Parlo, Dita (1906–1971)

German-born actress. Born Grethe Gerda Kornstadt (or Kornwald), on September 4, 1906, in Stettin, Germany; died in 1971.

Selected filmography—in Germany:

Die Dame mit der Maske (The Lady with the Mask, 1928), Geheimnisse des Orients (Secrets of the Orient, 1928), Heimkehr (Homecoming , 1928), Ungarische Rhapsodie (Hungarian Rhapsody, 1928), Manolescu (1929), Melodie des Herzens (Melody of the Heart, 1929); in the US: The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (German-language version, 1930), Menschen hinter Gittern (German-language version of The Big House , 1930), Kismet (German-language version, 1931), Honor of the Family (1931), Mr. Broadway (1933); in France: Rapt (The Mystic Mountain, Fr.-Switz., 1934), L'Atalante (1934), Mademoiselle Docteur (Street of Shadows, 1937), L'Affaire du Courrier de Lyon (The Courier of Lyons, 1937), La Grande Illusion (Grand Illusion, 1937), Ultimatum (1938), Paix sur le Rhin (1938), L'Inconnue de Monte-Carlo (1939), Justice est faite (Justice Is Done, 1959), Quand le Soleil montera (1956), La Dame de Pique (1965).

Dita Parlo was born Grethe Gerda Kornstadt in 1906 in Stettin, Germany. From her first appearance in the film The Lady with the Mask (1928), she was marked for stardom in her native country, although her delicate, romantic persona never quite won over Hollywood audiences. After a few unsuccessful American projects in the early 1930s, she made her way to France, where she enjoyed another resurgence of popularity. Shortly after the outbreak of World War II, however, she was arrested as an alien by the French authorities and deported back to Germany. She reemerged in the 1950s, appearing in three more films before her death in 1971.