Lilli Palmer was a renowned international film star known for her gentle, understated beauty and charming on-screen presence. Born Lilli Marie Peiser on May 24, 1914, in Posen, Prussia, she was the daughter of Rose Lissman, an Austrian Jewish actress, and Alfred Peiser, a German Jewish surgeon.
Lilli grew up bilingual in German and French and became fluent in English. Her older sister, Irene Prador, also pursued a career in acting and singing. Lilli studied drama in Berlin and made her stage debut in 1932 at the age of 18.
However, the rise of Hitler forced the family to flee their native homeland, and they settled in Paris. Lilli eventually moved to England to rebuild her career, making her British film debut in the 1935 mystery drama "Crime Unlimited."
Throughout the 1930s, Lilli appeared in a range of films, including Alfred Hitchcock's "Secret Agent" and "The Man with 100 Faces." Her career took a significant upswing during the early to mid-1940s, with roles in films such as "Thunder Rock" and "Notorious Gentleman."
In 1943, Lilli married actor Rex Harrison, with whom she had a son, Carey Harrison, a writer and director. The family moved to America in 1945, where Rex and Lilli became a prominent acting couple, appearing together on Broadway and in films such as "The Long Dark Hall" and "The Four Poster."
Lilli's performance in "The Four Poster" earned her the Venice Film Festival Award, and she went on to co-star with Gary Cooper in "Cloak and Dagger" and John Garfield in "Body and Soul." She was also given her own TV show, "The Lilli Palmer Show," in 1951.
Despite her success, Lilli's career began to slow down in the 1950s, and she eventually left Hollywood to return to Europe. She married Argentine actor Carlos Thompson in 1957 and continued to work in international productions, primarily in Germany and France.
Lilli's later years were marked by a series of supporting roles in films such as "Oedipus the King" and "The Boys from Brazil." She also demonstrated her writing talents with her bestselling biography "Change Lobsters and Dance" in 1975 and published a novel, "The Red Raven," in 1978.
Lilli Palmer died of cancer in 1986 at the age of 71 in Los Angeles. Her second husband, Carlos Thompson, committed suicide four years later in Argentina.
