Ilka Grünig
Encyclopedia
Ilka Grüning Born in Vienna
in the old Austrian-Hungarian Empire. She was one of many Jewish actors and actresses that were forced to flee Europe
when the Nazis came to power in 1933.
Grünig's first film, at age 43, was a German
silent movie
called Todesurteil in 1919. Next, she starred with Conrad Veidt
in Peer Gynt
. Later that year, she and Veidt appeared in Die sich verkaufen.
She continued making silent movies in Germany into the 1920s. In 1920, she appeared in the film Die Bestie im Menschen based on a Émile Zola
novel
. This were two of 11 films she appeared in that year alone. Grünig appeared in a couple of Veidt's "Christian Wahnschaffe" movies; Weltbrand in 1920 and Die Flucht aus dem goldenen Kerker in 1921. In 1922, she had a small part as a landlady in Lady Hamilton starring Veidt as Lord Horatio Nelson. This was one of four movies that she and Hans Twardowski appeared in together; F.W. Murnau's drama Phantom
, Es leuchtet meine Liebe and Der Falsche Dimitri.
In 1923, she portrayed Frau Gött in Max Mack's Das Schöne Mädel. Later that year, she portrayed the wife of Johann Friedrich Schiller
in Friedrich Schiller - Eine Dichterjugend. Next she played Rosalindes' mother in Max Mack's Die Fledermaus
(this was the 5th film she did with the German director). In 1924, she appeared in F.W. Murnau's drama Die Finanzen des Großherzogs; (this was the third film she made with Murnau, the legendary German director).
In 1925, Grüning appeared in the silent Die freudlose Gasse
, directed by the legendary Georg Wilhelm Pabst
, which featured a 20-year old Greta Garbo
. Marlene Dietrich
was also in the film, uncredited as "Maria's friend", making this the only film featuring both Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo. Dietrich is the dark-haired friend of Maria's who actually catches Garbo when she collapses from hunger in the Vienna butcher shop line. The following year, Grüning appeared in her third Pabst' movie Geheimnisse einer Seele. In 1927, Grünig appeared in Halloh - Caesar! which S.Z. Sakall
helped write. Later that year, she and Sakall appeared together in Familientag im Hause Prellstein.
In 1929, Grüning appeared in her first 'talkie', Melodie des Herzens. It would be three years before she appeared in another film. In 1932, she received a part in Max Neufeld
's Hasenklein kann nichts dafür, which would be her last movie in Germany.
Grüning, had played Strindberg
and Ibsen for legendary German director Max Reinhardt and had run the second most important drama school in Berlin, left Germany after Hitler and the Nazis came to power. After arriving in America, she received help from the European Film Fund
in resettling to America. It would be nine years before she appeared in another movie.
With the outbreak of World War II
and the need for older German women for war movies, Grüning started receiving parts. Her first Hollywood movie was in 1941 as Erwin Kalser's husband in Warner Bros.
' war drama Underground
starring Philip Dorn
and Martin Kosleck
(as the evil Nazi Colonel Heller) and Ludwig Stössel
(who would play her husband in Casablanca).
Grüning was busy in 1942. First, Grüning (playing Anna) and Stössel appeared in the Oscar-nominated Kings Row
starring Ronald Reagan
, Ann Sheridan
and Claude Rains
. She then played Christian Rub's wife in the spy thriller Dangerously They Live starring Nancy Coleman
and Raymond Massey
. This was followed by playing the wife of Karl Pfeiffer, a German millionaire living in America (played by Charles Winninger
) in Friendly Enemies
. Grüning (playing Aunt Sophie) and Stössel appeared together again in a Sonja Henie
film Iceland
. Next, playing a Gestapo
impostor, she appeared in Desperate Journey
with Ronald Reagan and Errol Flynn
.
Also in 1942, at the age of 66, the oldest actor in the movie, Grüning received the role of Mrs. Leuchtag, who along with her husband (played by Ludwig Stössel) are leaving Europe for America in Casablanca
. She has only one scene (a total of 30 words) in the movie when her and her husband are having a drink in Rick's Cafe with their good friend Carl the waiter (S.Z. Sakall) and struggling a bit with their English. Her husband (Ludwig Stössel) asks her for the time, "Liebchen - sweetnessheart, what watch?" She answers, "Ten watch" and he replies, "Such watch?" Carl assures them they will get along beautifully in America.
