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Brigitte Helm (born Brigitte Gisela Eva Schittenhelm, 17 March 1908 – 11 June 1996) was a German actress, best remembered for her dual role as Maria and her double named Futura, in Fritz Lang's 1927 silent film, Metropolis.

Early lifeEdit

Brigitte Gisela Eva Schittenhelm was born on 17 March 1908 in Berlin, the daughter of Gretchen Gertrud Martha Schittenhelm (née Tews; 1877—1955) and merchant Edwin Alexander Johannes Schittenhelm (1871—1913).Template:Fact

Helm took an interest in acting as a child, and by age 12 was taking the lead in school plays.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

CareerEdit

Helm's first movie role was that of Maria in Metropolis, which she began work on while only 17 years old. She signed a ten-year contract with UFA in 1925.<ref name="Curtis">Template:Cite book</ref> After Metropolis, Helm made over 30 other films, including talking pictures, before retiring in 1935. Her other appearances include The Love of Jeanne Ney (1927), Alraune (1928), L'Argent (1928), Gloria (1931), The Blue Danube (1932), L'Atlantide (1932), and Gold (1934). Helm was considered for the title role in Bride of Frankenstein before Elsa Lanchester was given the role.

Personal life and deathEdit

Helm was involved in several traffic accidents, and was briefly imprisoned.<ref name="Obit">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Staedeli, Thomas. Portrait of the actress Brigitte Helm Template:Webarchive. Cyranos.ch. Retrieved on 2013-11-02.</ref> According to the Nazi Party's Press Chief Obergruppenführer Otto Dietrich's book, The Hitler I Knew, Adolf Hitler saw that manslaughter charges against her from an automobile accident were dropped.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Helm married her second husband, Dr. Hugo Kunheim, an industrialist, after her film contract expired in 1935.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Helm stated that she retired from films because she was "...disgusted with the Nazi takeover of the film industry..."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1935, she moved to Switzerland, where she had four children with Kunheim. In her later years, she refused to grant any interviews concerning her film career.Template:Fact

Helm died, 11 June 1996, in Ascona, Switzerland.<ref name="Obit" />

Selected filmographyEdit

ReferencesEdit

NotesEdit

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Further readingEdit

External linksEdit

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