{{Short description|German-American actress (1901–1982)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}} {{Infobox person | name = Leni Stengel | image = Leni Stengel in The Animal Kingdom.jpg | image_size = | caption = Stengel in ''The Animal Kingdom'' (1932) | birth_date = {{Birth date|1901|09|12|df=yes}} | birth_place = Oldenburg, Germany | death_date = {{Death date and age|1982|07|01|1901|09|21|df=yes}} | death_place = New York City, U.S. | occupation = Actress | years_active = 1929&ndash;1953 | spouse = Robert Archibald Scott <br> ({{abbr|m.|married}} 1938; {{abbr|died}} 1956)<br /> Boris Ingster <br> ({{abbr|m.|married}} 1930; {{abbr|div.|divorced}} 1937)<br />Hans Stengel <br> ({{abbr|m.|married}} 1921; {{abbr|div.|divorced}} 1926) }}

'''Leni Stengel''', born '''Magdalene Riechers''', (12 September 1901 &ndash; 1 July 1982) was a German-born American actress and singer who appeared on stage, television, and in films, from the 1920s through the 1950s. Born in Oldenburg in 1901, she immigrated to the United States in 1906 and later became a naturalized American citizen after her marriage to the film director Boris Ingster in 1930. She had previously been married to the American cartoonist Hans Stengel who committed suicide two years after their divorce in 1926. Her marriage to Ingster also ended in divorce in 1937. She was later married to Robert A. Scott from 1938 until Scott's death in 1956.

Stengel made her stage debut in 1920 under the name '''Madeline Richers''' as part of the sextette of chorus girls in the 1920 Broadway musical revival of ''Florodora''. After this she went to Europe where she studied singing and performed in musicals, variety theatre, and in nightclubs. In 1925 she toured in vaudeville in the B. F. Keith Circuit, and then appeared in several Broadway shows in the late 1920s. She also worked as a nightclub singer in New York and Atlantic City. In 1929 she made the transition into film with the role of Lady Roberts in the Warner Bros.'s German-language feature ''The Royal Box''. She was under contract with RKO Radio Pictures from 1930-1933 during which time she also was loaned out by them for several films made with Paramount Pictures among other Hollywood studios. She ended her film career in 1934 making two short films with Shemp Howard for Warner Bros.

After her film career ceased, Stengel continued to perform as a stage actress. She also worked in American television in the early 1950s. She died in New York City in 1982 at the age of 80.

==Early life and education== The daughter of Hermann August Riechers and his wife Magdalena Amanda Alma Riechers,<ref name="BC">Magdalene Henriette Amalia Louise Riechers in the ''Oldenburg, Germany, Birth Records, 1876-1905'', Certificate Number 486</ref> Magdalene Henriette Amalia Louise Riechers<ref name="BC"/> was born on 12 September 1901<ref name="BC"/><ref name="SS"/> in Oldenburg, Germany.<ref name="BC"/><ref name="natural">Leni Asarkh-Ingster in ''U.S., Naturalization Records, 1840-1957'', California, District Court, (Roll 211) Petitions For Naturalization 55812-56256; 7/20/37-8/20/37</ref> She was a grandniece of the German composer Friedrich von Flotow.<ref>{{cite news|title=Len Stengel: Exotic German Beauty|work=Brisbane Telegraph|date= 18 July 1931|page= 17}}</ref> She immigrated to the United States in 1906,<ref>Madelaine Richers in the ''1920 United States Federal Census'', New York, New York, Manhattan Assembly District 7, District 0557, sheet no 11A</ref> and was educated in her growing up years in schools in New York City (NYC) and Berlin, Germany.<ref name="Berlin">{{cite news|title=Hollywood Never Gave Leni Stengel of Hanna Cast Any of the Breaks|first=W. Ward|last=Marsh|work=The Plain Dealer|date= 6 October 1937|page= 17}}</ref> She graduated from Washington Irving High School in NYC.<ref name="Maidens"/> She was an artist in her youth and was a member of the Art Students League of New York.<ref name="Maidens"/> She later studied singing in Milan and Berlin.{{sfn|Quigley|1932|page=114}}