In 1943, Grüning received a bit part as George Tobias
's mother in This Is the Army
. Next she appeared in The Strange Death of Adolph Hitler with Stössel and Twardowski. Grünig received bit parts in Madame Curie starring Greer Garson
and Walter Pidgeon
(as the Curies). Grünig appeared in only one movie in 1944 as Mrs. Vronsky in the drama An American Romance starring Brian Donlevy
, Ann Richards
and John Qualen
. Grüning would not get another part until 1946 when she received a bit part in the mystery Murder in the Music Hall
. She received a couple of other small parts that year; the first as Herman Bing
's wife in Rendezvous 24.
Next Grüning and Stössel got to play husband and wife again. Instead of being the Leuchtags, they were now the Muellers in Temptation
starring Merle Oberon
, George Brent
and Paul Lukas
. The following year, she played Paul E. Burns's wife in the film-noir Desperate
which featured Raymond Burr
. Playing Mattie, she appeared next in Repeat Performance
. In 1948 appeared in Letter from an Unknown Woman
starring Joan Fontaine
. Later she played a German woman in Billy Wilder
's comedy romance A Foreign Affair
starring Marlene Dietrich. She also had a small part in the M-G-M musical Words and Music.
The following year, she played a grandmother in the film-noir Caught
starring James Mason
and Barbara Bel Geddes
. Later that year, Grüning and Stössel appeared in their last film together when they received roles in the drama The Great Sinner
starring Gregory Peck
and Ava Gardner
. She played another old women in Mr. Soft Touch
with Glenn Ford
.
In 1950, she received a good part as Edgar Bergen
's wife in the adventure film Captain China starring John Payne
and Gail Russell
. She next another good role in the film-noir Convicted starring Glenn Ford and Broderick Crawford
. The following year, she appeared as Brett King's mother in Payment on Demand
with Bette Davis
. Her last Hollywood movie was as Mama Ludwig, Griff Barnett's wife, in the western Passage West
starring John Payne.
Like many German and Austrian actors, Grüning went back to Berlin in the 1950s, but found it that Germany was not the same country she had left. Many former Nazis returned and it became difficult for Grünig to integrate back into the film industry. She did, at age 76, appear in a small Swiss movie in 1952 called Die Venus vom Tivoli, which was her last movie. After this Grüning returned to America.
, at the age of 88. She was cremated and her ashes rest in Columbarium of Faith in Woodlawn Cemetery
in Santa Monica
, California
. Actors Paul Henreid and George Bancroft
are also buried here.
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
in the old Austrian-Hungarian Empire. She was one of many Jewish actors and actresses that were forced to flee Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
when the Nazis came to power in 1933.
Career
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
silent movie
Silent Movie
Silent Movie is a 1976 satirical comedy film co-written, directed by, and starring Mel Brooks, and released by 20th Century Fox on June 17, 1976...
called Todesurteil in 1919. Next, she starred with Conrad Veidt
Conrad Veidt
Conrad Veidt was a German actor best remembered for his roles in films such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari , The Man Who Laughs , The Thief of Bagdad and Casablanca...
in Peer Gynt
Peer Gynt
Peer Gynt is a five-act play in verse by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen, loosely based on the fairy tale Per Gynt. It is the most widely performed Norwegian play. According to Klaus Van Den Berg, the "cinematic script blends poetry with social satire and realistic scenes with surreal ones"...
. Later that year, she and Veidt appeared in Die sich verkaufen.
She continued making silent movies in Germany into the 1920s. In 1920, she appeared in the film Die Bestie im Menschen based on a Émile Zola
Émile Zola
Émile François Zola was a French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
. This were two of 11 films she appeared in that year alone. Grünig appeared in a couple of Veidt's "Christian Wahnschaffe" movies; Weltbrand in 1920 and Die Flucht aus dem goldenen Kerker in 1921. In 1922, she had a small part as a landlady in Lady Hamilton starring Veidt as Lord Horatio Nelson. This was one of four movies that she and Hans Twardowski appeared in together; F.W. Murnau's drama Phantom
Phantom (1922 film)
Phantom is a silent film that was directed by F. W. Murnau the same year Murnau directed Nosferatu. It is an example of German Expressionist film and has a surreal, dreamlike quality.-Plot summary:The film is told in an extended flashback...
, Es leuchtet meine Liebe and Der Falsche Dimitri.
In 1923, she portrayed Frau Gött in Max Mack's Das Schöne Mädel. Later that year, she portrayed the wife of Johann Friedrich Schiller
Friedrich Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright. During the last seventeen years of his life , Schiller struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe...
in Friedrich Schiller - Eine Dichterjugend. Next she played Rosalindes' mother in Max Mack's Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée.- Literary sources :...
