Actress. She is best remembered as Emil Jannings' faithless trapeze artist mistress in the German classic "Variety" (1925). Reputedly descended from Hungarian nobility, she was born Amalia de Putti in what is now Vesce, Slovakia. At 16 she entered into an arranged marriage with a local magistrate, Zoltan von Szepessy, and had two daughters before abruptly abandoning the family to become a dancer in Budapest. Szepessy divorced her in 1918, the year she made her screen debut in the Hungarian film "A Császár katonái." She moved to Berlin in 1920. Director Joe May gave De Putti her first important role in "The Indian Tomb" (1921) and she became a favorite with German audiences, proving adept at both contemporary and costume drama. In "Die Fledermaus" (1923) she showed an unexpected flair for comedy. The worldwide success of "Variety" brought De Putti to the US under contract to Paramount, but apart from a fine vamp role in D.W. Griffith's "The Sorrows of Satan" (1926) she failed to match her European success. The arrival of sound ended her Hollywood career; in her only talkie, the British-made "The Informer" (1929), her dialogue had to be dubbed by another actress. An attempted comeback on Broadway in the comedy "Maid in France" (1930) also fizzled, and she withdrew from the public eye. De Putti died of pneumonia, following surgery to remove a chicken bone from her throat. Her credits in both Germany and America include director F.W. Murnau's "The Burning Soil" (1922) and "Phantom" (1922), "Othello" (1922), "Comedians" (1925), "Manon Lescaut" (1926), "God Gave Me Twenty Cents" (1926), "The Heart Thief" (1927), and "The Scarlet Lady" (1928). Note: various sources give her year of birth as 1896, 1897, 1899, and 1901. Her 1912 marriage to Szepessy argues for the earliest date.
Actress. She is best remembered as Emil Jannings' faithless trapeze artist mistress in the German classic "Variety" (1925). Reputedly descended from Hungarian nobility, she was born Amalia de Putti in what is now Vesce, Slovakia. At 16 she entered into an arranged marriage with a local magistrate, Zoltan von Szepessy, and had two daughters before abruptly abandoning the family to become a dancer in Budapest. Szepessy divorced her in 1918, the year she made her screen debut in the Hungarian film "A Császár katonái." She moved to Berlin in 1920. Director Joe May gave De Putti her first important role in "The Indian Tomb" (1921) and she became a favorite with German audiences, proving adept at both contemporary and costume drama. In "Die Fledermaus" (1923) she showed an unexpected flair for comedy. The worldwide success of "Variety" brought De Putti to the US under contract to Paramount, but apart from a fine vamp role in D.W. Griffith's "The Sorrows of Satan" (1926) she failed to match her European success. The arrival of sound ended her Hollywood career; in her only talkie, the British-made "The Informer" (1929), her dialogue had to be dubbed by another actress. An attempted comeback on Broadway in the comedy "Maid in France" (1930) also fizzled, and she withdrew from the public eye. De Putti died of pneumonia, following surgery to remove a chicken bone from her throat. Her credits in both Germany and America include director F.W. Murnau's "The Burning Soil" (1922) and "Phantom" (1922), "Othello" (1922), "Comedians" (1925), "Manon Lescaut" (1926), "God Gave Me Twenty Cents" (1926), "The Heart Thief" (1927), and "The Scarlet Lady" (1928). Note: various sources give her year of birth as 1896, 1897, 1899, and 1901. Her 1912 marriage to Szepessy argues for the earliest date.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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