A vivacious and very attractive blonde supporting actress and
occasional singer, Frieda Elfriede Benkhoff might best be described as a
German Eve Arden. Even though she rarely
commanded a leading role, she became widely popular as an effervescent, perpetually
wisecracking scene stealer who invariably had the last word, whether
as friend of the heroine, gossipy aunt or busybody. One of eight siblings, Fita began her
working life as a dental assistant and telephone operator while
training for acting in her own time. She made her first theatrical
appearance in "Don Carlos" at Dortmund's Stadttheater in 1925. This was
soon followed by comic turns on the larger stages of Berlin and Vienna,
after which she was signed by Germany's premier film studio Ufa for a
series of short featurettes.
Fita was already 34 when she made her breakthrough as a feisty maid in
Reinhold Schünzel's off-beat comedy
Amphitryon (1935). She established
such a popular rapport with the actor
Paul Kemp that she was cast opposite
him in further box office hits, including
Boccaccio (1936), and, for once even
co-starring, in
Der schüchterne Casanova (1936).
After successive critical plaudits with
Capriolen (1937),
Opernball (1939) and
Das Fräulein von Barnhelm (1940),
Fita had become firmly established as one of Germany's leading
comediennes. She continued her career with some success after the war,
gradually drifting into character roles, most notably as Mother Wolff in
Gerhart Hauptmann's
Der Biberpelz (1949). After the
death of her husband in 1957, Fita went into quasi-retirement and devoted much of her time to painting. Ten years later, her contribution was deservedly recognised
with a Bambi Award. Sadly, she passed away soon after.
