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Waltraut Haas (also known as Waltraud Haas and Waltraute Haas-Strahl) was born in Vienna in 1927. She was the daughter of teacher Walther Haas and Stefanie Klager. After her father passed away when she was five, she was raised at Schloss Schönbrunn, where her mother ran a restaurant.
Following World War II, she studied acting under actress Julia Janssen and pursued music at Vienna's Konservatorium für darstellende Kunst. Haas debuted on stage in 1946 at the Landestheater Linz and was soon discovered by Willi Forst for her first film role in the Heimat comedy Der Hofrat Geiger (1947, directed by Hans Wolff), starring Paul Hörbiger and Hans Moser. She portrayed Mariandl Mühlhube, the illegitimate daughter of an innkeeper (played by Maria Andergast) in the scenic Wachau valley, a role that brought her fame.
After this breakthrough, Haas balanced her career between theater and film. From 1948, she performed at the Renaissance Theatre and other venues in Vienna, later extending her work to Munich and Berlin. On screen, she appeared in comedies and operettas such as Es liegt was in der Luft (1950, directed by E.W. Emo) alongside Lucie Englisch, Hallo Dienstmann (1952, Franz Antel) with Paul Hörbiger, and the fantasy film 1. April 2000 (1952, Wolfgang Liebeneiner) featuring Hilde Krahl. She starred opposite Heinz Rühmann and Oliver Grimm in the popular dramatic comedy Wenn der Vater mit dem Sohne (1955, Hans Quest) and supported ski champion Toni Sailer in Der schwarze Blitz (1958, Hans Grimm).
In 1961, Haas portrayed Mariandl’s single mother in the remake Mariandl (1961, Werner Jacobs), featuring Conny Froboess, and reprised this role in the sequel Mariandls Heimkehr (1962, Werner Jacobs). Another notable role was Josepha Vogelhuber in the remake of Im weißen Rößl (1960, Werner Jacobs) opposite Peter Alexander. Her later films included musical comedies such as Der 42. Himmel (1963, Kurt Früh) and Im singenden Rössel am Königssee (1963, Franz Antel) with Peter Weck.
From 1966 until his death in 2011, Haas was married to actor and director Erwin Strahl, with whom she often collaborated on stage and in films. Their wedding was depicted in the film Happy End am Wolfgangsee (1966, Franz Antel) starring Hans-Jürgen Bäumler. In the comedy Keine Angst Liebling, ich pass schon auf! (1970, directed and written by Strahl), she played five different roles.
Since then, she has regularly appeared on television and stage. In 1987, she received the Gold Medal of Vienna (Ehrenmedaille der Stadt Wien in Gold), and in 2003, she was awarded the Austrian Medal for Science and the Arts (Österreichisches Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst).
Starting in 1990, Haas embarked on a new career as a fairytale author, and in 2007, she published her autobiography, Waltraut Haas - die Biografie. She resides in Hietzing, Vienna, and continues to perform on stage. Her son, Marcus Strahl (born 1968), is also an actor and director.