(this was the 5th film she did with the German director). In 1924, she appeared in F.W. Murnau's drama Die Finanzen des Großherzogs; (this was the third film she made with Murnau, the legendary German director).
In 1925, Grüning appeared in the silent Die freudlose Gasse
Die freudlose Gasse
Joyless Street , a film based on the novel by Hugo Bettauer and directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst in France, is one of the first films of the "New Objectivity“ movement. Greta Garbo stars in her second major role...
, directed by the legendary Georg Wilhelm Pabst
Georg Wilhelm Pabst
-Biography:Pabst was born in Raudnitz, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary , the son of a railroad employee.Returning from the United States, he was in France when World War I began...
, which featured a 20-year old Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo , born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, was a Swedish film actress. Garbo was an international star and icon during Hollywood's silent and classic periods. Many of Garbo's films were sensational hits, and all but three were profitable...
. Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
was also in the film, uncredited as "Maria's friend", making this the only film featuring both Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo. Dietrich is the dark-haired friend of Maria's who actually catches Garbo when she collapses from hunger in the Vienna butcher shop line. The following year, Grüning appeared in her third Pabst' movie Geheimnisse einer Seele. In 1927, Grünig appeared in Halloh - Caesar! which S.Z. Sakall
S.Z. Sakall
Szőke Szakáll , known as S.Z. Sakall, was a Hungarian film character actor. He was in many films including In the Good Old Summertime, Lullaby of Broadway, Christmas in Connecticut and Casablanca in which he played Carl, the head waiter.Chubby-jowled Sakall played numerous supporting roles in...
helped write. Later that year, she and Sakall appeared together in Familientag im Hause Prellstein.
In 1929, Grüning appeared in her first 'talkie', Melodie des Herzens. It would be three years before she appeared in another film. In 1932, she received a part in Max Neufeld
Max Neufeld
Max Neufeld was an Austrian film director, actor and screenwriter. He directed 70 films between 1919 and 1957. He directed the 1934 film The Song of the Sun, which starred Vittorio De Sica.-Selected filmography:...
's Hasenklein kann nichts dafür, which would be her last movie in Germany.
Grüning, had played Strindberg
Strindberg
Strindberg may refer to:People* August Strindberg , Swedish dramatist and painter* Nils Strindberg , Swedish photographer* Anita Strindberg , Swedish actor* Henrik Strindberg , Swedish composerOther...
and Ibsen for legendary German director Max Reinhardt and had run the second most important drama school in Berlin, left Germany after Hitler and the Nazis came to power. After arriving in America, she received help from the European Film Fund
European Film Fund
The European Film Fund was a Non-Profit-Organisation, funded by the film agent Paul Kohner.- History :The European Film Fund was founded on November 5, 1938 on the initiative of Paul Kohner. Founder members were William Dieterle, Bruno Frank, Felix Jackson, Salka Viertel and Ernst Lubitsch...
in resettling to America. It would be nine years before she appeared in another movie.
With the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the need for older German women for war movies, Grüning started receiving parts. Her first Hollywood movie was in 1941 as Erwin Kalser's husband in Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
' war drama Underground
Underground (1941 film)
Underground is a 1941 film about the German Resistance opposing the Nazis in World War II. Jeffrey Lynn and Philip Dorn play two brothers initially on opposite sides.-Cast:*Jeffrey Lynn as Kurt Franken*Philip Dorn as Eric Franken...
starring Philip Dorn
Philip Dorn
Philip Dorn , born Hein van der Niet and sometimes billed as Frits van Dongen, was a Dutch actor who had a career in Hollywood....
and Martin Kosleck
Martin Kosleck
Martin Kosleck was a German film actor. Like many other German actors, he fled when the Nazis came to power. Inspired by his deep hatred of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, Kosleck would make a career in Hollywood playing villainous Nazis in films. While in the United States, he would appear in more...
(as the evil Nazi Colonel Heller) and Ludwig Stössel
Ludwig Stössel
Ludwig Stössel was an actor born in Lockenhaus, Austria. He was one of many Jewish actors and actresses that were forced to flee Europe when the Nazis came to power in 1933....
(who would play her husband in Casablanca).
