Rose Stradner, a talented Austrian actress, was a rising star on the Viennese stage and in German film romances and musicals before being discovered by MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer, who was searching for exotic talent in Europe. Along with Greer Garson, Ilona Massey, and Hedy Lamarr, she was brought to Hollywood and groomed as a foreign import.
Born Rosa Luise Maria Stradner in Vienna in 1913, Rose was educated at a convent and developed a passion for acting at a young age. She studied at the Academy for Music and Art in Zurich, Switzerland, and at 19, she auditioned for Max Reinhardt and secured a contract. She appeared in various productions, including classics and modern plays, and also appeared in some German language films between 1933 and 1936.
Rose's personal life became complicated when she married Karl Heinz Martin, a stage director, and her mother moved to the United States in 1936. The couple divorced soon after, and Rose made her U.S. debut as Edward G. Robinson's put-upon wife in The Last Gangster (1937). She showed promise and was signed by MGM, appearing in Blind Alley (1939) alongside Chester Morris and Ralph Bellamy.
The budding star met writer/producer/director Joseph L. Mankiewicz around this time and placed her career on hold. The couple married in 1939 and had two sons, Chris and Tom. Although Rose returned for a small role in her husband's film The Keys of the Kingdom (1944),her career was officially over after only three more films.
Rose's marriage to Mankiewicz was rocky, with her husband's infidelities causing tension. She turned to alcohol to cope with her unhappiness and eventually became known for her emotional outbursts. She was admitted to sanitariums to treat her violent outbursts and constant threats of suicide. On September 27, 1958, she ended her life with an overdose of sleeping pills in the Mt. Kisco, New York, home she shared with her husband. She was only 45 years old.
