Zarah Leander

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Zarah Leander (March 15, 1907 – June 23, 1981) was a Swedish actress and singer. She was born as Zarah Stina Hedberg in Karlstad, and died in Stockholm.

Although Zarah Leander studied piano and violin already as a small child, and sang on stage for the first time at the age of six, she made a serious attempt at an ordinary life. As a teenager she lived two years in Riga (1922–1924), learned the then most important international language, German, took up work as a secretary, married Nils Leander (1926), and had two children (1927 & 1929). However, in 1929 she was engaged, as an amateur, in a touring cabaret by the leading entertainer and producer Ernst Rolf and for the first time sang “Vill ni se en stjärna,” (‘Do you want to see a star?’) which soon would become her signature tune.

In 1930, she participated in four cabarets in the capital, Stockholm, made her first records, including a cover of Marlene Dietrich’s “Falling in Love Again,” and played a part in a film. However, it was as Hanna Glavari in Franz Lehár’s operetta The Merry Widow that she had her definitive break-through (1931). By then she had divorced Nils Leander. In the following years, she embarked on a splendid career and could make a decent living as a popular artist on stage and in film in Scandinavia. Her fame brought her proposals also from the European continent and from Hollywood, where a number of Swedish actors and directors were working.

Tagged as:

chanson, cabaret, female vocalists, german, 40s
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1	Wunderbar full track	41
2	Nur nicht aus Liebe weinen (aus dem Ufa-Film 'Es war eine rauschende Ballnacht')	24
3	Nur nicht aus Liebe Weinen	20
4	Ich weiß, es wird einmal ein Wunder geschehn (aus dem Ufa-Film 'Die große Liebe')	18
5	Ave Maria full track	15
6	Davon geht die Welt nicht unter	14
7	Bleib hier, dich führt kein Weg zurück	13
8	Kann denn Liebe Sünde sein? (aus dem Ufa-Film "Der Blaufuchs)	12
8	Du bist der bei dem's möglich wär full track	12
10	Ich steh' im Regen (aus dem Film 'Zu neuen Ufern')	10
10	Eine Frau wird erst schön durch die Liebe (aus dem Fröhlich-Film 'Heimat')	10
10	Daran zerbricht man doch nicht	10
13	Der Wind hat mir ein Lied erzählt (Slow aus dem Ufa Film "La Habanera")	9
14	Eine Frau wird erst schön durch die Liebe	8
14	Der Wind hat mir ein Lied erzählt	8

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LordGazeau wrote:
last month

Fluchi: Don't be ignorant and call her German just because she performed in Austria and Germany during the 1940's. She refused to become German during the WW2 and never gave up her Swedish citizenship. An amazing singer, anyway!

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voxstellarvm wrote:
September 2008

"Hrodebert wrote: February 2008 Are you sure that she isn't he" how dare you >:l

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volksverbund wrote:
September 2008

Deutschland Deutschland über alles

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JamesMcNulty wrote:
August 2008

Nun ja, immerhin keine Spaßbremse wie Marlene Dietrich, nicht wahr? :D

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Epitymbidia wrote:
August 2008

Propagandaheulboje? Welch überaus eloquenter Kommentar, er hat ja direkt Spulwurmqualitäten. Bravo!

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JamesMcNulty wrote:
July 2008

Propagandaheulboje...

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Drachenlady82 wrote:
April 2008

wunderbare Sängerin.

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Fluchi wrote:
February 2008

@ Hrodebert: No,Zarah wasn't a tranny. one of the best german singers and actresses. she was a beautiful lady.

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Hrodebert wrote:
February 2008

Are you sure that she isn't he? Sounds like a man. Maybe she was a tranny.

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victorg wrote:
July 2007

Nichts ist so gefährlich wie das Allzumodernsein. Man gerät in Gefahr, plötzlich aus der Mode zu kommen. (auch von Oscar Wilde)

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Epitymbidia wrote:
July 2007

Das Publikum ist wunderbar nachsichtig. Es verzeiht alles außer Genie. (Oscar Wilde)

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Fluchi wrote:
June 2007

Großartige Künstlerin.

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fedeprax, kassandra591, pablogriss and 14 other people added Zarah Leander to their libraries. 7 hours ago
amitome tagged Zarah Leander with cabaret and german. last week
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zorkaeugenia created the Spanish wiki page for Zarah Leander. September 2008