Maria Schell

 ( 1926 Births ) 

After the Anschluss in 1938, her family moved to Zürich in Switzerland. Maria Schell began commercial training, but soon entered the film business when she met the Swiss actor and director Sigfrit Steiner.

The 1956 film Gervaise directed by René Clément was also a nominee for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film; while in Hollywood, Schell met Yul Brynner, who urged for her casting in The Brothers Karamazov (1958) in the role of Grushenka. Schell also starred with Gary Cooper in The Hanging Tree (1959), and with Glenn Ford in Cimarron (1960). Other famous movie parts included Le notti bianche (1957), Rose Bernd (1957), and Superman (1978). Schell played Mother Maria in the sequel to Lilies of the Field titled Christmas Lilies of the Field. In 1959 she appeared on What's My Line? as the mystery guest. In 1970, Schell starred opposite Christopher Lee in The Bloody Judge by Jesús Franco.

In 1976, she starred in a Kojak episode, and also had three guest appearances in the German television series Der Kommissar and two in Derrick, in the episodes "Yellow He" (1977) and "Klavierkonzert" (1978). Schell appeared on stage, including an acclaimed performance in the 1976 Broadway play Poor Murderer by Pavel Kohout and the leading role in Friedrich Dürrenmatt's play The Visit with the Schauspielhaus Zürich ensemble.

Schell lived reclusively in the remote village of Preitenegg, Carinthia, in the Austrian Alps until her death from pneumonia on 26 April 2005, aged 79. Upon her death, her brother released a statement, stating in part: "Towards the end of her life, she suffered silently, and I never heard her complain. I admire her for that. Her death might have been for her a salvation. But not for me. She is irreplaceable."

• 1985: Die Kostbarkeit des Augenblicks. Gedanken, Erinnerungen. Langen Müller, München, .
• 1998: "... und wenn's a Katz is!" Mein Weg durchs Leben. Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach, .

• Steibruch (1942), as Meiti / Gretl
• The Angel with the Trumpet (1948), as Selma Rosner
• Maresi (1948), as Blanka von Steinville - The Daughter
• After the Storm (1948), as Gretel Aichinger
• The Last Night (1949)
• The Angel with the Trumpet (1950), as Anna Linden
• A Day Will Come (1950), as Madeleine
• Dr. Holl (1951), as Angelika Alberti
• The Magic Box (1951), as Helena Friese-Greene
• So Little Time (1952), as Nicole de Malvines
• Until We Meet Again (1952), as Pamela
• Dreaming Lips (1953), as Elisabeth
• As Long as You're Near Me (1953), as Eva Berger
• Diary of a Married Woman (1953), as Barbara Holzmann
• The Heart of the Matter (1953), as Helen Rolt
• The Last Bridge (1954),The Last Bridge as Dr. Helga Reinbeck
• Master of Life and Death (1955), as Barbara Bertram, geb. Hansen
• Napoléon (1955, by Sacha Guitry), as Marie-Louise, Napoleon's Austrian wife
• Die Ratten (1955), as Pauline Karka
• Gervaise (1956, by Rene Clement, from Émile Zola's L'Assommoir), as Gervaise Macquart Coupeau, une blanchisseuse douce et courageuse
• Love (1956), as Anna Ballard
• Rose Bernd (1957), as Rose Bernd
• Le notti bianche (1957), as Natalia
• The Brothers Karamazov (1958), as Grushenka
• One Life, by Alexandre Astruc (1958, from an eponym novel by Guy de Maupassant), as Jeanne Dandieu épouse de Lamare
• Der Schinderhannes (1958), as Julchen
• The Hanging Tree (1959), as Elizabeth Mahler
• As the Sea Rages (1959), as Mana
• Cimarron (1960), as Sabra Cravat
• The Mark (1961), as Ruth Leighton
• Das Riesenrad (1961), as Elisabeth von Hill
• Only a Woman (1962), as Lilli König
• (1963), as Beate Dehn
• (1963), as Agnès Duvillard
• The Devil by the Tail (1969), as Countess Diane
• 99 Women (1969), as Leonie Caroll
• The Bloody Judge (1970), as Mother Rosa
• La Provocation (1970), as Jeanne
• Dans la poussière du soleil (1972), as Gertie Bradford
• Chamsin (1972), as Miriam
• Die Pfarrhauskomödie (1972), as Irma
• The Odessa File (1974), as Frau Miller
• (1975), as Mama
• The Twist (1976), as Gretel
• Voyage of the Damned (1976), as Mrs. Hauser
• Kojak - Season 4, Episode 11: "The Pride and the Princess" (1976), as Sister Lepar Angelica / Princess Viva Dushan
• Derrick (1977–1978), as Luisa van Doom / Erika Rabes
• Superman (1978), as Vond-Ah
• Christmas Lilies of the Field (1979), as Valeska Piontek
• The Martian Chronicles mini-series - Season 1 (1980), as Anna Lustig
• Frau Jenny Treibel (1982, TV film), as Jenny Treibel
• Inside the Third Reich (1983), as Mrs. Speer
• Král Drozdia Brada (1984), as královna, Michalova matka
• 1919 (1985), as Sophie Rubin
• Die glückliche Familie (1987–1991, TV Series), as Maria Behringer

• 1951–1957, 1987, 2002: Bambi Award
• 1954: Honorable Mention at the Cannes International Film Festival for The Last Bridge
• 1956: Volpi Cup at the Venice International Film Festival for Gervaise
• 1957 and 1958: Golden and Silver Bravo Otto
• 1974: Merit Cross of the Federal Republic of Germany
• 1977: German Film Awards, Gold Award for many years of excellent work in the German film industry
• 1980: Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
• 1983: Goldene Kamera
• 2002: Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class
• 2008: Maria Schell street named in Landstrasse (Vienna's 3rd District, area Aspanggründe / Euro-gate)

• Mato Weiland: Maria Schell. Die autorisierte Maria Schell-Story. Massimo-Verlag, Wien 1959 ÖNB
• Herbert Spaich: Maria Schell – ihre Filme – ihr Leben. Heyne-Bücher, Heyne-Filmbibliothek, 99, München 1986,
• Hermann Josef Huber: Heitere Starparade. 300 Anekdoten von Hans Albers bis Maria Schell. Herder Taschenbuch Verl., Freiburg/Br., Basel, Wien 1989 UBS
• Maximilian Schell, Gero von Boehm, Thomas Montasser: Meine Schwester Maria. Europa-Verlag, Hamburg 2004,
• Maja Keppler (Red.), Deutsches Filmmuseum Frankfurt, (Hrsg.): Maria Schell, eine. Schriftenreihe des Deutschen Filmmuseums: Kinematograph, 22, Frankfurt am Main 2006,

• Obituary: Maria Schell (1926-2005)
• Photographs and literature
• Maria Schell Estate at Deutsches Filminstitut, Frankfurt am Main