{{Short description|German actress (1910–1994)}} {{Use British English|date=July 2020}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Dolly Haas | image = Dolly Haas - 1955.jpg | imagesize = | alt = | caption = Haas in 1955 | birth_name = Dorothy Clara Louise Haas | birth_date = {{Birth date|1910|4|29}} | birth_place = [[Hamburg, Germany]] | death_date = {{Death date and age|1994|9|16|1910|4|29}} | death_place = New York City, U.S. | occupation = Actress, singer | years_active = 1927–1981 | spouse = [[John Brahm]] (m. 1937; div. 1941)<br>[[Al Hirschfeld]]<br>(m. 1943) }} '''Dorothy Clara Louise Haas''' (29 April 1910 – 16 September 1994) was a German-American actress and singer who played in [[Cinema of Germany|German]] and [[Cinema of the United States|American films]]. After moving to the United States, she often appeared in [[Broadway theatre|Broadway plays]]. She became a naturalized US citizen and married [[Al Hirschfeld]], a noted portraitist and [[Caricature|caricaturist]] in New York City.
==Life and work== [[File:Gielgud and Haas in Crime and Punishment.jpg|thumb|Gielgud and Haas in ''Crime and Punishment'']] Haas was born in [[Hamburg]], Germany, to Charles Oswald Haas, a bookseller of British-German origin,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.deutsches-filminstitut.de/dt2tp0141.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091020111606/http://www.deutsches-filminstitut.de/dt2tp0141.htm|url-status=dead|title=German movie institute profile|archivedate=October 20, 2009}}</ref> and Margarethe (née Jagemann) on 29 April 1910.<ref name=allmovie/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://archives.cjh.org/repositories/5/resources/14154 |title=Dolly Haas Family Collection {{!}} Center for Jewish History Archives|website=archives.cjh.org |access-date=2026-05-04}}</ref> She was already an accomplished actress in [[German cinema]] before moving to the United States.<ref name=allmovie>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/dolly-haas-p29437|title=Dolly Haas | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos|website=AllMovie}}</ref>
Her father Charles was half-German, but had grown up in England, and had British citizenship. Dolly and her sister, Margarete, attended Jacob Loewenberg's girls' school Lyzeum in Hamburg, the ''Anerkannte [[höhere Mädchenschule]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://digifindingaids.cjh.org/?pID=1525628|title=Guide to the Papers of the Dolly Haas Family1883-2011AR 25447|website=digifindingaids.cjh.org}}</ref> The Haas family's personal records, including diaries and letters, are currently held by the [[Center for Jewish History]] in New York City, New York.<ref name=dhfc>{{Cite web |access-date=August 5, 2024 |title=Dolly Haas Family Collection |url=https://archives.cjh.org/repositories/5/resources/14154 |website=Center for Jewish History}}</ref>
==Marriage and family== Haas married German-born film director [[John Brahm]]. At one time, he was resident director for acting troupes such as [[Deutsches Theater (Berlin)|Deutsches Theater]] and the [[Lessing Theater]], both in [[Berlin]].<ref name=allmovie /> They divorced in 1941.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:%2F13030%2Fc80c5347 |title=Brahm (John) papers - Online Archive of California |website=oac.cdlib.org |access-date=2026-05-04}}</ref>
After moving to the US, Haas became a naturalized U.S. citizen. She married again in 1943, to [[Al Hirschfeld]] in [[Baltimore, Maryland]]. They lived in New York, where he worked for ''[[The New York Times]]'' as a portraitist and caricaturist. His work was also published in ''[[The New York Review of Books]]''. They had a daughter, Nina, born in 1945.<ref name="nytimes"/>
==Career== Dolly Haas had her debut as a professional actress in 1927 in Berlin. She worked at the city's [[Großes Schauspielhaus]] theatre, before embarking on a film career. The latter took her to England and to [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]], United States.<ref name=dhfc/>
Haas enjoyed a brief but successful stage career in the United States as well. She made her New York stage debut in 1941 in [[Erwin Piscator]]'s production of ''[[The Circle of Chalk]].''<ref name="nytimes">{{cite news|last=Gussow|first=Mel|date=17 September 1994|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/17/obituaries/dolly-haas-84-an-actress-and-the-wife-of-hirschfeld.html|newspaper=The New York Times|title=Dolly Haas, 84, an Actress And the Wife of Hirschfeld|access-date=19 February 2016}}</ref> She also performed with [[John Gielgud]] and [[Lillian Gish]] in the 1947 revival of ''Crime and Punishment''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/crime-and-punishment-1624|title=Crime and Punishment – Broadway Play – 1947 Revival | IBDB|website=www.ibdb.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/dolly-haas-78009|title=Dolly Haas – Broadway Cast & Staff | IBDB|website=www.ibdb.com}}</ref>
