Introduction
Ossi Oswalda (2 February 1899 – 1 January 1948), born Oswalda Stäglich in Niederschönhausen, was a German actress, who mostly appeared in silent films. She was given the nickname 'The German Mary Pickford' due to her popularity at the time.
Career
Oswalda trained as a ballerina and became a dancer for a theater in Berlin. She made her film debut in Richard Oswald's Nächte des Grauens (Night of Horrors) before being discovered by the actor and screenwriter Hanns Kräly, who in turn recommended her to director Ernst Lubitsch. During her early career, she starred in several films by Lubitsch, including The Merry Jail, I Don't Want to Be a Man, The Oyster Princess and The Doll. Her popularity at the time earned her the nickname 'The German Mary Pickford'.
In 1921, Oswalda started her own film production company with her husband at the time, baron Gustav von Koczian. However, during the next four years they only produced four films, all starring Oswalda. From 1925 on, she was contracted to Ufa.
Oswalda's career waned along with the silent film era, and she only acted in two sound films, making her final appearance on screen in the 1933 film The Star of Valencia. Later on, she became a stage actor, and in 1943, wrote the story for the Czechoslovakian film Čtrnáctý u stolu. Oswalda died in the most miserable condition in Prague at the age of 48.
Filmography
Silent films
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Sound films
- Josef the Chaste (1930)
- Der Stern von Valencia (The Star of Valencia), 1933