Albert Lieven Explained

Albert Lieven
Birth Name:	Albert Fritz Liévin
Birth Date:	22 June 1906
Birth Place:	Hohenstein, East Prussia, German Empire
Death Place:	London, England
Occupation:	Actor
Spouse:	Tania Lieven (1933; 19??) Valerie White (1944; 194?) Petra Peters (1955; 19??)
Family:	Toby Flood (grandson)
Yearsactive:	1932–1971

Albert Lieven (born Albert Fritz Liévin; 22 June 1906 - 22 December 1971) was a German actor.

Early life

Lieven was born in Hohenstein, German Empire. His father was the head physician of the Tuberculosis sanatorium Hohenstein, where Lieven grew up. He started to study medicine but stopped the studies for financial reasons.^[1]

Career

Lieven started his career at theaters in Gera and Königsberg. His first screen role was in the German film Annemarie, die Braut der Kompanie (Bride of the Company) in 1932. During the next four years he appeared in another sixteen films, including the German film adaptation of Charley's Aunt.^[1] ^[2]

Owing to the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany and his wife Tatjana being Jewish, they moved to Britain in 1937. However, he spent the years of the Second World War mainly in roles depicting Nazis in British films, not finding them overly challenging as an actor.^[3]

Lieven appeared on the London stage in 1939 in the comedy Rake's Progress (not the later Rex Harrison film of the same title), but was largely acting in films (among them The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, 1943).^[4] In 1943 he appeared in the West End production The Lisbon Story.

Lieven appeared in many cinema productions, and in 1940, he was credited in seven, in all of which he played the role of a German.

He was under contract to Rank for five years from 1945. It has been claimed that he only appeared in one film during this contract, Sleeping Car to Trieste.^[5] In fact, however, he appeared in several other films for companies controlled by Rank during this period, as part of his contract. These included Marry Me! (1949), which was made for Gainsborough Pictures, which by that date was a subsidiary of Rank.

He returned to Germany in 1951, and appeared in many films made there. He also was in films both in Britain and Hollywood.^[6]

Family

Married four times, Lieven is the grandfather of the England rugby union player Toby Flood.^[7] Lieven died in London.

Selected filmography

Annemarie, die Braut der Kompanie (1932) as Fähnrich Werner v. Schumann
I by Day, You by Night (1932) as Wolf
Kampf um Blond (1933) as Victor
Ripening Youth (1933) as Knud Sengebusch, Abiturient
Die vom Niederrhein (1933) as Hans Steinherr
Es tut sich was um Mitternacht (1934) as Nikolaus 'Nicki' Durmann
Charley's Aunt (1934) as Jack Chesney
Krach um Jolanthe (1934) as Wesemeier, der neue Lehrer
Miss Liselott (1934) as Peter Wendt, Architekt
Trouble with Jolanthe (1934) as Wesemeier, der neue Lehrer
Eine Siebzehnjährige (1934) as Walter
Glückspilze (1935) as Hans Berding
Hermine and the Seven Upright Men (1935) as Karl
Make Me Happy (1935) as William Davenport
Carnival in Flanders (1936) as Johann Brueghel
Kater Lampe (1936) as Fritz Neumerkel – Schnitzergeselle
A Woman of No Importance (1936) as Gerald Arbuthnot
Victoria the Great (1937) as Minor Role (uncredited)
The Deacon and the Jewess (1939) as Simon
Spy for a Day (1940) as Capt. Hausemann
For Freedom (1940) as Fritz
Convoy (1940) as U-Boat Commander U.37
Let George Do It! (1940) as German Radio Operator (uncredited)
Night Train to Munich (1940) as Concentration Camp Guard (uncredited)
Neutral Port (1940) as Capt. Grosskraft
Mr. Proudfoot Shows a Light (1941) as German
Jeannie (1941) as Count von Wittgestein
The Big Blockade (1942) as German: Gunter
The Young Mr. Pitt (1942) as Talleyrand
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) as von Ritter
The Yellow Canary (1943) as Captain Jan Orlock
English Without Tears (1944) as Felix Dembrowski
The Seventh Veil (1945) as Maxwell Leydon
Beware of Pity (1946) as Lt. Anton Marek
Frieda (1947) as Richard
Sleeping Car to Trieste (1948) as Zurta
Marry Me! (1949) as Louis (uncredited)
The Dark Light (1951) as Mark
Hotel Sahara (1951) as Lt von Heillicke
The Dubarry (1951) as Alfred Collien
Klettermaxe (1952) as Max Malien
Fritz and Friederike (1952) as Henry de Voss
Desperate Moment (1953) as Paul Ravitch
The Rose of Stamboul (1953) as Achmed Bey
Beloved Life (1953) as Joachim von Bolin
Homesick for Germany (1954) as Fred Berger
Spring Song (1954) as Dr. Andermatt
The Confession of Ina Kahr (1954) as Dr. Pleyer
The Song of Kaprun (1955) as Peter Dahle
Des Teufels General (1955) as Oberst Friedrich Eilers
Ripening Youth (1955) as Studienrat Dr. Crusius
The Fisherman from Heiligensee (1955) as Wolfgang von Döring
Night of Decision (1956) as Albert Vernon
Loser Takes All (1956) as Hotel Manager
The House of Intrigue (1956) as Matt
The Battalion in the Shadows (1957)
All the Sins of the Earth (1958) as Judge
(1958) as Pierre de Motestant
Subway in the Sky (1959) as Carl
Conspiracy of Hearts (1960) as Col. Horstein
Brainwashed (1960) as Hartmann
Foxhole in Cairo (1960) as Gen. Erwin Rommel
Frau Irene Besser (1961)
The Guns of Navarone (1961) as Commandant
The Devil's Daffodil (1961) as Raymond Lyne
(1962, TV miniseries) as Terry Morris
Death Trap (Edgar Wallace Mysteries, 1962) as Paul Heindrick
The Devil's Agent (1962), as Inspector Huebling
Freddy and the Song of the South Pacific (1962) as Siebzehnstern
Mystery Submarine (1963) as Captain Neymarck
The Victors (1963) as Herr Metzger
Death Drums Along the River (1963) as Dr. Franz Weiss
Traitor's Gate (1964) as Trayne
(1965, TV miniseries) as Detective Inspector Hyde
City of Fear (1965) as Dr. Paul Kovac
African Gold (1965) as Karl Du Val
The Avengers, episode 4-9 (A Surfeit of H2O) (1965) as Dr. Sturm
The Gorilla of Soho (1968) as Henry Parker
(1970, TV miniseries) as Gordon Stewart
Die Feuerzangenbowle (1970) as Member of the Round table

References

Halliwell's Who's Who in the Movies, 14th edition, Harper Collins, 2001;

Notes and References

https://www.munzinger.de/search/portrait/Albert+Lieven/0/2288.html munzinger.de
Book: Ginibre, Jean-Louis . Ladies Or Gentlemen: A Pictorial History of Male Cross-dressing in the Movies . . 2005 . 9781933231044 . 2019-11-07.
Web site: Albert Lieven | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos.
Book: McFarlane, Brian . The Encyclopedia of British Film: Fourth edition . . 2016 . 9781526111968 . 2019-11-07.
News: IDLE STAR GETS ROLE AT LAST . . 2491 . Sydney . 14 January 1951 . 28 September 2017 . 38 . National Library of Australia.
Web site: Albert Lieven. https://web.archive.org/web/20180613083516/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f0bc84e. dead. June 13, 2018.
News: Was Toby Flood's famous grandfather a Soviet spy? . Virginia . Blackburn . . 2017-04-13 . 2019-11-07.