HOME INDEX
SILENT MOVIE		 THE GERMAN
SILENT MOVIE		 MAIL English Version

 
Käthe von Nagy

Picture Käthe von Nagy
Foto: Alexander Binder (1888-1929)

1904 - 1973

 .
.
The actress Käthe von Nagy was born as Ekaterina Nagy von Cziser (Kato Nagy) in Szatmar, Hungary. 
She grew up in a protected family and her father, a bank director, supported all her interests. Therefore she also got riding and fencing lessons. Only her wish to become an actress did not really fit to their ideology.
After the school she could publish some novellas in a newspaper in Budapest, at the same time she attended an acting school of Béla Gáal.
After a vehement opposition on the part of her parents agains her wish to be an actress, Käthe von Nagy asserted and went to Berlin. There she looked for an acting job for several years in vain. During this time she earned her money as a correspondent for the Hungarian newspaper Pester Hirlop.

Her first engagement came in 1927 and she played a support role in the movie "Männer vor der Ehe", a part which gets her the reputation of a "Backfisch". She soon got married with the director of this movie - Constantin J. David.
It soon followed leading roles in "Gustav Mond... Du gehst so stille" (27), "Die Königin seines Herzens" (28) and "Mascottchen" (29) and she became to the up-and-coming young actress of the German movie of the 20's. She found international attention with her performance in "Die Durchgängerin" (28).

At the beginning of the 30's she said goodbye to her image of a "Backfisch" and impersonated frequently the fashionable type on the screen. Her normally movie operettas  and musical comiedies comprising works had great successes and confirmed the hopeful expectations of Käthe von Nagy at the end of the 20's. 
To the successes of the 30's belong "Der Andere" (30), "Ihre Majestät die Liebe" (30), "Meine Frau, die Hochstaplerin" (31), "Ronny" (31), "Ich bei Tag und Du bei Nacht" (32), "Flüchtlinge" (33), "Prinzessin Turandot" (34), "Liebe, Tod und Teufel" (34), "Ave Maria" (36) and "Salonwagen E 417" (39).

Because of her multilingual education she was able to establish in the French area too. As Kate de Nagy she also became a star in France. To her French productions belong "La Capitaine Craddock" (31), "La route impériale - Unter falschem Verdacht" (35), "Cargaison blanche - Weisse Fracht für Rio" (36) and "La bataille silencieuse" (37).

Käthe von Nagy withdrew extensive from the film business whit the begin of World War II. She played in "Mahlia la métisse" (39-42), after that she appeared only twice on the screen with the movies "Cargaison clandestine - Alarm in St. Juano" (50) and "Die Försterchristl" (52).

When the national uprising broke out in Hungary she was in Budapest. She looked to the wounded and became injured herself later.
 

Other movies with Käthe von Nagy:
Der Anwalt des Herzens (27) Das brennende Schiff (27) Die Sandgräfin (27) Die Republik der Backfische (28) Aufruhr im Junggesellenheim (29) Rotaie - Schienen (29) Der Weg durch die Nacht (29) Die kleine Veronika/Unschuld (29) Gaukler (30) Ihre Hoheit befiehlt (31) Der Sieger (32) Das schöne Abenteuer (32) Einmal eine grosse Dame sein (33) Die Freundin eines grossen Mannes (34) Die Töchter ihrer Exzellenz (34) Der junge Baron Neuhaus (34) Die Pompadour (35) Nuits de princes (37) Finale - Die unruhigen Mädchen (38) Mia moglie si diverte (38) Am seidenen Faden (38) Accord final - Symphonie am Genfersee (38) Renate im Quartett (39)

 
Back