A vintner's daughter, she was trained as a ballet dancer at the
Budapest Opera. While still in her teens, she began on stage in amateur
theatricals. By the early
1930s, she performed professionally in
Salzburg, Berlin and London, appearing in the plays 'Wonder Bar' and
'Words and Music' (with John Mills).
Arrived in New York in 1932 with next to no knowledge of English, but
proved a fast learner. The following year, she went on to play Polly
Peachum in Brecht's
'The
Threepenny Opera' on Broadway, co-starring Burgess Meredith.
Came to Hollywood a year later and made a notable impression for her
interpretation of the title song in the technicolor short
La Cucaracha (1934). Otherwise, she
was seen in an assortment of decorative senoritas
(Dancing Pirate (1936),Das Gesetz der Prärie (1939),
etc) and even an Eskimo. Her most notable roles were in support, such
as the half-caste mistress Neleta in
Ein rastloses Leben (1936) and Lydia
in Ihr erster Mann (1940).
