
Mady Christians
Born
January 17, 1892
Died
October 29, 1951 (59 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
Vienna, Austria-Hungary (now Austria)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Marguerita Maria "Mady" Christians (January 19, 1892 – October 28, 1951) was an Austrian actress and naturalized US citizen who had a successful acting career in theatre and film in the United States until she was blacklisted during the McCarthy period. She was born on January 19, 1892 to Rudolph Christians, a well-known German actor, and his wife, Bertha. Her family moved to Berlin when she was one year old, and to New York City in 1912, where her father became the Irving Place Theatre's general manager. Five years later she returned to Europe to study under Max Reinhardt.
She appeared in a number of European films prior to the early 1930s. In 1929, she starred in the first full sound film made in Germany It's You I Have Loved. In 1933, she toured the United States in a play called Marching By and was offered a Broadway contract the following year that allowed her, like a number of other German artists, to seek refuge from the Nazi regime in the United States.
On Broadway, Christians played Queen Gertrude in Hamlet and Lady Percy in Henry IV, Part I, staged by director Margaret Webster. Webster was part of a small but influential group of lesbian producers, directors, and actors in theater (a group that included Eva Le Gallienne and Cheryl Crawford). Webster and Christians became close friends: according to Webster biographer Milly S. Barranger, it is likely that they also were lovers.
She also starred in Lillian Hellman's Watch on the Rhine. She originated the title role in the 1944 play I Remember Mama. Her last movie roles were in All My Sons, based on the play by Arthur Miller, and Letter from an Unknown Woman, both released in 1948.
During World War II, Christians was involved in political work on behalf of refugees, rights for workers (especially in theater and film), and Russian War relief, political efforts that would bring her to the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other anti-communist institutions and organizations. In addition to her political work, Christians also publicly criticized the House Committee on Un-American Activities in early 1941 and likened the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee's investigation of propaganda in US film to Nazi harassment of film and radio artists in the 1930s. In 1950, the FBI's internal security division began investigating Christians, who had been identified as a "concealed communist" by a confidential informant. When Christians' name appeared in Red Channels, the so-called bible of the broadcast blacklist, her career was effectively over.

The Philco Television Playhouse
Mama · (1 episode)
1948

All My Sons
Kate Keller
1948

Letter from an Unknown Woman
Frau Berndle
1948

Address Unknown
Elsa Schulz
1944

Tender Comrade
Manya Lodge
1944

Heidi
Dete
1937

The Woman I Love
Florence
1937

Seventh Heaven
Marie
1937

Come and Get It
Karie Linbeck
1936

Ship Cafe
Countess Boranoff
1935

Escapade
Anita
1935

A Wicked Woman
Naomi Trice, aka Naomi Stroud
1934

The Only Girl
Empress Eugénie
1933

Manolescu, der Fürst der Diebe
Comtesse Maria Freyenberg
1933

The Only Girl
Kaiserin Eugenie
1933

Salon Dora Green
Dora Green
1933

Frederica
Friederike
1932

The Black Hussar
Marie Luise
1932
The Fate of Renate Langen
Renate Langen
1931
My Incognito Heart
La reine Alexandra
1931

Love Comes But Once
Königin Alexandra von Gregorien
1930

Dich hab’ ich geliebt
Inge Lund
1929

Meine Schwester und ich
Margarete von Marquardstein
1929

The Runaway Princess
Princess Priscilla
1929

Und Nelson spielt
1929

The Burning Heart
Dorothee Claudius
1929

A Woman with Style
1928

Fräulein Chauffeur
Steffi Walker
1928

The Duel
1928

Queen Louise
Königin Luise
1927
Heimweh
Princess Lydia Trubetskoy
1927
Grand Hotel...!
1927
Der Sohn der Hagar
Lore
1927
Die Welt will belogen sein
Mery
1926

Die geschiedene Frau
1926
Die Königin von Moulin Rouge
die Herzogin
1926
Wien, wie es weint und lacht
Sefi
1926

Zopf und Schwert
1926

Nanette macht alles
1926
The Waltz Dream
Prinzessin Alix
1926

Der Farmer aus Texas
Mabel Bratt
1925

In the Slums of Berlin
Regine Lossen
1925
In the Valleys of the Southern Rhine
Bettina von Wittelsbach
1925

Mensch gegen Mensch
1924

Soll und Haben
Baroneß Leonore von Rothensattel
1924

Michael
Woman (uncredited)
1924

The Finances of the Grand Duke
Großfürstin Olga von Rußland
1924

The Lost Shoe
Violante
1923

Die Buddenbrooks
Gerda Arnoldsen
1923

A Glass of Water
1923

Der Wetterwart
1923

The Loves of Pharaoh
1922
Wer unter Euch ohne Sünde ist
1921

Peter Voss, Thief of Millions
Gert Nissen
1921
Am anderen Ufer
Ebba von Thorn
1918
Nachtschatten
1918