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Elisabeth Bergner

(1900-1986), Actress

Sitter in 13 portraits
Born Elisabeth Ettel in Drohobycz, Poland and educated in Vienna, Bergner made her stage debut in Zurich in 1919 and gained an international reputation for her roles in plays directed by Max Reinhardt. Her film career began in 1923, working with director Paul Czinner, her later husband. On Hitler's rise to power in 1933 they moved to England, and she became a British citizen in 1938. In England she appeared in Catherine The Great (1934), Escape Me Never (1935, for which she received an Oscar nomination), As You Like It (1936), the same year in which she played the lead in The Boy David, written for her by J.M. Barrie. She spent the war years in America, returning to Europe in 1951.

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Elisabeth Bergner, by Cecil Beaton - NPG P1041

Elisabeth Bergner

by Cecil Beaton
bromide print on card mount, 1934
NPG P1041

Elisabeth Bergner in 'Escape Me Never', by Vandamm Studio - NPG x194047

Elisabeth Bergner in 'Escape Me Never'

by Vandamm Studio
bromide print, 1935
NPG x194047

Elisabeth Bergner in 'Escape Me Never', by Fred Daniels - NPG x32918

Elisabeth Bergner in 'Escape Me Never'

by Fred Daniels
cream-toned vintage bromide print on black card, 1935
NPG x32918

Laurence Olivier, Elisabeth Bergner and six actors, by Unknown photographer - NPG x45134

Laurence Olivier, Elisabeth Bergner and six actors

by Unknown photographer
modern bromide print from original negative, 1936
NPG x45134

Elisabeth Bergner, by Unknown photographer - NPG x138181

Elisabeth Bergner

by Unknown photographer
bromide postcard print, circa 1937
NPG x138181

Elisabeth Bergner, possibly by Edward ('Ed') T. Estabrook - NPG x198514

Elisabeth Bergner

possibly by Edward ('Ed') T. Estabrook
gelatin silver print, 1941
NPG x198514

Elisabeth Bergner, by Francis Goodman - NPG x68805

Elisabeth Bergner

by Francis Goodman
2 1/4 inch square film negative, 1946
NPG x68805

Web image not currently available

Elisabeth Bergner in 'Escape Me Never'

by Vandamm Studio
bromide print, 1935
NPG x194048

Web image not currently available

Elisabeth Bergner as Rosalind in 'As You Like It'

by Harold Saunders
bromide print, 1936
NPG x34549

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