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Albert Lieven

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Albert Lieven
Born
Albert Fritz Liévin

(1906-06-22)22 June 1906
Hohenstein, East Prussia, German Empire
Died22 December 1971(1971-12-22) (aged 65)
London, England
OccupationActor
Years active1932–1971
Spouses
  • Tania Lieven
    (m. 1933; div. 19??)
  • Valerie White
    (m. 1944; div. 194?)
​
​
(m. 1949; div. 1953)​
Petra Peters
(m. 1955; div. 19??)
FamilyToby Flood (grandson)

Albert Lieven (born Albert Fritz Liévin; 22 June 1906 – 22 December 1971) was a German actor.

Early life

Lieven was born in Hohenstein, German Empire. His father was the head physician of the Tuberculosis sanatorium Hohenstein, where Lieven grew up. He started to study medicine but stopped the studies for financial reasons.[1]

Career

Lieven started his career at theaters in Gera and Königsberg. His first screen role was in the German film Annemarie, die Braut der Kompanie (Bride of the Company) in 1932. During the next four years he appeared in another sixteen films, including the German film adaptation of Charley's Aunt.[1][2]

Owing to the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany and his wife Tatjana being Jewish, they moved to Britain in 1937. However, he spent the years of the Second World War mainly in roles depicting Nazis in British films, not finding them overly challenging as an actor.[3]

Lieven appeared on the London stage in 1939 in the comedy Rake's Progress (not the later Rex Harrison film of the same title), but was largely acting in films (among them The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, 1943).[4] In 1943 he appeared in the West End production The Lisbon Story.

Lieven appeared in many cinema productions, and in 1940, he was credited in seven, in all of which he played the role of a German.

He was under contract to Rank for five years from 1945. It has been claimed that he only appeared in one film during this contract, Sleeping Car to Trieste.[5] In fact, however, he appeared in several other films for companies controlled by Rank during this period, as part of his contract. These included Marry Me! (1949), which was made for Gainsborough Pictures, which by that date was a subsidiary of Rank.

He returned to Germany in 1951, and appeared in many films made there. He also was in films both in Britain and Hollywood.[6]

Family

Married four times, Lieven is the grandfather of the England rugby union player Toby Flood.[7] Lieven died in London.

Selected filmography

References

  1. ^ a b munzinger.de
  2. ^ Ginibre, Jean-Louis (2005). Ladies Or Gentlemen: A Pictorial History of Male Cross-dressing in the Movies. Filipacchi Publishing. ISBN 9781933231044. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  3. ^ "Albert Lieven | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos".
  4. ^ McFarlane, Brian (2016). The Encyclopedia of British Film: Fourth edition. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9781526111968. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  5. ^ "IDLE STAR GETS ROLE AT LAST". The Sun. No. 2491. Sydney. 14 January 1951. p. 38. Retrieved 28 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ "Albert Lieven". Archived from the original on June 13, 2018.
  7. ^ Blackburn, Virginia (2017-04-13). "Was Toby Flood's famous grandfather a Soviet spy?". Daily Express. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  • Halliwell's Who's Who in the Movies, 14th edition, Harper Collins, 2001; ISBN 0-06-093507-3
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