Grüning was busy in 1942. First, Grüning (playing Anna) and Stössel appeared in the Oscar-nominated Kings Row
Kings Row
Kings Row is a 1942 film starring Ann Sheridan, Robert Cummings, and Ronald Reagan that tells a story of young people growing up in a small American town at the turn of the twentieth century, beset by social pressure, dark secrets, and the challenges and tragedies one must face as a result of these...
starring Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, Ann Sheridan
Ann Sheridan
-Life and career:Born Clara Lou Sheridan in Denton, Texas on February 21, 1915, she was a student at the University of North Texas when her sister sent a photograph of her to Paramount Pictures. She subsequently entered and won a beauty contest, with part of her prize being a bit part in a...
and Claude Rains
Claude Rains
Claude Rains was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned 66 years. He was known for many roles in Hollywood films, among them the title role in The Invisible Man , a corrupt senator in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington , Mr...
. She then played Christian Rub's wife in the spy thriller Dangerously They Live starring Nancy Coleman
Nancy Coleman
Nancy Coleman was an American film, television and radio actress. After working on radio and appearing on the Broadway stage, Nancy Coleman was brought to Hollywood to work for Warner Bros. studios...
and Raymond Massey
Raymond Massey
Raymond Hart Massey was a Canadian/American actor.-Early life:Massey was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Anna , who was born in Illinois, and Chester Daniel Massey, the wealthy owner of the Massey-Ferguson Tractor Company. Massey's family could trace their ancestry back to the American...
. This was followed by playing the wife of Karl Pfeiffer, a German millionaire living in America (played by Charles Winninger
Charles Winninger
Charles Winninger was an American stage and film actor, most often cast in comedies or musicals, but equally at home in drama.-Biography:He began as a vaudeville actor...
) in Friendly Enemies
Friendly Enemies
Friendly Enemies is a 1942 American drama film starring Charles Winninger, Charles Ruggles, James Craig, and Nancy Kelly. The film was directed by Allan Dwan, adapted from a play by Aaron Hoffman and Samuel Shipman...
. Grüning (playing Aunt Sophie) and Stössel appeared together again in a Sonja Henie
Sonja Henie
Sonja Henie was a Norwegian figure skater and film star. She was a three-time Olympic Champion in Ladies Singles, a ten-time World Champion and a six-time European Champion . Henie won more Olympic and World titles than any other ladies figure skater...
film Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
. Next, playing a Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
impostor, she appeared in Desperate Journey
Desperate Journey
Desperate Journey is a 1942 American World War II aviation film starring Errol Flynn and Ronald Reagan. The supporting cast includes Raymond Massey, Alan Hale and Arthur Kennedy, and the movie was directed by Raoul Walsh...
with Ronald Reagan and Errol Flynn
Errol Flynn
Errol Leslie Flynn was an Australian-born actor. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films, being a legend and his flamboyant lifestyle.-Early life:...
.
Also in 1942, at the age of 66, the oldest actor in the movie, Grüning received the role of Mrs. Leuchtag, who along with her husband (played by Ludwig Stössel) are leaving Europe for America in Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
. She has only one scene (a total of 30 words) in the movie when her and her husband are having a drink in Rick's Cafe with their good friend Carl the waiter (S.Z. Sakall) and struggling a bit with their English. Her husband (Ludwig Stössel) asks her for the time, "Liebchen - sweetnessheart, what watch?" She answers, "Ten watch" and he replies, "Such watch?" Carl assures them they will get along beautifully in America.
In 1943, Grüning received a bit part as George Tobias
George Tobias
George Tobias was an American character actor.-Early life and career:Born to a Jewish family in New York, he began his acting career at the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena, California. He then spent several years in theater groups before moving on to Broadway and, eventually, Hollywood...
's mother in This Is the Army
This Is the Army
This Is the Army is a 1943 American wartime motion picture produced by Hal B. Wallis and Jack L. Warner, and directed by Michael Curtiz, and a wartime musical designed to boost morale in the U.S. during World War II, directed by Sgt. Ezra Stone...
. Next she appeared in The Strange Death of Adolph Hitler with Stössel and Twardowski. Grünig received bit parts in Madame Curie starring Greer Garson
Greer Garson
Greer Garson, CBE was a British-born actress who was very popular during World War II, being listed by the Motion Picture Herald as one of America's top ten box office draws in 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, and 1946. As one of MGM's major stars of the 1940s, Garson received seven Academy Award...
and Walter Pidgeon
Walter Pidgeon
Walter Davis Pidgeon was a Canadian actor, who starred in many motion pictures, including Mrs...
