Baron Neuhaus) Christl Palm German-language film Nuit de mai (Night in May) Christel Palm French-language film Liebe, Tod und Teufel (Love, Death and the Devil) Kokua German-language film Prinzessin Turandot (Princess Turandot) Turandot German-language film1935 Turandot, princesse de Chine (Turandot, Princess of China) Turandot French-language film La Route impériale Joyce Stark French-language film Le Diable en bouteille (The Devil in the Bottle) Kolua French-language film Die Pompadour Madame de Pompadour German-language film 1936 Ave Maria Claudette German-language film1937 Cargaison blanche (White Cargo) Marion Baker French-language film The Silent Battle Draguicha French-language film1938 Nights of Princes Hélène French-language film Trixi German-language film Am seidenen Faden (By a Silken Thread) Lissy Eickhoff German-language film Unsere kleine Frau Dodo German-language film Dodo Italian-language film Accord final (Final Accord) Hélène Vernier French-language film1939 Baroness Ursula von Angerfeld German-language film Renate im Quartett (Renate in the Quartet) Renate Schmidt German-language film 1943 Mahlia la métisse (Mahlia the Mestiza) Mahlia French-language film 1948 Cargaison clandestine (Secret Cargo) Luisa Helm French-language film 1952 Die Försterchristl (The Forester's Daughter) Countess Josefine German-language film
References
External links "Käthe von Nagy" at Internet Movie Database "Käthe von Nagy – 1935 Pictures" at Madamedepompadour "Käthe von Nagy Biography" at Virtual History