Biografia
The actress Hertha von Walther was born Hertha Stern und Walther von Monbary in Hildesheim. At 17, she ran away from boarding school to attend an acting school in Leipzig, where she gained initial experience as an extra in theater and opera. A year later, she joined Max Reinhardt's company in Berlin, marking her stage breakthrough. Since theater earnings were modest, she accepted small, well-paid film roles. Among her earliest appearances were "Destinée," "Herzog Ferrantes Ende," "Am Rande der Großstadt," and "Tragödie der Liebe," in which she acted alongside Marlene Dietrich as an extra.
Her first major film success came in 1924 with "Der Berg des Schicksals," opposite Luis Trenker. She worked for the first time with director Georg Wilhelm Pabst in the internationally acclaimed "Die freudlose Gasse." Over the years, she frequently collaborated with him on notable films such as "Geheimnisse einer Seele," "Die Liebe der Jeanne Ney," and "Abwege."
Other esteemed directors, including Friedrich Zelnik, Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, Richard Oswald, Paul Czinner, and Fritz Lang, also valued her talent, often casting her in complex roles. Her notable silent films include the worldwide hits "Faust," "Die Weber," "Svengali," "Dr. Bessels Verwandlung," "Spione," and "Die Ehe."
During the sound film era, her filmography expanded with significant titles like "Der Greifer," Alfred Hitchcock's "Murder – Mary/Sir John greift ein," Fritz Lang's classic "M," "Die Koffer des Herrn O.F.," and "Der Tiger von Eschnapur." Her family urged her to pause her film career during her brief marriage to director Paul May, resulting in a hiatus until her return to the screen in 1938 with "Sergeant Berry" and "Ich verweigere die Aussage."
During World War II, she toured performing for troops. When the Gestapo attempted to recruit her as an agent, she fled to Portugal and later Brazil, where she lived with her second husband in a mining region.
She returned to Germany in 1960, resuming her theater work and gradually returning to film. Her final movies included "Jonathan," "Das Schlangenei," and "Satan ist auf Gottes Seite.
