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When we think of Magda Schneider, we cannot help but think of her as Romy Schneider‘s mother. And yet, despite her mother’s strong and authoritarian character and despite her not always easy relationship with her, we do not know whether, without her, Romy Schneider would have become the Romy Schneider we all appreciated and loved. But who was, in fact, Magda Schneider?
A singing typist
When we hear of or see actress Magda Schneider on the screen, we inevitably end up thinking of her much better known daughter Romy. And, in fact, throughout her life, this was the main purpose of Magda Schneider herself. For a good part of her life, she devoted herself to her daughter’s career, choosing the roles that suited her best and giving her advice on her physical appearance and how to behave in public. Yet, it seems that the two had in fact a complicated relationship, especially with regard to old grudges on the part of Romy Schneider herself. But who was, in fact, her mother Magda Schneider?
Although Magda mainly made her name in Austria, she was in fact German. She was born on the 17th of May 1909 in Augsburg to installer Xaverius Schneider and his wife Maria Meier-Hörmann. Initially, the young woman – despite her great talent for singing and dancing – had no plans to pursue a career in the arts and, after attending a Catholic school, began studying as a typist.
Yet, her great passion was there and just waiting to ‘wake up’. Or, rather, it had never quite fallen asleep. And indeed, the young Magda Schneider, who used to take singing lessons at the conservatory in her hometown in addition to her studies as a typist, soon began to perform first at the theatre in Augsburg and later also in Munich. Interestingly, she was able to make use of her previous studies as a secretary for her performances, almost always playing such roles. Things began to go particularly well for her, so much so that she was noticed by the Austrian director Ernst Marischka (who would later direct her together with his daughter Romy in the famous trilogy dedicated to Sissi), who hired her for a few shows at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna.
And so a young Magda Schneider finally arrived in Austria, namely in the country that was to become her new home. Here, the girl’s career also began to explore the world of the seventh art. Her first screen appearance in the film Boykott, directed by Robert Land, dates back to 1930. And even in this case it must be said that her previous experience as a typist was definitely useful.
With her lovely face and birdlike voice, however, she made a name for herself mainly in musical comedies produced in Austria in the 1930s, including Fräulein – Falsch verbunden, directed by E. W. Emo in 1932, and Ein bisschen Liebe für dich, made in the same year by Max Neufeld. It was only in 1933, however, that she met for the first time (on the set of Kurt Gerron’s film Kind, ich freu’ mich an dein Kommen) the charming actor Wolf Albach-Retty, whom she married in 1937, who was to become the father of her children Romy (born 1938) and Wolfi (born 1941) and from whom she officially divorced – after a two-year separation – in 1945.
During the Second World War, as we can well imagine, the German film industry went into crisis. Yet, for the young Magda Schneider, several exciting opportunities presented themselves as far as her acting career was concerned. Films made during this period include Liebeskomödie, directed by Theo Lingen in 1943, and Ein Mann für meine Frau, directed by Hubert Marischka. This period, however, was very controversial for the actress. In fact, according to statements made by her daughter Romy in an interview that recently came out in the newspapers several years after it was made, Magda herself is said to have often been in contact with Adolf Hitler, whom she met during one of his stays in Behtesgaden – the Eagle’s Nest – while her daughter and other children were intent on playing on the lawn. Romy even believed for a long time that her mother had even become Hitler’s lover, but these statements were later denied by people who had witnessed their encounter first-hand.
In spite of the wartime difficulties, a really complicated period came for her in the immediate post-war period, when she had to wait a good three years before she could take part in a new film. This finally happened in 1948, when she was again chosen by Hubert Marischka for Ein Mann gehört ins Haus. It was from this point on, however, that Magda Schneider began to devote herself almost exclusively to her daughter’s career, also taking part in numerous feature films in which she acted alongside her, most often playing the role of her own mother.
And so, in 1954, it was the turn of the film The Story of Vickie, directed by Ernst Marischka, in which for the first time we see the two act side by side. Needless to say, Romy’s charm and talent completely stole the show from her mother. But the woman was undoubtedly happy about this: she now had a new mission.
From then on, young Romy’s career was decidedly booming. Only a year later, in fact, Ernst Marischka himself again wanted mother and daughter in his Sissi, in which the role of Sissi was obviously assigned to Romy, while Magda was given that of Duchess Ludovica of Bavaria, mother of the princess. The film, of course, was a worldwide success, so much so that Marischka – and with him the Erma-Film – decided to produce two more feature films dedicated to the life of Elisabeth of Bavaria (a further feature film on the subject was actually supposed to be produced, but it was Romy Schneider herself who refused to take part). And so, in 1956 Sissi – The Young Empress was made, immediately followed by Sissi – Fateful Years of an Empress (1957).
Having by now become an international star, the young Romy soon moved – with the approval of her mother Magda – to France. Yet the two shot yet another film together. We are talking about Eva, directed by Rolf Thiele in 1959.
Thus, Magda Schneider’s own career was coming to an end. Her last film appearance dates back to 1961, when she took part in the shooting of Verdammt die jungen Sünder nicht, directed by Hermann Leitner. By then his daughter had become famous and, consequently, she no longer had anything to offer the seventh art. With the exception of a couple of television roles (and following a second marriage that also ended in divorce), Magda Schneider decided to retire to private life and moved back to Germany, specifically to Schönau am Königssee, in a quiet villa on the shores of a lake.
Yet, despite her desire to live a quiet life, she was still to experience strong emotions. Awarded the prestigious ‘Filmband in Gold’ prize and married for the third time in 1982 to cameraman Horst Fehlhaber (with whom she remained until her death), Magda experienced a terrible loss in the same year due to the premature death of her daughter Romy, who in turn never recovered from the death of her son David in 1981. And so her last years were spent in total sadness until her death at the age of eighty-seven on the 30th of July 1996.
Nowadays, therefore, when we think of Magda Schneider, we cannot help but think of her as Romy Schneider’s mother. Yet, despite her mother’s decisive and authoritarian character and despite her not always easy relationship with her, we do not know whether, without her, Romy Schneider would have become the Romy Schneider we all appreciated and loved. Right now, we absolutely cannot know. Everything else, by now, is history.