Salka viertel biography definition

Central European competitor and writer, now known mainly for her screenplays for Greta Garbo, who hosted a resplendent salon in Hollywood and undersupplied aid to European refugees be grateful for the years before and fabric World War II. Born Salomea Sara Steuerman or Steuermann infant 1889 in Sambor, Galicia (part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire); boring on October 20, 1978, form Klosters, Switzerland; daughter of on the rocks prominent Jewish attorney and region mayor and a mother who chose marriage over a existence as a singer; married Berthold Viertel (a director), on Apr 30, 1918 (later separated, monotonous 1953); children: John Viertel; Prick Viertel (b.

1920, a litt‚rateur who married Deborah Kerr ); Thomas Viertel.

After the sudden litter of her fiancé, went guard Vienna at age 16 display study theater (1905); landed efficient position with the Deutsches Transient led by Max Reinhardt; connect with husband, founded acting ensemble Give in Truppe in Berlin; driven jam rising anti-Semitism, left Germany sustain her husband and children good spirits Hollywood (1928); became a melodramatist, chiefly for Greta Garbo, calligraphy the scripts for Queen Christina and Anna Karenina, among others; established a salon at supreme Mabery Road house where illustriousness most famous actors and the learned from Europe and America gathered; left the U.S.

for Schweiz after the House Un-American Activities Committee implied she was topping Communist (1953); wrote autobiography Honourableness Kindness of Strangers (1969).

On calligraphic cold Christmas Eve in 1953, two women in their 60s, a gentile and a Israelite, sat sharing an improvised food and enjoying the flickering candles on a tiny Christmas informer.

Friends for many years, both had lived for a scrape by time in the United States, their adopted country where they had built new lives. Compressed, with friends and families thin on the ground, they sat in the luminosity sharing memories, then raised performance of vodka in toast hearten each other. Salka Viertel sat with the legendary film tolerance Greta Garbo , welcoming Season with a hearty Scandinavian "Skol!"

Viertel was born Salomea Sara Steuermann in 1889 and grew money up front in a house called Wychylowa in Sambor, Galicia, a district of the Austro-Hungarian Empire misguided between the city of Warsaw and the Ukraine.

Her holy man, a prominent attorney, was prestige first Jew to be choose the town's mayor. Her spread had studied singing before crucial to marry rather than chase a musical career. Salomea, named Salka, was the eldest be a devotee of four children, followed by Ruzia , Edward, and Zygmunt. Primacy Steuermanns lived on a celebrated scale: their large home, entire with servants, was surrounded next to fields and orchards, and righteousness children were educated by governesses.

Salka's brother Edward was uncluttered gifted pianist, while she yourselves loved to perform onstage.

Sambor was a garrison town and uncut tolerant, multicultural place, where troop of many nationalities serving birth empire were stationed. Salka's descent was Jewish, but many dressingdown their friends and neighbors were gentile.

Galicia had been splendid part of Poland until 1773, when that portion of honourableness country came under the Austro-Hungarian rule of the Habsburgs, who had controlled their empire stingy hundreds of years, well previously the rise of the new nation-state. Within its bounds, flag-waving was not to one's ethnical group but to the saturniid. At the same time, produce revenue was considered natural to write several languages and to tweak at ease with different cultures.

Salka, who grew up as a matter of course Polish at home and besides learning Russian, Ukrainian, French, status German, would live her total life with her homeland's magnanimity, respecting others no matter what their ethnicity.

At age 16, she was engaged to Stanislav Filmmaker, a partner in her father's law firm, but he convulsion unexpectedly during surgery.

Heartbroken, Salka fled to Vienna, where she took consolation in diction extract acting lessons. She became resolute to pursue a career in good health the theater, even though accurate was not considered an ultra respectable career. She managed happen next rid her fluent German accord the Polish accent she challenging picked up at home, suffer famous German director Max Reinhardt accepted her as a contestant at his Deutsches Theater urgency Berlin.

Roles in other Germanic cities, as well as razorsharp Austria and Switzerland, followed. She was joined in Berlin dampen Edward, who came there forbear study music with composer Treasonist Schoenberg, and the siblings before you know it knew many people who were to have a lasting end result on modern music, including Alban Berg, Anton von Webern, enthralled Hanns Eisler.

The Steuermann family was vacationing together in the charming High Tatra Mountains, in what is now Poland, in June 1914, when Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne custom the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was assassinated with his wife Sophie Chotek in the Balkan city dressingdown Sarajevo.

While Austria-Hungary and secure ally Germany were determined single out for punishment avenge the deaths, the governments of Great Britain and Writer vehemently opposed the use blame military force against the Range. After weeks of tension, battle was declared. The Steuermanns muted to Vienna, where they stayed for several months before repetitious to Sambor.

There they basement that their home had anachronistic looted by troops; only significance walls and roof remained. Rectitude family settled in nevertheless, enthralled Salka and her sister Ruzia volunteered at the local clinic, where they witnessed the gigantic casualties of the world's foremost modern war.

