- Brigitte Helm
Brigitte Eva Gisela Schittenhelm (
March 17 ,1908 ,Berlin , Germany –June 11 ,1996 ,Ascona , Switzerland) was a German actress, best remembered for her role as the dual role Maria and her double theMaschinenmensch inFritz Lang 's 1927silent film , "Metropolis".After "Metropolis", which was her second film, Helm made over 30 other films, including talking pictures, before retiring in 1936.
Her other appearances include "The Love of Jeanne Ney" (1927), "Alraune" (1928), "Gloria" (1931), "The Blue Danube" (1932) and "Gold" (1934).
In 1935, angered by Nazi control of the German film industry, she moved to
Switzerland where she later had 4 children with her second husband Dr. Hugo Kunheim, an industrialist. After her retirement from films she refused to grant any interviews concerning her film career.Helm's portrayal of the
Maschinenmensch influenced films like "The Bodyguard ". TheQueen of the Night video starring singer Rachel Marron (Whitney Houston ) is interspersed with the nightclub scene in "Metropolis" in which Maria's double seductively dances for the ruling elite. Marron also later performs at a Los Angeles nightclub. In fact, the actual metal woman from the Lang film is plainly visible as Frank Farmer (Kevin Costner ) enters Marron's home, and Marron's costume for the video and in her performance is a modernized version of theMaschinenmensch .External links
*
* http://www.kuenstlerkolonie-berlin.de/bewohner/helm.htm
* [http://silentladies.com/PHelm1.html Photo gallery]
* [http://film.virtual-history.com/person.php?personid=609 Virtual History - Tobacco cards]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