(as the Curies). Grünig appeared in only one movie in 1944 as Mrs. Vronsky in the drama An American Romance starring Brian Donlevy
Brian Donlevy
Brian Donlevy was an Irish-born American film actor, noted for playing tough guys from the 1930s to the 1960s. He usually appeared in supporting roles. Among his best known films are Beau Geste and The Great McGinty...
, Ann Richards
Ann Richards
Dorothy Ann Willis Richards was an American politician from Texas. She first came to national attention as the state treasurer of Texas, when she delivered the keynote address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention. Richards served as the 45th Governor of Texas from 1991 to 1995 and was...
and John Qualen
John Qualen
John Qualen was a Canadian-American character actor of Norwegian heritage who specialized in Scandinavian roles....
. Grüning would not get another part until 1946 when she received a bit part in the mystery Murder in the Music Hall
Murder in the Music Hall
Murder in the Music Hall is a 1946 musical mystery starring Vera Ralston, William Marshall, Helen Walker, and Nancy Kelly...
. She received a couple of other small parts that year; the first as Herman Bing
Herman Bing
Herman Bing was a German-American character actor and voice actor.Herman Bing was also the brother of Gus Bing .-Biography:...
's wife in Rendezvous 24.
Next Grüning and Stössel got to play husband and wife again. Instead of being the Leuchtags, they were now the Muellers in Temptation
Temptation
A temptation is an act that looks appealing to an individual. It is usually used to describe acts with negative connotations and as such, tends to lead a person to regret such actions, for various reasons: legal, social, psychological , health, economic, etc...
starring Merle Oberon
Merle Oberon
Merle Oberon was an Indian-born British actress best known for her screen performances in The Scarlet Pimpernel and The Cowboy and the Lady . She began her film career in British films as Anne Boleyn in The Private Life of Henry VIII . She travelled to the United States to make films for Samuel...
, George Brent
George Brent
George Brent was an Irish film and television actor in American cinema.-Early life:He was born George Brendan Nolan in Raharabeg, County Roscommon on the opposite bank of the River Shannon from the town of Shannonbridge, County Offaly, Ireland, the son of a British Army officer.During the Irish...
and Paul Lukas
Paul Lukas
Paul Lukas was an Austrian-Hungarian-born actor.-Biography:Born Pál Lukács in Budapest, he arrived in Hollywood in 1927 after a successful stage and film career in Hungary, Germany and Austria where he worked with Max Reinhardt. He made his stage debut in Budapest in 1916 and his film debut in 1917...
. The following year, she played Paul E. Burns's wife in the film-noir Desperate
Desperate (film)
-Plot:Steve Randall is an independent trucker who is hired by an old friend to haul some freight. Only when Steve arrives at the warehouse, does he realize that what he has been hired to haul away is stolen goods. A cop is killed when they bust in during the delivery.Later, after kidnapping Steve,...
which featured Raymond Burr
Raymond Burr
Raymond William Stacey Burr was a Canadian actor, primarily known for his title roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside. His early acting career included roles on Broadway, radio, television and in film, usually as the villain...
. Playing Mattie, she appeared next in Repeat Performance
Repeat Performance
Repeat Performance is a film of the film noir style. It combines elements of a 1940s drama with a science fiction twist. The film was released by Poverty Row studio Eagle-Lion Films and directed by Alfred L. Werker.- Plot :...
. In 1948 appeared in Letter from an Unknown Woman
Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948 film)
Letter from an Unknown Woman is a film directed by Max Ophüls. It was based on the novella of the same name, which was written by Stefan Zweig...
starring Joan Fontaine
Joan Fontaine
Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland , known professionally as Joan Fontaine, is a British American actress. She and her elder sister Olivia de Havilland are two of the last surviving leading ladies from Hollywood of the 1930s....
. Later she played a German woman in Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder was an Austro-Hungarian born American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, artist, and journalist, whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. He is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Hollywood's golden age...
's comedy romance A Foreign Affair
A Foreign Affair
A Foreign Affair is a 1948 American romantic comedy film directed by Billy Wilder. The screenplay by Wilder, Charles Brackett, and Richard L. Breen is based on a story by David Shaw adapted by Robert Harari...
starring Marlene Dietrich. She also had a small part in the M-G-M musical Words and Music.