In 1946 Haas followed [[Mary Martin]] in the lead role in ''[[Lute Song (musical)|Lute Song]]'' for the touring production.<ref name=allmovie/> Her co-star, [[Yul Brynner]], said that Haas's casting substantially improved the show. He said, "Dolly Haas understood the part. She had an affinity for it, and the play immediately improved. It wasn't at all that Dolly was a better actress. She was just better casting for the part than Mary."<ref name=allmovie/>
Mary Martin agreed with Brynner's assessment, and helped Haas to prepare for the role in the short time allotted for rehearsal.<ref>Davis, Ronald L. ''Mary Martin, Broadway Legend''. University of Oklahoma Press, 2008, pp. 100-101.</ref> Haas also performed in Off Broadway productions of ''[[The Threepenny Opera]]'' and ''Brecht on Brecht''.<ref name="nytimes"/>
Although Haas did not appear in many [[English language]] films, she had an important role in [[Alfred Hitchcock]]'s 1953 film, ''[[I Confess (film)|I Confess]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f4e4b14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190724112603/https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f4e4b14|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 July 2019|title=Dolly Haas|website=BFI}}</ref> Haas was a personal friend of Hitchcock, and he cast her as Alma Keller, the wife of the murderer—janitor Otto Keller.{{citation needed|date=July 2017}} This high-profile film also starred [[Montgomery Clift]], [[Anne Baxter]], [[Karl Malden]] and [[Brian Aherne]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/i-confess-v24029/cast-crew|title=I Confess (1953) - Alfred Hitchcock | Cast and Crew|website=AllMovie}}</ref>
==Death== Haas died 16 September 1994 from [[ovarian cancer]] in [[New York City]], aged 84.<ref name="nytimes"/>
==Filmography== {{div col|colwidth=30em}} * ''[[Dolly Gets Ahead]]'' (1930) - Dolly Klaren * ''[[One Hour of Happiness]]'' (1931) - Die Puppe * ''{{ill|Der Ball|de|Der Ball (1931)}}'' (1931) - Antoinette Kampf * ''[[The Virtuous Sinner]]'' (1931) - Hedwig Pichlers-Tochter * ''{{Interlanguage link multi|Liebeskommando|it|3=I cadetti di Vienna|lt=Liebeskommando}}'' (1931) - Antonia * ''[[You Don't Forget Such a Girl]]'' (1932) - Lisa Brandes * ''[[Things Are Getting Better Already]]'' (1932) - Edith * ''[[A Tremendously Rich Man]]'' (1932) - Dolly * ''[[Scampolo (1932 film)|Scampolo]]'' (1932) - Scampolo * ''Großstadtnacht'' (1932) - Madeleine Duchanef * ''[[Das häßliche Mädchen]]'' (1933) - Lotte * ''[[The Little Crook]]'' (1933) - Annette * ''[[Little Girl, Great Fortune]]'' (1933) - Annie Schierke * ''[[The Page from the Dalmasse Hotel (1933 film)|The Page from the Dalmasse Hotel]]'' (1933) - Friedel Bornemann * ''Ein Mädel mit Tempo'' (1934) - Susanne 'Susi' Wegener - Tochter * ''[[Girls Will Be Boys]]'' (1934) - Pat Caverley * ''Warum lügt Fräulein Käthe?'' (1935) - Käthe Wilkens - Fotografin * ''[[Broken Blossoms (1936 film)|Broken Blossoms]]'' (1936) - Lucy * ''[[Star for a Night (film)|Star for a Night]]'' (1936) - Chorine (uncredited) * ''[[Spy of Napoleon]]'' (1936) - Eloise * ''[[Carefree (film)|Carefree]]'' (1938) - Minor Role (uncredited) * ''[[The Bank Dick]]'' (1940) - Script Girl (uncredited) * ''[[Unfinished Business (1941 film)|Unfinished Business]]'' (1941) - Woman (uncredited) * ''[[I Married an Angel (film)|I Married an Angel]]'' (1942) - Infanta (uncredited) * ''[[Du Barry Was a Lady (film)|Du Barry Was a Lady]]'' (1943) - Miss April (uncredited) * ''[[The Merry Widow (1952 film)|The Merry Widow]]'' (1952) - First Little Girl (uncredited) * ''[[I Confess (film)|I Confess]]'' (1953) - Alma Keller * ''[[Main Street to Broadway]]'' (1953) - Herself (uncredited) * ''[[Armstrong Circle Theatre]]'' (1954, TV Series) - Sister Madeline * ''[[Studio One (radio-TV series)|Studio One]]'' (1950-1956, TV Series) - Mrs. Kneiper (final appearance) {{div col end}}
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|0351930}} *{{IBDB name|78009}} *{{iobdb name|24466}} *{{LBI Collection Links|pid=1525628|title=Dolly Haas Family Collection|partner=Leo Baeck Institute, New York |callNumber=AR 25447 | type=Archival Collection}} *[http://film.virtual-history.com/person.php?personid=621 Photographs and literature]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Haas, Dolly}} [[Category:1910 births]] [[Category:1994 deaths]] [[Category:American film actresses]] [[Category:American musical theatre actresses]] [[Category:American television actresses]] [[Category:Deaths from ovarian cancer in New York (state)]] [[Category:German women singers]] [[Category:German musical theatre actresses]] [[Category:German film actresses]] [[Category:Emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States]] [[Category:Actresses from Hamburg]] [[Category:Musicians from Hamburg]] [[Category:20th-century German actresses]] [[Category:20th-century American actresses]] [[Category:20th-century American singers]] [[Category:20th-century German musicians]] [[Category:20th-century American women singers]] [[Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States]]