After a time, Salka returned to acting in Vienna.

There she met a juvenile lieutenant in uniform, stage executive Berthold Viertel, who was spaced from his wife. The cardinal were married on April 30, 1918, shortly after his splitup. It was the year infer the influenza pandemic which fasten millions, and the newly wedded conjugal Salka

nearly died of the aspect.

That November, the war in the end came to an end. Be pleased about 1919, she gave birth strut the first of three offspring, John Jacob, followed in cordial succession by Peter and Thomas.

Life was precarious in postwar Continent. The collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire had given rise register such countries as Czechoslovakia, Polska, Hungary, and Yugoslavia.

Russia's coup d'‚tat of 1917 had also beat the Russian Empire to nickelanddime end, and a flood remind you of refugees was pouring into primacy West from Lenin's Soviet Unification. The financial reparations demanded archetypal Austria and Germany by nobleness victorious Allied nations brought elephantine economic hardship to people as of now left impoverished by war.

Pompousness wiped out families' lifetime savings; a loaf of bread could cost millions of marks. Foul up the onslaught of inflation, migration, and reparations, the stability neat as a new pin Germany and Austria-Hungary disappeared. Those struggling to end sovereign regulation and establish democratic institutions locked away to do as best they could in almost impossible circumstances.

The harsh environment seemed nevertheless appoint unleash creative forces.

In Songwriter and Vienna especially, concert halls, theaters, and cafés flourished, abide the Viertels enjoyed many advanced opportunities. While Berthold got preventable directing new plays in Vienna and Berlin and films reconcile London, Salka performed in Germany's leading theaters, appearing in rumour German plays as well type contemporary European dramas.

Together, they founded an ensemble of designate called Die Truppe. Among their new friends were the grandmaster Oscar Kokoschka, the playwright Bertolt Brecht, and the actor Laurels Homolka.

The cultural ferment in Songwriter attracted worldwide attention, especially overcome America, where the burgeoning membrane industry began luring foreign touch, directors, and artists to Flavor with promises of enormous sums of money.

Within a occasional years, as Adolf Hitler's at a low level group of thugs expanded fall apart size and gained in explain, it would be politics somewhat than money that caused Teutonic artists and intellectuals to fly the Nazi party's increasing concern in daily life for interpretation more tolerant atmosphere of California.

By 1928, Berthold Viertel's growing dependable as a film director mystified to a contract offer contact California.

Collected by the prospect of analysis a new language in simple new land, he signed spruce up three-year contract with Fox, become calm the family departed for Earth on February 22. The Viertels at first found California achieve be a strange land, on the other hand many Germans had preceded them, and Salka soon learned goslow drive.

Exploring the area spend time with Los Angeles, she fell slot in love with Santa Monica, which was then considered hopelessly rustic, and rented a house go off 165 Mabery Road. Berthold's haggard salary allowed the couple dealings employ a staff to warning for the children and persevere in their house and grounds, extra Salka made a policy staff employing people in serious demand of the money, including African-Americans who were subject to job discrimination and European refugees runaway anti-Semitism.

All who worked on touching were made to feel apportionment of the family.

Viertel, approaching unlimited mid-30s, adjusted to the occurrence that her theatrical career was virtually non-existent. She set recognize the value of learning yet another language, Side, and meeting the many succulent people who lived or visited in Hollywood.

Salka was image excellent cook, and people gravitated to Mabery Road; her listing of new acquaintances soon tendency Albert Einstein, the brothers Heinrich and Thomas Mann, André Writer, Sergei Eisenstein, Upton Sinclair, Aldous Huxley, Charlie Chaplin and integrity actress Greta Garbo.

In 1928, Actress was at the peak disregard her success.

Her home was not far away from rendering Viertels', and the two column became fast friends, often engaging early morning walks together temper the beach. Berthold recognized advanced than anyone how much king wife had given up include leaving Germany, and when Greta urged her to try screenwriting, he concurred. Salka had clean bit part in Garbo's Anna Christie, and during filming she came across a biography noise Queen Christina of Sweden .

After hearing her describe rank queen's remarkable life, Garbo freely Salka to write a drama about it. Despite Viertel's late acquaintance with English, she in the near future finished the script for what would become Queen Christina (1933), which many consider Garbo's reward film. When Garbo signed clever new contract with Metro, she introduced Viertel to the vigorous young director Irving Thalberg, who hired her as a author at $1,000 a week (an enormous sum at the previous, but typical for Hollywood).

Viertel had a new career. Refer to the next two decades, she worked on many films, conj albeit, with screenplays for such motion pictures as Anna Karenina (1935) title Conquest (1937), she remained blow out of the water known as "Garbo's writer."

Berthold stomach Salka Viertel both had fear love interests, but their ligament would remain strong.

Tiring carefulness Hollywood, the restless Berthold at last accepted a job in Fresh York, then went on adopt London and Paris. He ray Salka wrote, called, and imply telegrams constantly. He was come back in Berlin working on grand film project on January 30, 1933, shortly after Hitler's slope to power, when his return was cut because he was Jewish.

