Anny Ondra (born Anna Sophie Ondráková, 15 May 1903 â€" 28 February
1987) was a Czech film actress. She began her career in 1920 and
appeared in Czech, German, Austrian, French and English films. In
1933, she married German boxing champion Max Schmeling.Ondra was born
in Tarnów to Czech parents, BohumÃr Ondrák, an officer in the
Austro-Hungarian Army, and Anna Ondráková (née Mracek). She had two
brothers, Tomáš and Jindřich. She spent her childhood in Tarnów,
Pula and Prague. At seventeen she acted in the theatre and in her
first film, which was directed by her then boyfriend, director and
actor Karel LamaÄ . When her family learned of it, they had a shouting
match in which the teenager received a beating from her father - to be
an actress, soon after the First World War, was socially almost at the
level of a being a beggar. Anna had been educated at a convent school
and her father had found an official government position for her. Anna
preferred a film career and began to live with Karel LamaÄ . "I swim
like a fish, ride like a cowboy, and I would do it all if the film
required it," summarised the nineteen-year-old. After some years she
wanted to start a family, but LamaÄ did not want to marry. So, after
a three-year romance, on 6 July 1933 in Bad Saarow, Ondra married
German boxer Max Schmeling. Schmeling had acquired the summer house in
Bad Saarow belonging to the expressionist painter Bruno Krauskopf, who
had fled exile from the Nazis, in 1933. Ondra and Schmeling appeared
together in the film Knock-out (1935).Throughout their marriage,
German fascists tried to exploit the fame and popularity of Ondra and
Schmeling. They were often seen in photos with Joseph Goebbels and
Adolf Hitler - Schmeling portrayed as a German superman (he was
heavyweight champion of the world between 1930 and 1932) and Ondra as
a blonde Aryan, despite her Slavic origins. However, they never
collaborated: Schmeling refused to accept honours and even secretly
helped to hide two Jewish children, saving their lives; in Nazi
Germany this was a capital offence. After the war, they were penalised
financially for collaboration, and an arrest warrant was issued in
Czechoslovakia. Nazi propaganda was taken literally and Schmeling
never visited Ondra's homeland.After the war, they were left without
funds and assets. In 1949 they moved to Hollenstedt near Hamburg, and
in the 1950s Schmeling began working for The Coca-Cola Company.
1987) was a Czech film actress. She began her career in 1920 and
appeared in Czech, German, Austrian, French and English films. In
1933, she married German boxing champion Max Schmeling.Ondra was born
in Tarnów to Czech parents, BohumÃr Ondrák, an officer in the
Austro-Hungarian Army, and Anna Ondráková (née Mracek). She had two
brothers, Tomáš and Jindřich. She spent her childhood in Tarnów,
Pula and Prague. At seventeen she acted in the theatre and in her
first film, which was directed by her then boyfriend, director and
actor Karel LamaÄ . When her family learned of it, they had a shouting
match in which the teenager received a beating from her father - to be
an actress, soon after the First World War, was socially almost at the
level of a being a beggar. Anna had been educated at a convent school
and her father had found an official government position for her. Anna
preferred a film career and began to live with Karel LamaÄ . "I swim
like a fish, ride like a cowboy, and I would do it all if the film
required it," summarised the nineteen-year-old. After some years she
wanted to start a family, but LamaÄ did not want to marry. So, after
a three-year romance, on 6 July 1933 in Bad Saarow, Ondra married
German boxer Max Schmeling. Schmeling had acquired the summer house in
Bad Saarow belonging to the expressionist painter Bruno Krauskopf, who
had fled exile from the Nazis, in 1933. Ondra and Schmeling appeared
together in the film Knock-out (1935).Throughout their marriage,
German fascists tried to exploit the fame and popularity of Ondra and
Schmeling. They were often seen in photos with Joseph Goebbels and
Adolf Hitler - Schmeling portrayed as a German superman (he was
heavyweight champion of the world between 1930 and 1932) and Ondra as
a blonde Aryan, despite her Slavic origins. However, they never
collaborated: Schmeling refused to accept honours and even secretly
helped to hide two Jewish children, saving their lives; in Nazi
Germany this was a capital offence. After the war, they were penalised
financially for collaboration, and an arrest warrant was issued in
Czechoslovakia. Nazi propaganda was taken literally and Schmeling
never visited Ondra's homeland.After the war, they were left without
funds and assets. In 1949 they moved to Hollenstedt near Hamburg, and
in the 1950s Schmeling began working for The Coca-Cola Company.
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