==Stage career in the 1920s and first marriage to Hans Stengel==

In 1920 Leni joined the sextette chorus of the Shubert brothers's Broadway revival of ''Florodora''; acting under an alternate spelling of her maiden name Madeline "Leni" Richers.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Stage Door|work=New-York Tribune|date= 10 March 1920|page= 13}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Well the Florodora Sextette Have the Luck of the Predecessors?|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/dayton-daily-news-floradora-sextette-for/188302368/|work=Dayton Daily News|date= 12 March 1920|page= 26}}</ref> The ''Los Angeles Times'' reported at the time that Richers was a beautiful red-haired girl with ambitions to become an opera singer.<ref>{{cite news|title=Concerning ''Florodara''|work=Los Angeles Times|date= 14 March 1920|page= 33}}</ref> She was cast by the Shubert brothers after the artist Floyd Cragg recommended her to them. The production marked her professional debut.<ref name="Maidens">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-york-tribune-debut-of-madeline-riche/188302741/|title=Fair Maidens of the Shuberts' 1920 Revival of ''Florodora''|work=New-York Tribune|date= 28 March 1920| page= 10, part 6}}</ref>

Madeline married Hans Stengel on 5 March 1921 in Manhattan.<ref>Madeline Richers in the ''New York, New York, U.S., Extracted Marriage Index, 1866-1937'', Certificate Number 16623</ref> Stengel was a cartoonist for the ''New York Herald Tribune'' and ''New York Evening Journal''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-evening-telegram-cartoonist-hangs-se/188295710/|title=Cartoonist Hangs Self While Host at Party|work=The Evening Telegram|date= 30 January 1928| page= 4}}</ref><ref name="Hans">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-york-herald-marriage-of-richera-st/188295527/|title=''Florodora'' Girl Married|work=New York Herald|date= 2 September 1921|page= 7}}</ref> Their marriage ended in divorce in 1926, and Hans Stengel committed suicide two years later while hosting a party.<ref name="Hans"/> After her marriage she acted under the name Madeline or Leni Stengel. She went to Europe where she made her stage debut at the German theatre in Riga, Russia.{{sfn|Quigley|1932|page=114}} She also appeared in ingenue roles in German operettas in Berlin.<ref name="Berlin"/>

By January 1925 she was working in vaudeville in New Jersey<ref>{{cite news|title=Orange Theatre's Fine Bill|work=The Montclair Times|date= 10 January 1925|page= 13}}</ref> and New York in an act billing her act as the "Continental Comedienne".<ref>{{cite news|title=Lyceum Theatre|work=Democrat and Chronicle|date=20 January 1925|page= 27}}</ref> When she achieved headlining status in the B. F. Keith Circuit in Florida in February 1925 it was reported that she had recently returned to the United States from a period spent performing in European music halls.<ref>{{cite news|title=Leni Stengel is Keith Headliner|work=Jacksonville Journal|date= 5 February 1925|page= 2}}</ref> She continued to tour in vaudeville that year to Louisiana,<ref>{{cite news|title=New Orleans to See Leni Stengel Monday|work=The Times-Picayune|date= 7 March 1925|page= 6}}</ref> Alabama,<ref>{{cite news|title=Diversity, Featuring Comedy, Is Offered On Keith Bill|work=The Selma Times-Journal|date= 16 March 1925|page= 3}}</ref> Maryland,<ref>{{cite news|title=Coming Events|work=The Baltimore Sun|date= 12 April 1925|page= 43}}</ref> and Washington D.C.<ref>{{cite news|title=Keith's Pat Rooney-Marion Bent|work=Washington Evening Star|date= 25 March 1925|page= 32}}</ref>

In June 1925 Stengel starred in a new musical revue, ''Chatterbox'', at the Majestic Theatre in Brooklyn which was produced by Will Morrissey and Jack M. Welch.<ref>{{cite news|title=''Chatterbox'' Scores Hits at Majestic Theatre|work=The Brooklyn Citizen|date= 2 June 1925|page= 7}}</ref> It had a cast led by Hal Skelly.<ref>{{cite news|title=Majestic|work=The Chat|date= 30 May 1925|page= 42}}</ref> She then worked as a night club singer in venues in Paris, Berlin, and Atlantic City in 1925-1926,<ref>{{cite news|title=Rendevous, New Night Club Opens|work=The Daily Record{{disambiguation needed|date=May 2026}}|date=3 July 1926|page=4}}</ref> and appeared in musical comedies in Berlin.<ref>{{cite news|title=Goings On in the Theatres|work=Brooklyn Eagle|date= 27 October 1926|page= 34}}</ref> She was also active as a nightclub singer in New York City.{{sfn|Quigley|1932|page=114}} In late 1926 she starred as Adelma in ''Princess Turandot''; an adaptation of Carlo Gozzi's play ''Turandot'' at New York's Provincetown Playhouse.<ref>{{cite news|title=Provincetowners Try ''Princess Turandot''|work=New York Daily News|date= 13 November 1926|page=2|first=Burns|last=Mantle}}</ref>

In May 1928 Stengel starred in Patterson McNutt and Edwin Burke's ''Bed and Bored'' at the Cort Theatre in Jamaica, New York and the Windsor Theatre in the Bronx.<ref>{{cite news|title=''Bed and Bored'' Fully Cast|work=Brooklyn Eagle|date= 9 May 1928|page= 38}}</ref> In September 1928 she portrayed the role of Carlotta Barbe in Edward and Edith Ellis's play ''Women'' at the Adelphi Theatre in Philadelphia.<ref>{{cite news|title=John Halliday in New Comedy|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|date= 11 September 1928|page= 22}}</ref> She ended the year acting at Broadway's Booth Theatre as Olga Bukarov in Leonard Ide's play ''These Few Ashes''.<ref>{{cite news|title=''These Few Ashes''|work=The Brooklyn Citizen|date= 31 October 1928|page= 14}}</ref> In January 1929 she starred in a new musical, ''Cheer Up'', at the Boulevard Theatre with a cast led by Don Barclay.<ref>{{cite news|title=''Cheer Up'' at Boulevard|work=Brooklyn Eagle|date= 2 January 1929|page= 36}}</ref> Later that year she performed with Sterling Holloway in the ''Shoestring Revue'' at the Lyric Theatre in Hoboken, New Jersey.<ref>{{cite news|title=''Shoestring Revue'' Holds Many Surprises for Local Patrons|work=The Jersey Journal|date= 16 November 1929|page= 9}}</ref>

==Film career and second marriage to Boris Ingster== [[File:Half Shot at Sunrise (1930), Bob Woolsey and Leni Stengel.jpg|thumb|Robert Woolsey and Leni Stengel in ''Half Shot at Sunrise'' (1930)]] [[File:Kickin’ the Crown Around (1933) Bobby Clark & Paul McCullough, with Leni Stengel.jpg|thumb|Leni Stengel with Bobby Clark and Paul McCullough in ''Kickin' the Crown Around'' (1933)]] [[File:The Animal Kingdom (1932, Film).jpg|thumb|Leni Stengel, with Don Dillaway and Ann Harding in ''The Animal Kingdom'' (1932)]] Stengler transitioned into work as a film actress in California; beginning with the part of Lady Robert in Warner Bros.'s German-language feature ''The Royal Box'' (1929) which was adapted from the play ''Kean'' by Alexandre Dumas.{{sfn| Hirschhorn|1986|page=81}} For Warner Bros. she also appeared in the Vitaphone Varieties short film ''The Master Sweeper'' (1930).{{sfn|Bradley|2005|pages=411-412}}<ref>{{cite news|title=Conklin in ''Variety''|work=The Atlanta Constitution|date= 16 February 1930|page=G6}}</ref> Later that year she signed a three year contract with RKO Radio Pictures.{{sfn|Quigley|1932|page=114}} She married film director Boris Ingster in Los Angeles on Christmas Eve 1930;<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/oakland-tribune-marriage-of-stengel-in/188295923/|title=German Film Star Weds Rus Director|work=Oakland Tribune|date= 25 December 1930|page= 17}}</ref> obtaining a marriage license three days later on 27 December 1930.<ref>Leni Stengel in the ''California, U.S., County Birth, Marriage, and Death Records, 1849-1980''</ref> Following her wedding she became a naturalized American citizen.<ref name="natural"/> Their marriage ended in divorce in 1937.<ref>{{cite news|title=Leni Stengel, German Film Beauty, Is Sued For Divorce|work=Chicago Tribune|date= 12 January 1937|page= 20}}</ref>

Stengler's first role in a full-length English-language film was Olga in RKO's ''Half Shot at Sunrise'';{{sfn|Quigley|1932|page=114}}{{sfn|Nash|Ross|1986d|page=1142}} a film starring the comedy duo Wheeler & Woolsey.{{sfn|Fetrow|1992|page=257}} She appeared in another Wheeler & Woolsey film for RKO, ''Cracked Nuts'' (1931), in which she played the part of Queen Carlotta.{{sfn|Nash|Ross|1986b|page=506}}{{sfn|Fetrow|1992|page=126}} In these works, as well as in radio performances with Wheeler & Woolsey, she acted as the straight man and romantic interest with Robert Woolsey, as Dorothy Lee did with Bert Wheeler. {{sfn|Jenkins|1992|pages=190-191}} In ''Half Shot at Sunrise'', Stengler and Woolsey share a comic dance routine, during which she tears off most of Woolsey's doughboy uniform, until he ends up in his skivvies, posing in a fountain.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/movies/thumbnails.php?identifier=half_shot_at_sunrise|title = Thumbnails for Half Shot at Sunrse}}</ref>

