Schmitz, Sybille

(1909-1955)

   Actress. Schmitz was among the most sensuous and beautiful of all the actresses in the Third Reich, though her career began at age 19 with Max Reinhardt after she received acting training from Louise Dumont. She had an altogether different "look" from other actresses, along with an obvious, raw talent that Reinhardt found appealing. Schmitz debuted for Reinhardt in early 1928 as a serving maid in Ossip Dymov's BronxExpress, directed by Heinz Hilpert. She caught the critics' eye later that year in Hilpert's production of Die Verbrecher (The Criminals). In 1929 she began working in films, most notably in Tagebuch einer Verlorenen (Diary of a Lost Girl) with Louise Brooks. Her film breakthrough came in 1932 with F.P. 1 antwortet nicht (F.P. 1 Doesn't Answer) with Hans Albers and Peter Lorre. Herbert Ihering said of Schmitz: "Finally a new type, finally a new tone. No outbreaks, [just] timbre in vocal expression with little obvious histrionic nuances." Her voice often registered a provocative innocence, a feature not lost on the Nazi leadership. Schmitz made 26 films during the Nazi era, though her resistance to Joseph Goebbels' sexual propositions led to far fewer film jobs by the 1940s.