Henny Porten Movies and Career Information

Frieda Ulricke "Henny" Porten (7 January 1890 – 15 October 1960) was a German film actress and producer of the silent era. She appeared in over 170 films between 1906 and 1955. She was one of the few German actress of the era to enter film without having stage experiences. Many of her earlier films were directed by her husband Kurt Stark, who died on the Western Front in 1916. In 1921, she remarried, to Wilheim von Kauffman. When the Nazis took power, and she refused to divorce him, a complete Jew, she found that her career, where she had done twelve films a year, dissolved immediately. When she resolved on emigration, she was denied an exit visa to prevent a negative impression. She made a few films during the Nazi era, particularly after Allied bombardment started, and her placid and reassuring persona helped calm audiences. In 1944, after an aerial mine destroyed her home, she and her husband were out on the streets, as it was forbidden to shelter a full Jew. She starred in the 1924 film Gräfin Donelli, which was directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst.