{{short description|Russian-German actress}} {{for|the Russian stage actress|Olga Knipper}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}} {{family name hatnote|Konstantinovna|Chekhov|lang=Eastern Slavic}} {{Infobox person | name = Olga Chekhova | native_name = {{nobold|Ольга Чехова}} | native_name_lang = ru | image = Film actress Olga Chekova (SAYRE 21177).jpg | alt = Olga Chekhova | caption = Chekhova c. 1929 | birth_name = Olga Konstantinovna Knipper | birth_date = {{Birth date|1897|4|14|df=yes}} | birth_place = [[Aleksandropol]], Erivan Governorate, Russian Empire<br>(today [[Gyumri]], Armenia) | death_date = {{Death date and age|1980|3|9|1897|4|14|df=yes}} | death_place = [[Munich]], West Germany | death_cause = | spouse = {{plainlist| * {{marriage|[[Michael Chekhov]]|1914|1917|end=divorced}} * {{marriage|Frederick Yaroshi|1920|1921|end=divorced}} * {{marriage|Marcel Robbins|1936|1938|end=divorced}} }} | children = [[Ada Tschechowa]] | other_names = Olga Tschechowa | occupation = [[Actress]] | years_active = 1926–1974 | relatives = {{plainlist| * [[Lev Knipper]] (brother) * [[Olga Knipper]] (aunt) * [[Anton Chekhov]] (uncle) * [[Marina Ried]] (niece) * [[Vera Tschechowa]] (granddaughter) }} }} '''Olga Konstantinovna Chekhova''' ({{nee|'''Knipper'''}}; {{langx|ru|Ольга Константиновна Чехова}}; 14 April 1897 – 9 March 1980), known in Germany as '''Olga Tschechowa''', was a Russian-German actress. Her film roles include the female lead in [[Alfred Hitchcock]]'s ''[[Mary (1931 film)|Mary]]'' (1931).
== Biography == {{section refimprove|date = July 2017}} Olga was the niece and namesake of [[Olga Knipper]] ([[Anton Chekhov]]'s wife). She went to school in [[Tsarskoye Selo]] but, after watching [[Eleonora Duse]], joined the [[Moscow Art Theatre]]'s studio. There she met the [[Russian-Jewish]] actor [[Michael Chekhov|Mikhail Chekhov]] (Anton's nephew) in 1914 and married him the same year, taking his surname as her own. Their daughter, also named Olga, was born in 1916.{{sfn|Beevor|p=38}} She became an actress under the name of [[Ada Tschechowa]].
During the year of the 1917 [[October Revolution]], Chekhova divorced her husband but kept his name. In the first year of the revolution, she joined a cabaret-theatre group called Sorokonozhka (The Little Centipede), as the troupe consisted of twenty members and forty feet. Chekhova also was given a part in a silent movie, ''Anya Kraeva'', in 1917. In 1918, she was given roles in ''Cagliostro'' and in ''The Last Adventure of Arsène Lupin''.{{sfn|Beevor|p=52}} Although part of the social circle around the Moscow Art Theatre, she never played a role there, despite her later claims to having her first theatre role in ''The Cherry Orchard''.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}
She managed to get a travel passport from the Soviet government, possibly in exchange for her cooperation, which led to permission to leave Russia. She was accompanied by a Soviet agent on a train to [[Vienna]], then she moved to [[Berlin]] in 1920. That same year, she married Frederick Yaroshi, though they divorced in 1921.<ref name="Yaroshi">{{Cite web|url=http://survincity.com/2011/11/russian-prima-nazi-cinema/|title = Russian prima Nazi cinema — Encyclopedia of safety}}</ref> Her first cinema role in Germany was in [[F. W. Murnau]] silent movie ''[[The Haunted Castle (1921 film)|Schloß Vogelöd]]'' (1921).{{sfn|Romani|p=41}} She played in [[Max Reinhardt (theatre director)|Max Reinhardt]]'s productions at [[UFA GmbH|UFA]]. She made the successful transition from silent film to talkies. In the 1930s, she rose to become one of the brightest stars of the [[Third Reich]] and was admired by [[Adolf Hitler]]. She appeared in such films as ''[[The Hymn of Leuthen]]'' although she preferred comedies.{{sfn|Romani|p=43}} In 1936 she married for the third time, to Marcel Robbins, which ended in divorce in 1938.
[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F001053-0006, Göttingen, Dreharbeaiten im Filmstudio.jpg|thumb|Chekhova at the Göttinger film festival in October 1953, sitting with [[Walter Janssen]].]]
== Joseph Goebbels == A published photograph of her sitting beside Hitler at a reception gave the leaders of the Soviet intelligence service the impression that she had close contacts with Hitler. She had more contact with the [[Propagandaministerium|Minister of Propaganda]], [[Joseph Goebbels]], who referred to her in his diaries as "''eine charmante Frau''" ("a charming lady").{{sfn|Beevor|p=149}}
She is also rumored to have been a communist spy in a Soviet conspiracy. According to the book ''Killing Hitler'' (2006) by the British author [[Roger Moorhouse]],<ref>{{cite book | title = Killing Hitler: The Plots, The Assassins, and the Dictator Who Cheated Death | first = Roger | last = Moorhouse | location = New York | isbn = 978-0-553-38255-6 | publisher = Bantam | year = 2006}}</ref> she was pressured by [[Stalin]] and [[Lavrentiy Beria|Beria]] to flirt with Adolf Hitler in order to gain and transfer information so that Hitler could be killed by secret Soviet agents.
== Later years == Olga achieved great success in the motion picture industry. Her filmography includes 138 credits as an actor, director, and producer<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0874781/|title=Olga Tschechowa|website=[[IMDb]]}}</ref> between 1917 and 1974. After the war she lived in the Soviet sector of Berlin, but eventually she managed to escape from her Soviet contacts. In 1949, she moved to Munich, Bavaria, and launched a cosmetics company, ''Olga Tschechowa Kosmetik''.{{sfn|Beevor|p=231}}
At the same time she continued acting, and played supporting roles and cameos in more than 20 films. She largely retired from acting in the 70s, after publishing a book of memoirs. Her correspondence with Russian actresses [[Olga Knipper]] and [[Alla Tarasova]] was published posthumously.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}
Her niece [[Marina Ried]] and granddaughter [[Vera Tschechowa]] also became actresses.
==Selected filmography == {{colbegin}} * ''[[Anya Kraeva (1917 film)|Anya Kraeva]]'' (1917) as Unknown role * ''[[The Last Adventure of Arsène Lupin (1918 film)|Poslednie priklucheniya Arsena Lupena]]'' (1918) as Unknown role * ''[[Cagliostro (1918 film)|Kaliostro]]'' (1918) as Unknown role * ''[[The Haunted Castle (1921 film)|The Haunted Castle]]'' (1921) as Baronin Safferstätt * ''[[Impostor (1921 film)|Impostor]]'' (1921) as Unknown role * ''[[Violet (1921 film)|Violet]]'' (1921) as Violet * ''[[The Circle of Death]]'' (1922) as Olga Petrowna * ''Der Kampf ums Ich'' (1922) as Unknown role * ''[[Nora (1923 film)|Nora]]'' (1923) as Nora * ''[[The Journey to Happiness]]'' (1923) as Alice Holmes * ''[[The Pagoda]]'' (1923) as Unknown role * ''[[Certificates of Death]]'' (1923) as Unknown role * ''[[Tatjana (film)|Tatjana]]'' (1923) as Tatjana * ''[[The Lost Shoe]]'' (1923) as Estella * ''[[Debit and Credit (film)|Debit and Credit]]'' (1924) as Sabine * ''[[The Enchantress (film)|The Enchantress]]'' (1924) as Unknown role * ''[[The Venus of Montmartre]]'' (1925) as Gräfin Sullivan * ''[[The City of Temptation]]'' (1925) as Unknown role * ''[[The Old Ballroom]]'' (1925, part 