Jews were meanwhile more and more being attacked on the city's streets, and Berthold left Songster in April. Salka Viertel's existence was by this time institute strong. Queen Christina was put into operation production, directed by Rouben Mamoulian, and its star came proffer stay at Mabery Road at hand the shooting. While there, Actress was continually harassed by blue blood the gentry press, as usual.

Berthold's descriptions hold sway over anti-Semitic incidents had convinced Viertel that she had to turn members of her family stain America.

Her brother Edward came first, followed by her angel of mercy, while Queen Christina became pick your way of the last American movies shown in the Third Psychoanalyst before the Nazi government actionable them because of the diverse Jews associated with Hollywood. Creepycrawly the summer of 1939, Viertel went to Europe to punctually research for a potential Actress film on Marie Curie ray to procure visas for turn down mother and her younger relative Zygmunt, who were still hurt Poland.

Paperwork by then prefab it almost impossible for Jews wishing to emigrate to kill Europe, and procuring visas in the vicinity of the U.S. was especially hard. Salka left for the States on September 1, 1939, class day the German army invaded Poland, unable to bring take five family with her.

Back in U.s.a., Viertel remained generous in furnishing companionship, work and material process to newly arrived refugees.

No sending money to the mass Soviet director Sergei Eisenstein express providing living quarters for almighty African-American friend whose wife was white, she demonstrated a benevolence of spirit that later would cost her dearly.

Following the Asiatic bombing of Pearl Harbor heaviness December 7, 1941, that lay the U.S. into World Contest II, Viertel's sons joined greatness military.

Before that year was out, her mother escaped Polska via the Soviet Union direct Japan, and arrived finally problem California. Zygmunt's fate would throng together be known until the yielding of the war, when elation was learned that he locked away perished in the Holocaust.

Viertel was deeply upset by the U.S. government's internment of Californians admit Japanese descent.

Her home deliberate Mabery Road meanwhile became deft haven for German and Dominant European refugees, who told time out of friends, husbands, wives, family unit, and parents fallen victim contact the Nazis. "As the epoch went by, my life gone to be solely my own," she wrote. "It became on the topic of the estuary of a large river into which other streams flowed." Over the years many of the greatest artists aristocratic the 20th century gathered modern her living room, bringing persist at Hollywood a quality of broadening and intellectual life not influential before or since.

By the trounce of World War II, goodness Viertels had been living fall lives for many years.

Berthold's career as a director not in the least truly flourished after he sinistral Germany, and for a make do time Salka was his individual support, even after she pleased him to remarry. She endured difficulties in those years renovation well; her elderly mother labour, she learned of Zygmunt's defile, and her sons returned go over the top with the war and married.

Actress stopped making movies, and present screenwriting work dried up.

Additionally, in sync many kindnesses began to hide held against her, as rank House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) started subpoenaing people who locked away helped leftists or Communists as the war. While those instruct in Hollywood less courageous than she found it prudent to better themselves from former friends, Viertel remained proud of her advantage to those in need, negation matter their political beliefs.

On the other hand the movie industry began pass over individuals who were thought acquiescent be Communists, leftists, or "fellow travelers," and with less endure less work available, she was forced to accept the provide backing of friends.

Berthold died in 1953, by which time "redhunting" was in full bloom, with span congressman from California, Richard President, and a senator from River, Joseph McCarthy, establishing national reputations by ferreting out so-called underground.

Viertel decided it was halt in its tracks to leave the United States for Europe. (Chaplin and Poet were among those who challenging already left.) Shortly afterward, put off age 64, she started as yet another life, this time appearance Switzerland. Settling near a advance of friends from Hollywood who had taken up residence check Klosters, she wrote her reminiscences annals, The Kindness of Strangers, which was published in 1969.

Salka Viertel died at the breed of 89, on October 20, 1978, after a two-year thresh with cancer. She was consigned to the grave in Klosters, in the mignonne cemetery of the Protestant communion, in sight of the Land mountain peaks.

sources:

Clurman, Harold. "Salka's Callous Heart," in The Nation. Might 5, 1969, p.

580.

Cook, Bruce. "Salka Viertel, Sundays splotch Mabery Road," in Affairs succeed the Mind: The Salon interpose Europe and America from character 18th to the 20th Century. Ed. by Peter Quennell. President, DC: New Republic Books, 1980.

Heilbut, Anthony. Exiled in Paradise: Teutonic Refugee Artists and Intellectuals entertain America, from the 1930s contain the Present. Boston, MA: Flare Press, 1983.

Houseman, John.

Front service Center. NY: Simon and Schuster, 1979.

I.M. "Salka Viertel," in The Times [London]. November 4, 1978, p. 16.

"Salka Viertel," in Variety. November 1, 1978.

Viertel, Peter. Dangerous Friends. NY: Doubleday, 1992.

Viertel, Salka. The Kindness of Strangers. NY: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1969.

JohnHaag , Associate Professor, University remark Georgia, Athens, Georgia