Other RKO Pictures she had roles in included ''Beau Ideal'' (1931, as Zuleika),{{sfn|Nash|Ross|1986a|page=157}}{{sfn|Fetrow|1992|page=38}} and ''The Animal Kingdom'' (1932, as the cellist Franc Schmidt).{{sfn|Nash|Ross|1986a|page=73}}{{sfn|Fetrow|1992|pages=17-18}} While working for RKO she also appeared in films for Paramount Pictures;{{sfn|Quigley|1932|page=114}} including ''The Road to Reno'' (1931, as Mrs. Stafford Howes),{{sfn|Fetrow|1992|page=551}} ''The Beloved Bachelor'' (1931, as Julie Stressman),{{sfn|Nash|Ross|1986a|page=172}}{{sfn|Fetrow|1992|page=42}} ''Husband's Holiday'' (1930, as Molly Saunders),{{sfn|Nash|Ross|1986d|page=1318}} ''Luxury Liner'' (1933, a slattern) and ''Kickin' the Crown Around'' (1933, The Queen).{{sfn|Webb|2020|page=297}} She worked with Buster Keaton in ''Casanova wider Willen'' ("The Reluctant Casanova", 1931), the German version of ''Parlor, Bedroom and Bath'' (1931).<ref>{{cite book|page=119|title=Hollywood Dreams Made Real: Irving Thalberg and the Rise of M-G-M|last= Vieira|first= Mark A.|isbn=978-0810972346|publisher=Abrams Books}}</ref>

In 1933 Stengler left RKO. For the Fox Film Corporation she portrayed Countess Vonesse in ''Man About Town'' (1932),{{sfn|Nash|Ross|1986e|page=1826}}{{sfn|Fetrow|1992|page=394}} and Columbia Pictures she appeared as Mrs. Landau in ''Hollywood Speaks'' (1932).{{sfn|Nash|Ross|1986d|page=1256}} {{sfn|Fetrow|1992|page=286}} For Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer she appeared in an unnamed part in ''Just a Gigolo'' (1931){{sfn|Nash|Ross|1986d|page=1498}} and as the German tourist Ilsa in ''The Barbarian'' (1933).{{sfn|Nash|Ross|1986a|page=139}}{{sfn|Fetrow|1992|page=34}} In 1934 she performed opposite Shemp Howard in two short film made by Warner Bros.: ''Henry the Ache''{{sfn|Webb|2020|page=237}} and ''Art Trouble''.{{sfn|Webb|2020|page=47}}

==Later life and career== After her film career halted, Stengel spent time living with her parents in Berlin in the mid 1930s.<ref name="Berlin"/> In 1936 she returned to Broadway as Madame Van Hemert in Jacques Deval's ''Tovarich'' (1936),<ref>{{cite news|title=Tovarich|work=Brooklyn Times Union|date= 16 October 1936|page= 9}}</ref> and later made one final Broadway appearance as Sister Agatha in Charles MacArthur and Ben Hecht's ''Swan Song'' (1946).{{sfn|MacArthur| 1974|page=315}}<ref>{{cite news|title=Psychiatry, Pianists, and Poison Make 'Swan Song' Mild Thriller|first= John|last=Chapman|work=New York Daily News|date=16 May 1946|page= 45|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-psychiatry-pianists-and-poi/188335848/}}</ref>

In television, she appeared as a guest in the series ''The Clock'' in the episode "Accident on Canigou" (1951),{{sfn|Inman|2001|page=2683}} and portrayed a romantic rival to actress Anne Bancroft's character in the ''Studio One'' episode "Wintertime".{{sfn|Shelley|2017|page=7}} This was followed by guest appearances in ''Lights Out'' (1951, episode "Dark Image" as Carmelita){{sfn|Inman|2001|page=2683}} and ''Police Story'' (1952, episode "The Nashville, Tennessee Story").<ref>{{cite news|title=''Police Story'' One of Better Crime Series|first=John|last=Lester|work=The Star-Ledger|date= 10 April 1952|page= 26}}</ref> She also appeared in the anthology series ''Lux Video Theatre'' in the episodes "Legacy of Love" (1952){{sfn|Billips|1995|page=1024}} and "Ti Babette" (1953).{{sfn|Billips|1995|page=1038}}

