Lale Andersen (23 March 1905 – 29 August 1972) was a German
chanson singer-songwriter born in
Bremerhaven, Germany. She is best known for her interpretation of the song
"Lili Marleen" in 1939, which became tremendously popular on both
sides during the Second World War.
She was born in Lehe and baptized Liese-Lotte Helene Berta Bunnenberg.In 1922, at the age of 17, she married Paul Ernst Wilke (1894 –
1971), a local
painter. They had three children together: Björn, Carmen-Litta, and Michael. Shortly after the birth of the third child, the marriage broke up. Leaving the children in the care of her relatives (sister Thekla and brother Helmut), Lale went in October 1929 to Berlin, where she reportedly studied acting at the Schauspielschule at the Deutsches Theater.
painter. They had three children together: Björn, Carmen-Litta, and Michael. Shortly after the birth of the third child, the marriage broke up. Leaving the children in the care of her relatives (sister Thekla and brother Helmut), Lale went in October 1929 to Berlin, where she reportedly studied acting at the Schauspielschule at the Deutsches Theater.
In 1931, her marriage
was ended by divorce. About the same year, she began appearing on stage in
various cabarets in Berlin. From 1933 to
1937, she performed at the Schauspielhaus in Zürich, where she also met Rolf
Liebermann, who would remain a close friend for the rest of her life. In 1938,
Lale was in Munich at the cabaret Simpl,
and soon afterwards joined the prestigious Kabarett der Komiker in Berlin.
While at the Kabarett der Komiker, she met Norbert Schultze,
who had just written the music for "Lili Marleen". Lale recorded the
song in 1939, but it would only become a hit when the Soldatensender Belgrad
(Belgrade Soldier's Radio), the radio station of the German armed forces in
occupied Yugoslavia began broadcasting it in 1941. "Lili Marleen" quickly
became immensely popular with German soldiers at the front. The transmitter of
the radio station at Belgrade, was powerful enough to be received all over
Europe and the Mediterranean, and the song soon became popular with the Allied
troops as well.
Nevertheless, Nazi officials did not like the sad song about
parted lovers, and Joseph Goebbels prohibited its being played on the radio.
Andersen was not allowed to perform publicly for nine months, not just because
of the song but also because of her friendship with Rolf Liebermann, who was
Jewish, and other Jewish artists she had met in Zurich. Goebbels had ordered
her back to base her career in Germany, putting her under Gestapo surveillance.
However Lale planned a later escape back to Switzerland following a 1942 troop
concert in Italy but her letters to her new husband were intercepted and she
was seized on Milan railway station. Condemned to the concentration camps, she
was allowed home to finalise her affairs but attempted suicide.
Fortunately the attempt failed, but Goebbels in setting her punishment had made a terrible blunder for Lale-aka-Lili Marleen had, by then,
become an international and much-loved figure and, fearing a propaganda
disaster, spared her life. Ordered instead to attend her local police station
once a week.When she was allowed to perform again, it was only subject to
several conditions, one of which was she would not sing "Lili
Marleen". Goebbels did order her to make new "military" version
of the song (with a significant drum) which was recorded in June 1942. In the
remaining war years, Andersen had one minor appearance in a propaganda movie
and was made to sing several propaganda songs in English.
By 1944 the authorities and become tired of her and Goebbels
banished her to her grandparents home on the Friesian island of Langeoog,a
small island off the North Sea coast of Germany. from where she quietly saw out the remaing
year or so of the war.
After the war, Lale Andersen all but disappeared as a
singer. In 1949, she married Swiss composer Artur Beul. In 1952 she made a
comeback with the song "Die blaue Nacht am Hafen", which she had
written the lyrics for herself. In 1959 she had another hit "Ein Schiff
wird kommen...", a cover version of "Never on Sunday", the title
song from the movie of the same name, originally sung in English by Melina
Mercouri.Both songs won her a gold album each in Germany.
In 1961, she participated as the representative of Germany
in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Einmal sehen wir uns wieder",
which only reached 13th place with three points. Throughout the 1960s, she
toured extensively through Europe and also performed in the United States and
Canada ,until her farewell tour Goodbye memories in 1967. In 1972, shortly
before her death, her autobiography Der Himmel hat viele Farben (The Sky has
many Colours) appeared and topped the bestselling list of the German magazine
Der Spiegel.
(info edited from various sources mainly Wikipedia)
3 comments:
I have an album of Lale Andersen via Reci's Oldies from way back. Will link if interested.
Bob,
Please post the album if it contains the original "Lili Marlen".
Thank you.
Hello HP, I hope this is the one you’re after.
https://www.upload.ee/files/10528606/Lale_Andersen.rar.html
1. Lili Marleen
2. Blaue Nacht Am Hafen
3. Einmal Noch Nach Bombay
4. Drei Rote Rosen
5. Liebeslied Am Hafen
6. Backbord Ist Links (Schiffsjungenlied)
7. Mademoiselle Aus Paris
8. Unter Einem Regenschirm Am Abend
9. Schwarzer Rudolf
10. Der Junge An Der Reeling
11. Da Draussen Am Hafen
12. Heinemann (Der Kleine Seemann)
13. Es Geht Alles Vorã1/4Ber, Es Geht Alles Vorbei
14. Unter Der Roten Laterne Von St. Pauli
15. Und Wieder Geht Ein Schã¶Ner Tag Zu Ende
Post a Comment