A German actress and singer, born in Berlin, Germany. She studied theatrical arts and soon began appearing on stage in plays, where she played the role of Nora in the play A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen, the role of Mary in the play Woyzeck by Georg Büchner, and the role of Juliet in the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. Then she made her film debut in 1923 in the film Zwischen zwei Welten. After her contract at the State Theatre was canceled, she immediately left Germany, and went first to Czechoslovakia, then to the United Kingdom, and appeared in many films there. She played the role of the spy, Annabella Smith, with the director Alfred Hitchcock in the movie The 39 Steps in 1935. She also played the role of Maria in the movie The Paris Express (1952).