The following year, she played a grandmother in the film-noir Caught
Caught (film)
Caught is an American dramatic film starring James Mason, Barbara Bel Geddes, and Robert Ryan, directed by Max Ophuls, and based on a novel by Libbie Block. Caught has been released on DVD in France and the UK....
starring James Mason
James Mason
James Neville Mason was an English actor who attained stardom in both British and American films. Mason remained a powerful figure in the industry throughout his career and was nominated for three Academy Awards as well as three Golden Globes .- Early life :Mason was born in Huddersfield, in the...
and Barbara Bel Geddes
Barbara Bel Geddes
Barbara Bel Geddes was an American actress, artist and children's author. She is best known for her role in the television drama series Dallas as matriarch Eleanor "Miss Ellie" Ewing. Bel Geddes also starred in the original Broadway production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in the role of Maggie...
. Later that year, Grüning and Stössel appeared in their last film together when they received roles in the drama The Great Sinner
The Great Sinner
The Great Sinner is a 1949 American drama film directed by Robert Siodmak. Based on the 1866 short novel The Gambler written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, the film stars Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Frank Morgan, Ethel Barrymore, Walter Huston, Agnes Moorehead and Melvyn Douglas.-Plot:During the 1860s in...
starring Gregory Peck
Gregory Peck
Eldred Gregory Peck was an American actor.One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play important roles well into the 1980s. His notable performances include that of Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he won an...
and Ava Gardner
Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers . She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day...
. She played another old women in Mr. Soft Touch
Mr. Soft Touch
Mr. Soft Touch is a 1949 film about a man on the run from the Mob. It stars Glenn Ford and Evelyn Keyes.-Plot:Polish American Joe Miracle returns from fighting in World War II, only to find his San Francisco nightclub under the control of the Mob, and his friend and partner Leo missing and...
with Glenn Ford
Glenn Ford
Glenn Ford was a Canadian-born American actor from Hollywood's Golden Era with a career that spanned seven decades...
.
In 1950, she received a good part as Edgar Bergen
Edgar Bergen
Edgar John Bergen was an American actor and radio performer, best known as a ventriloquist.-Early life:...
's wife in the adventure film Captain China starring John Payne
John Payne (actor)
John Payne was an American film actor who is mainly remembered as a singer in 20th Century Fox musical films, and for his leading roles in Miracle on 34th Street and the NBC western television series The Restless Gun.-Background:Payne was born in Roanoke, Virginia...
and Gail Russell
Gail Russell
Gail Russell was an American film and television actress.-Career:She was born Elizabeth L. Russell to George and Gladys Russell in Chicago, Illinois, and then moved to the Los Angeles, California, area when she was a teenager. Russell's extraordinary beauty brought her to the attention of...
. She next another good role in the film-noir Convicted starring Glenn Ford and Broderick Crawford
Broderick Crawford
Broderick Crawford was an Academy Award-winning American stage, film, radio and TV actor, often cast in tough-guy roles and best known for his starring role in the television series "Highway Patrol."-Early life:...
. The following year, she appeared as Brett King's mother in Payment on Demand
Payment on Demand
Payment on Demand is a 1951 drama film directed by Curtis Bernhardt. The screenplay by Bernhardt and Bruce Manning chronicles a marriage from its idealistic early days to its dissolution.-Plot synopsis:...
with Bette Davis
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
. Her last Hollywood movie was as Mama Ludwig, Griff Barnett's wife, in the western Passage West
Passage West
Passage West is a port town in County Cork, Ireland, situated on the west bank of Cork Harbour. It is some 10 km from Cork city, separated by the green belt from the urban sprawl of Douglas and Rochestown. The town has many services, amenities and social outlets...
starring John Payne.
Like many German and Austrian actors, Grüning went back to Berlin in the 1950s, but found it that Germany was not the same country she had left. Many former Nazis returned and it became difficult for Grünig to integrate back into the film industry. She did, at age 76, appear in a small Swiss movie in 1952 called Die Venus vom Tivoli, which was her last movie. After this Grüning returned to America.
Death
Grüning died on November 11, 1964, in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, at the age of 88. She was cremated and her ashes rest in Columbarium of Faith in Woodlawn Cemetery
Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery, Santa Monica
Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery is located at 1847 14th Street in Santa Monica, California.-Notable burials:*Hugo Ballin , artist*Mabel Ballin , Actress*George Bancroft , actor...
in Santa Monica
Santa Mônica
Santa Mônica is a town and municipality in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil.-References:...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Actors Paul Henreid and George Bancroft
George Bancroft (actor)
George Bancroft was an American Hollywood film actor of the 1920s and '30s.-Biography:Bancroft was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1882. During his early days as a sailor he staged plays on board ship. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy, but left the Navy to become a "black...
are also buried here.