Marietta Millner

A slim, red-haired Austrian with piercing blue eyes, Marietta Millner cut a striking figure in late-1920s cinema. Born Maria Anna Paul Bieberhofer on December 8, 1894, in Linz, Austria, she grew up in Vienna, where her father owned a wealthy hotel. The family lost their fortune during World War One, and she turned to the stage, performing under the name Marietta Muller. At age thirty, she made her film debut in the German drama Red Heels, directed by Michael Curtiz. She quickly became a popular European star, earning the nickname "Cleopatra of the Rhine" for her brunette beauty, though her natural hair color was red. In 1927, Paramount signed her, and she moved to Hollywood, bringing along her two Schnauzers, Peter and Grell. She costarred with Warner Baxter in Drums of the Desert and with Thomas Meighan in The City Gone Wild. Cameramen praised her face as "photographically perfect," and her performances drew rave reviews. But pressures mounted when Paramount told her she was too plump. She went on a strict starvation diet, which led to weight struggles. In 1928, she returned to Germany to appear in Moderne Piraten and Adieu, Mascotte. During an interview, she expressed a simple desire: "I just want to see the world. I am happy to do my movie work in Berlin." She married a well-known businessman from Klagenfurt, Austria. By the spring of 1929, her health began to deteriorate, and she contracted tuberculosis. She died on June 21, 1929, in Badenweiler, Germany, at age thirty-four. Doctors attributed her death to the extreme dieting, which left her vulnerable to the disease. Her career spanned only three years, from 1926 to 1929, but her striking looks and tragic end left a lasting impression.