German-Jewish actress and dancer of eccentric personality and dark, aquiline features. Her radical interpretations of modern dance are now regarded as having been ahead of her time. She first studied dance from the age of six and took acting lessons from Alexander and Maria Moissi. She performed in cabaret and pantomime in Berlin and at the Munich Kammerspiele during the 1920's and also acted in silent films. She was forced to leave Germany after the Nazis came to power in 1933.