Stengel married Robert Archibald Scott in Manhattan on 19 March 1938.<ref>Leni Ingster in the ''New York, New York, Index to Marriage Licenses, 1908-1910, 1938-1940'', Certificate Number 4325</ref> He died in 1956.<ref>Robert Scott in ''New York, New York, U.S., Death Index, 1949-1965''</ref> She died in July 1982 in New York City, New York, USA.<ref name="SS">Leni Stengel in the ''U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014''</ref> [[File:Leni Stengel as Zuleika, in Beau Ideal (1931).jpg|thumbnail|Leni Stengel as Zuleika, in ''Beau Ideal'' (1931)]]

==References== ===Citations=== {{Reflist}} ===Bibliography=== *{{cite book|title=Lux Presents Hollywood: A Show-By-Show History of the Lux Radio Theatre and the Lux Video Theatre, 1934-1957|year=1995|last= Billips|first= Connie J.|publisher=McFarland & Co.|isbn=9780899509389}} *{{cite book|chapter=Chester Conklin in ''The Master Sweeper''|title=The First Hollywood Sound Shorts, 1926-1931|last=Bradley|first=Edwin M.|year=2005|publisher=McFarland & Company|isbn=9780786410309}} *{{cite book|title=Sound Films, 1927-1939: A United States Filmography|year=1992|last=Fetrow|first= Alan G.|publisher=McFarland & Company|isbn=9780899505466}} *{{cite book|title=The Warner Bros. Story|last= Hirschhorn|first= Clive|year=1986|publisher=Octopus Publishing Group|isbn=9780706427578}} *{{cite book|chapter=Stengler, Leni|title=Performers' Television Credits, 1948-2000|last= Inman|first= David|publisher=McFarland & Company|year=2001|isbn=9780786410415}} *{{cite book|title=What Made pistachio Nuts?: Early Sound Comedy and the Vaudeville Aesthetic|year=1992|last=Jenkins|first= Henry|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=9780231078542}} *{{cite book|title=The Stage Works of Charles MacArthur|year= 1974|editor-first1=Arthur|editor-last1= Dorlag|editor-first2= John Crawford|editor-last2= Irvine|first=Charles|last= MacArthur|publisher=Florida State University}} *{{cite book|title=The Motion Picture Guide|volume=A-B|year=1986a|first1=Jay Robert|last1= Nash|first2= Stanley Ralph|last2= Ross|publisher=Cinebook|isbn=0-933997-01-9|url=https://archive.org/details/motionpicturegui1927unse_1983}} *{{cite book|title=The Motion Picture Guide|volume=C-D|year=1986b|first1=Jay Robert|last1= Nash|first2= Stanley Ralph|last2= Ross|publisher=Cinebook|isbn=0-933997-02-7|url=https://archive.org/details/motionpicturegui0002jayr}} *{{cite book|title=The Motion Picture Guide|volume=H-K|year=1986d|first1=Jay Robert|last1= Nash|first2= Stanley Ralph|last2= Ross|publisher=Cinebook|isbn=0-933997-04-3|url=https://archive.org/details/motionpicturegui0004jayr/page/n5/mode/2up}} *{{cite book|title=The Motion Picture Guide|volume=L-M|year=1986e|first1=Jay Robert|last1= Nash|first2= Stanley Ralph|last2= Ross|publisher=Cinebook|isbn=0-933997-05-1|url=https://archive.org/details/motionpicturegui0005jayr/page/n5/mode/2up}} *{{cite book|title=The Motion Picture Almanac of 1932|publisher= Quigley Publishing Company|chapter=Stengel, Leni|editor-first=Martin|editor-last=Quigley|location=New York|year=1932}} *{{cite book|title=Anne Bancroft: The Life and Work|first= Peter|last= Shelley|year= 2017|isbn=9781476628585|publisher=McFarland & Company}} *{{cite book|last= Webb|first= Graham|year=2020|title= Encyclopedia of American Short Films, 1926-1959|publisher=McFarland & Company|isbn= 9781476681184}}

==External links== {{Commons category}}

*{{IMDb name|0826572}} *{{Rotten Tomatoes person|leni_stengel}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stengel, Leni}} Category:1901 births Category:1982 deaths Category:German emigrants to the United States Category:Actors from Oldenburg (city) Category:American film actresses Category:American musical theatre actresses Category:American radio actresses Category:American singers Category:American stage actresses Category:American television actresses Category:20th-century American actresses