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Sonja Ziemann(1926-2020)

  • Actress
  • Soundtrack
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Sonja Ziemann in The Secret Ways (1961)
New trends in post-war German cinema saw a shift away from the glamorous divas or idealised motherhood figures of the 1930s and 40s towards uncomplicated, wholesome, vivacious, perhaps tomboyish girl-next-door types. Germanic features were no longer strictly required. Dimple-cheeked, dark-haired Sonja Ziemann with her grey/green eyes and Bardot mouth became the paragon of the new fun-loving heroine for undemanding romantic fare or the ever popular 'Heimatfilm'.

Sonja Alice Selma Toni Ziemann was born in Eichenwalde, near Berlin, the daughter of a tax advisor. She learned ballet under Hilde Altmann-Vogt and Tatjana Gsovsky and began her career as a showgirl in revues and operettas, singing and dancing at the Metropol Theater. There, the director Peter Paul Brauer 'discovered' her for the screen. Sonia made her movie debut in a 1942 musical comedy and was thereafter groomed by Germany's pre-eminent film company Ufa (headquartered in Babelsberg) as an up-and-coming starlet. She appeared in a few undemanding supporting roles and made a brief return to the stage in the immediate aftermath of World War II. After toiling for several more years in assorted musicals and comedies without making too much of a ripple, she hit the big time with The Black Forest Girl (1950). The first motion picture to be shot in colour after the war, it ended up topping the popular charts and became the highest grossing picture of the year. Sonja garnered the first of two Bambi Awards but found herself effectively typecast. Further Heimatfilms and operettas followed which built on her pairing with Austrian matinee idol Rudolf Prack , lauded as Germany's most popular screen couple. Grün ist die Heide (1951) was the biggest of the Ziemann-Prack blockbusters, scoring an audience of 16 million viewers nationwide.

"All my roles were kitsch" she declared in a 1961 American interview. Indeed, many of those roles had relied on her camera-proof looks and patented profile. Eventually, Sonja took steps to shed her "snow white and marzipan" image and moved on to dramatic character roles. Her first was a Polish-West German co-production, The Eighth Day of the Week (1958), based on a story and screenplay by Polish author Marek Hlasko (who became her second husband in 1962). The rest of the decade completed her breakout from typecasting through a variety of roles and genres, some filmed at home, others in England or the U.S.. She now had leading roles in realistic wartime dramas based on factual events (Stalingrad: Dogs, Do You Want to Live Forever? (1959), Strafbataillon 999 (1960), The Bridge at Remagen (1969)), thrillers (Rebel Flight to Cuba (1959), Journey Into Nowhere (1962), Frühstück mit dem Tod (1964)) and crime dramas (Das Messer (1971)). There was even a comedy (of sorts) with Sonja billed second in the cast behind Terry-Thomas (as a 'germ detective') in A Matter of WHO (1961), shot by MGM at Elstree.

Sonja's screen acting took a backseat during the 70s with a return to the stage at theatres in Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich. Having moved to Switzerland, she became an honorary member of the Zurich Schauspielhaus in 1981. Three years after the death of Hlasko in 1969 she married the actor Charles Regnier. Sonja Ziemann died on February 17 2020 in Munich at the age of 94.
BornFebruary 8, 1926
DiedFebruary 17, 2020(94)
BornFebruary 8, 1926
DiedFebruary 17, 2020(94)
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  • Awards

Photos18

Sonja Ziemann in Um eine Nasenlänge (1949)
Erik Ode, Fritz Wepper, and Sonja Ziemann in Der Kommissar (1969)
Sonja Ziemann in Grand Hotel (1959)
Sonja Ziemann in The Thief of Bagdad (1952)
Richard Widmark and Sonja Ziemann in The Secret Ways (1961)
Richard Widmark, Ady Berber, Walter Rilla, and Sonja Ziemann in The Secret Ways (1961)
Sonja Ziemann in Made in Heaven (1952)
Sonja Ziemann in A Matter of WHO (1961)
Cyril Wheeler and Sonja Ziemann in A Matter of WHO (1961)
Sonja Ziemann in The Secret Ways (1961)
O.W. Fischer, Peter van Eyck, and Sonja Ziemann in Rebel Flight to Cuba (1959)
Sonja Ziemann

Known for

The Merry Wives of Windsor (1950)
The Merry Wives of Windsor
6.4
  • Frau Fluth (Mistress Ford)
  • 1950
The Black Forest Girl (1950)
The Black Forest Girl
4.9
  • Bärbele Riederle
  • 1950
Dorit Kreysler and Johannes Riemann in Geliebter Schatz (1943)
Geliebter Schatz
8.5
  • Lette Eilers
  • 1943
Johannes und die 13 Schönheitsköniginnen (1951)
Johannes und die 13 Schönheitsköniginnen
4.6
  • Wally, Zigarettenverkäuferin
  • 1951

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actress

  • Park Hotel Stern
  • Guten Morgen Mallorca
  • Ein Abend mit Georg Thomalla (1982)
    Ein Abend mit Georg Thomalla
  • Intimitäten
  • Das Biest
  • Unter einem Dach (1974)
    Unter einem Dach
  • Der Kommissar (1969)
    Der Kommissar
  • Wie ein Blitz (1970)
    Das Messer
  • Fröhliche Weihnachten (1970)
    Fröhliche Weihnachten
  • Alle hatten sich abgewandt
  • De Sade (1969)
    De Sade
  • The Bridge at Remagen (1969)
    The Bridge at Remagen
  • Kolportage
  • Auf der Lesebühne der Literarischen Illustrierten
  • Liebesgeschichten (1967)
    Liebesgeschichten

Soundtrack

  • Die große Starparade (1954)
    Die große Starparade
  • Heinz Drache, Willi Forst, Kirsten Heiberg, Margot Hielscher, Robert Kersten, Zarah Leander, Albrecht Schoenhals, Ingrid Stenn, Georg Thomalla, Grethe Weiser, and Hans Wolff in Bei Dir war es immer so schön (1954)
    Bei Dir war es immer so schön
  • Adrian Hoven, Hardy Krüger, and Sonja Ziemann in Alle kann ich nicht heiraten (1952)
    Alle kann ich nicht heiraten
  • The Thief of Bagdad (1952)
    The Thief of Bagdad

Personal details

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    • February 8, 1926
    • Eichwalde bei Berlin, Germany
    • February 17, 2020
    • Munich, Bavaria, Germany(undisclosed)
    • Charles Regnier1972 - September 13, 2001 (his death)
  • Publicity listings
    • 2 Print Biographies
    • 1 Article
    • 2 Pictorials
    • 12 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

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  • Trivia
    Her roles in simple, sentimental movies such as The Black Forest Girl (1950) and Grün ist die Heide (1951) made her one of the first stars of Germany's post war cinema.

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