1, 2) as Unknown role * ''[[Should We Get Married?]]'' (1925) as Unknown role * ''[[Love Story (1925 film)|Love Story]]'' (1925) as Lilli, das Verhältnis * ''[[The Company Worth Millions]]'' (1925) as Unknown role * ''[[The Fallen (1926 film)|The Fallen]]'' (1926) as Malwa, Freundin von Hammer * ''[[The Mill at Sanssouci]]'' (1926) as Tänzerin Barberina * ''[[Malice (1926 film)|Malice]]'' (1926) as Seine Frau * ''[[The Schimeck Family]]'' (1926) as Olga, seine Frau * ''[[Trude (film)|Trude]]'' (1926) as Unknown role * ''[[The Man in the Fire]]'' (1926) as Diva Romola * ''[[His Toughest Case]]'' (1926) as Mary Melton * ''[[Grandstand for General Staff (1926 film)|Grandstand for General Staff]]'' (1926) as Gräfin Landieren * ''[[Aftermath (1927 film)|Aftermath]]'' (1927) as Nadja * ''[[The Sea (1927 film)|The Sea]]'' (1927) as Rosseherre * ''[[His Late Excellency (1927 film)|His Late Excellency]]'' (1927) as Baronin von Windegg * ''[[The Italian Straw Hat (1928 film)|The Italian Straw Hat]]'' (1928) as Anaïs de Beauperthuis * ''[[Moulin Rouge (1928 film)|Moulin Rouge]]'' (1928) as Parysia * ''[[Pawns of Passion]]'' (1928) as Ala Suminska * ''[[Woman in Flames]]'' (1928) as Gräfin Clarissa Thalberg * ''[[After the Verdict (film)|After the Verdict]]'' (1929) as Vivian Denys * ''[[Diane (1929 film)|Diane]]'' (1929) as Diane Mervil * ''[[The Love of the Brothers Rott]]'' (1929) as Theresa Donath * ''[[Foolishness of His Love]]'' (1929) as Director * ''[[Incest (film)|Incest]]'' (1929) as Lisbeth Kröger - deren Tochter aus erster Ehe * ''[[Helene Willfüer, Student of Chemistry (film)|Helene Willfüer, Student of Chemistry]]'' (1930) as Helene Willfüer * ''[[Love in the Ring]]'' (1930) as Lilian * ''[[Troika (1930 film)|Troika]]'' (1930) as Vera Walowa * ''Der Detektiv des Kaisers'' (1930) as Olga * ''[[The Three from the Filling Station (1930 film)|The Three from the Filling Station]]'' (1930) as Edith von Turoff * ''[[Darling of the Gods]]'' (1930) as Olga von Dagomirska * ''Zwei Krawatten'' (1930) as Mabel * ''[[The Road to Paradise]]'' (1930) as Edith de Tourkoff * ''[[A Girl from the Reeperbahn]]'' (1930) as Hanne Bullová * ''[[The Great Longing]]'' (1930) as Herself * ''Liebe auf Befehl'' (1931) as Manuela * ''[[Mary (1931 film)|Mary]]'' (1931) as Mary Baring * ''[[Panic in Chicago]]'' (1931) as Florence Dingley * ''[[The Night of Decision (1931 film)|The Night of Decision]]'' (1931) as Maria Iwanowa (Marya Sablin) * ''[[The Concert (1931 film)|The Concert]]'' (1931) as Maria Heink, Gattin * ''[[Night Convoy]]'' (1932) as Inka Maria, seine Frau * ''[[Trenck (film)|Trenck]]'' (1932) as Elisabeth, Zarin von Rußland * ''[[Spies at the Savoy Hotel]]'' (1932) as Miß Harris * ''[[The Hymn of Leuthen]]'' (1933) as Gräfin Mariann * ''[[Liebelei (film)|Liebelei]]'' (1933) as Baronin v. Eggersdorff * ''[[A Love Story (1933 film)|A Love Story]]'' (1933) as Baronin von Eggersdorf * ''[[Ways to a Good Marriage]]'' (1933) as Claire Veiler, die unbefriedigte Frau * ''Ein gewisser Herr Gran'' (1933) as Frau Mervin * ''Un certain monsieur Grant'' (1933) as Mme Merwin - une espionne * ''[[The Country Schoolmaster (1933 film)|The Country Schoolmaster]]'' (1933) as Teresa van der Straaten * ''Um ein bisschen Glück'' (1933) as Helene, seine Frau * ''[[Police Report (1934 film)|Police