Dorrit Weixler
Encyclopedia
Dorrit Weixler was a German film actress of the early 20th century who is best recalled for her comedic roles in German films from the World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 era.

Career

The older sister of actress Grete Weixler, Dorrit Weixler first appeared in silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...

 shorts for director Alwin Neuß (1879–1935) in 1911. In 1913 she began a successful collaboration with film director Franz Hofer at Luna Film. Hofer began casting Weixler in a number of comedies presenting her as a comedic, temperamental, independent-minded but endearing teenager, often replete in her soon-to-be signature sailor outfit. She often appeared opposite popular German actor and director Ernst Lubitsch
Ernst Lubitsch
Ernst Lubitsch was a German-born film director. His urbane comedies of manners gave him the reputation of being Hollywood's most elegant and sophisticated director; as his prestige grew, his films were promoted as having "the Lubitsch touch."In 1947 he received an Honorary Academy Award for his...

 and matinee idol Bruno Kastner
Bruno Kastner
Bruno Kastner was a German stage and film actor, screenwriter and film producer whose career was most prominent in the 1910s and 1920s during the silent film era...

 in her early films with Hofer. Weixler made approximately eleven films with Hofer, and her role as a brassy teen became popular with German filmgoers.

In 1915 she moved to Oliver Film, but her image was not tampered with significantly. A number of "Dorrit" films were released from 1915 to 1916 which followed her adventures, such as: Dorrit's Chauffeur (1915), Dorrits Eheglück (English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

: Dorrit's Marital Bliss) (1916) and Dorrit bekommt 'ne Lebensstellung (Dorrit Gets a Job for Life) (1916) for directors such as Paul Otto
Paul Otto
Paul Otto was a German film actor and director.Otto was born as Paul Otto Schlesinger in Berlin. He began a qualification as a retail merchant and made his actor's debut in the age of 17...

 and Paul Heidemann.

Death

During the end of May 1916, Weixler was at a theater in Nollendorfplatz
Nollendorfplatz
Nollendorfplatz is a square in the Schöneberg district of Berlin. Colloquially called Nolli it was named in 1864 after the village of Nakléřov , a site of the 1813 Battle of Kulm....

 as part of a "Dorrit Weixler Week", which was a promotional campaign for the actress. It was Weixler's first time performing on stage. The audience at the theater was full and Weixler was to entertain the crowd with comedic sketches and dancing. During a dance routine, Weixler collapsed on stage and the show had to be closed. Various speculations were cast by the press, including stress or a neurological disorder. The filming a of a new movie had to be aborted because of her poor health after her collapse. Later that year Weixler was given morphine
Morphine
Morphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...

, to which she became addicted. She was placed in a sanatorium in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 for rest and recovery. On 30 November 1916, aged 24, she committed suicide by hanging herself. She was buried at the Südwestkirchhof cemetery in Stahnsdorf
Stahnsdorf
Stahnsdorf is a municipality in the Potsdam-Mittelmark district, in Brandenburg, Germany.-Geography:It is situated 20 km southwest of Berlin , and 12 km east of Potsdam.-History:...

in December of that year.

In 1921, five years after her death, Dorittchens Vergnügungsreise (Dorritchen's Pleasure Cruise) was released to the German public. Filmed in 1916, the film was directed by Paul Heidemann, and Weixler appeared opposite actors Bruno Kastner and Kurt Busch.
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