Report]]'' (1934) as Gisela Ostercamp * ''[[Between Two Hearts]]'' (1934) as Inge Leuthoff * ''L'amour qu'il faut aux femmes'' (1934) as Le troisième couple * ''[[The World Without a Mask]]'' (1934) as Betty Bandelow * ''Maskerade'' (1934) as Anita Keller - seine Braut * ''[[What Am I Without You]]'' (1934) as Lilly Petrowa, Schauspielerin * ''Abenteuer eines jungen Herrn in Polen'' (1934) as Gräfin Lubenska * ''[[Peer Gynt (1934 film)|Peer Gynt]]'' (1934) as Baronin * ''[[Regine (1935 film)|Regine]]'' (1935) as Floris Bell, Schauspielerin * ''[[Asew]]'' (1935) as Tanja Asew, seine Frau * ''[[The Eternal Mask]]'' (1935)<ref>Filmed in German by a Swiss production firm, (The Eternal Mask) adapted by Leo Lapaire from his own novel. Mathias Weimann plays an idealistic doctor who believes he has discovered a cure for meningitis. Ordered not to experiment with this serum, Weimann does so anyway, utilizing the supposed wonder drug on a terminal patient. When the man dies, Weimann is reprimanded by his superiors, and wanders out of the hospital, believing himself a failure. His depression deepens into delirium, and soon the doctor is wandering through a Caligariesque world of distorted shapes and distended shadows, where he finds it impossible to separate illusion from reality. Meanwhile, Weimann's superiors determine that the meningitis serum is indeed effective; now they must snap the doctor out of his nightmare in order for him to reveal the formula. One of the very few successful attempts to convey madness on screen.</ref> as Madame Negar * ''[[Dreams of Love (1935 German film)|Dreams of Love]]'' (1935) as Gräfin Madeleine Duday * ''[[Artist Love]]'' (1935) as Olivia Vanderhagen * ''Ein Walzer um den Stephansturm'' (1935) as Sylvia von Polonska * ''[[The Empress's Favourite]]'' (1936) as Elisabeth Kaiserin von Russland * ''L'argent'' (1936) as Baronne Sandorff * ''Manja Valewska'' (1936) as Gräfin Pola Valewska * ''[[His Daughter is Called Peter (1936 film)|His Daughter is Called Peter]]'' (1936) as Nora Noir * ''[[Hannerl and Her Lovers (1936 film)|Hannerl and Her Lovers]]'' (1936) as Frau von Stahl * ''[[Court Theatre (film)|Court Theatre]]'' (1936) as Baroness Seebach * ''Die weissen Teufel'' (1936) as Jenny Morel * ''[[The Ways of Love Are Strange (1937 film)|The Ways of Love Are Strange]]'' (1937) as Antonia Delvarez * ''Unter Ausschluß der Öffentlichkeit'' (1937) as Brigitte Sparrenberg * ''[[The Yellow Flag]]'' (1937) - Helen Roeder as amerikanische Journalistin * ''Gewitterflug zu Claudia'' (1937) as Frau Mainburg * ''[[The Girl with a Good Reputation]]'' (1938) as Mirandolina * ''[[Red Orchids]]'' (1938) as Maria Dorando * ''[[Two Women (1938 film)|Two Women]]'' (1938) as Paula Corvey * ''[[Adventure in Love]]'' (1938) as Olivia * ''[[The Stars Shine]]'' (1938) as Herself * ''[[Bel Ami (1939 film)|Bel Ami]]'' (1939) as Madeleine Forestier * ''Ich verweigere die Aussage'' (1939) as Nora Ottendorf * ''Parkstraße 13'' (1939) as Evelyne Schratt * ''Die unheimlichen Wünsche'' (1939) as Feodora, Schauspielerin * ''[[Liberated Hands]]'' (1939) as Kerstin Thomas * ''[[Passion (1940 film)|Passion]]'' (1940) as Gerda * ''Angelika'' (1940) as Angelika * ''[[The Fox of Glenarvon]]'' (1940) as Gloria Grandison * ''[[People in the Storm]]'' (1941) as Vera seine Frau * ''[[Andreas Schlüter (film)|Andreas Schlüter]]'' (1942) as Gräfin Vera Orlewska * ''[[With the Eyes of a Woman]]'' (1942) as Marie-Louise v. Ditmar, Baronin von Stein * ''[[The Eternal Tone]]'' (1943) as Josephine Malti, Singer * ''[[Journey into the Past]]'' (1943) as Marianne von der Halden * ''Gefährlicher Frühling'' (1943) as Juliane von Buckwitz * ''[[Melusine (film)|Melusine]]'' (1944) as Nora * ''[[In the Temple of Venus]]'' (1948) as Carola Weber * ''[[One Night Apart]]'' (1950) as Vera, seine Frau * ''Kein Engel ist so rein'' (1950) as Margot * ''[[Two in One Suit]]'' (1950) as Catherine Turner * ''[[The Reluctant Maharaja]]'' (1950) as Susanne de Bogne - Journalistin * ''[[Trouble in Paradise (1950 film)|Trouble in Paradise]]'' (1950) as Myriam Esneh * ''[[The Man Who Wanted to Live Twice]]'' (1950) as Irene Hesse * ''[[Desire (1951 film)|Desire]]'' (1951) as Frau des Bankpräsidenten * ''Eine Frau mit Herz'' (1951) as Vera von Wesener * ''[[The Secret of a Marriage]]'' (1951) as Tina Camphausen * ''[[My Friend the Thief]]'' (1951) as Percys Schwester * ''[[Behind Monastery Walls (1952 film)|Behind Monastery Walls]]'' (1952) as Priorin * ''[[Everything for Father]]'' (1953) as Frau von Pleskow * ''[[Rose-Girl Resli]]'' (1953) as Mrs. von Weidersheim * ''Heute nacht passiert's'' (1953) as Herself - Gast im Modesalon * ''[[Captain Wronski]]'' (1954) as Frau von Eichhoff * ''[[I Was an Ugly Girl]]'' (1955) as Luise Raymond * ''[[The Barrings]]'' (1955) as Amelie von Eyff * ''[[U 47 – Kapitänleutnant Prien]]'' (1958) as Die Fürstin * ''[[Jack and Jenny]]'' (1963) as Mutter Johannsen * ''[[The Twins from Immenhof]]'' (1973) as Großmutter Arkens * ''[[Spring in Immenhof]]'' (1974) as Großmutter (final film role) {{colend}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== *{{cite book | ref = {{sfnref|Beevor}} | last = Beevor | first = Antony | authorlink = Antony Beevor | title = The Mystery of Olga Chekhova | year = 2004 | publisher = Viking | location = New York | isbn = 978-0-670-03340-9 }} * {{cite book | ref = {{sfnref|Romani}}| first = Cinzia | last = Romani | title = Tainted Goddesses: Female Film Stars of the Third Reich | translator-first = Robert | translator-last = Connolly | publisher = Sarpedon | year = 1992 | location = New York | isbn = 978-0-9627613-1-7 }}
== External links == {{commons category}} * {{IMDb name}} *{{in lang|ru}} [http://www.peoples.ru/art/cinema/actor/chehova/history1.html Biography and photos] * [http://film.virtual-history.com/person.php?personid=723 Photographs and bibliography] * [https://www.c-span.org/video/?179699-1/mystery-olga-chekhova ''Booknotes'' interview with Antony Beevor on ''The Mystery Of Olga Chekhova'', October 24, 2004.]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chekhova, Olga}} [[Category:1897 births]] [[Category:1980 deaths]] [[Category:People from Gyumri]] [[Category:People from Erivan Governorate]] [[Category:People from the Russian Empire of German descent]] [[Category:German film actresses]] [[Category:Russian people of German descent]] [[Category:German silent film actresses]] [[Category:NKVD]] [[Category:Soviet emigrants to Germany]] [[Category:Soviet actresses]] [[Category:Actresses from the Russian Empire]] [[Category:Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]] [[Category:20th-century German actresses]]