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Maria Matray
Maria Matray
Maria Matray
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Maria Matray (born Maria Charlotte Stern; 14 July 1907 – 30 October 1993) was a German screenwriter and film actress. She became a star of late Weimar cinema.

Key Information

Biography

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Following the Nazi takeover in 1933, Matray, who was Jewish, went into exile – initially in France and Britain before moving to the United States. She developed a new career as a choreographer and writer. She later returned to Germany after the Second World War, where she died in 1993.[1]

Maria Matray was born in Niederschönhausen. She was the daughter of engineer and later director of AEG Georg Stern and his wife Lisbeth (née Schmidt), who was the younger sister of artist Käthe Kollwitz. Matray's older sisters were actress Johanna Hofer and dancer Katta Sterna. Hofer's father was Jewish and her mother was Lutheran.[2]

Selected filmography

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Actress

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Screenwriter

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References

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Bibliography

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Maria Matray

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Maria Matray (born Maria Charlotte Stern; stage name Maria Solveg) was a German actress, dancer, and screenwriter known for her starring roles in late Weimar cinema during the 1920s and early 1930s, followed by her prolific post-war career writing screenplays for German films and television series. Born Maria Charlotte Stern on 14 July 1907 in Niederschönhausen (now part of Berlin), Germany, she was the sister of actress Johanna Hofer and niece of artist Käthe Kollwitz. She began her career as a dancer and actress under the stage name Maria Solveg, appearing in notable films such as The Son of the White Mountain (1930), where she played the leading lady opposite Luis Trenker. In 1927, she married her mentor, director and choreographer Ernst Matray, and the couple toured the United States together. Due to her Jewish heritage, she emigrated from Nazi Germany, settling in the United States in 1936 and becoming an American citizen in 1940. In Hollywood during the 1940s, she worked sporadically as a choreographer and assistant director on various productions, often uncredited. After World War II, Matray returned to Germany and shifted focus to screenwriting, collaborating frequently with Answald Krüger on successful films and television projects starting in the early 1950s, including early works such as Mein Vater, der Schauspieler (1956) and Frau im besten Mannesalter (1958), as well as long-running series contributions later in her career. She continued writing into the 1980s, contributing to programs like Sonderdezernat K1. Matray died on 30 October 1993 in Munich, Germany.

Early life

Birth and family background

Maria Matray was born Maria Charlotte Stern on 14 July 1907 in Niederschönhausen, now a part of Berlin, Germany. She was the youngest of four daughters of Georg Stern, an engineer who later became a director at AEG, and Lisbeth Stern (née Schmidt). Her mother was the sister of the famous artist Käthe Kollwitz. Her three older sisters also pursued careers in the performing arts: Johanna Hofer (actress), Katharina Stern (dancer under the stage name Katta Sterna), and Regula Keller (actress under the stage name Gregola or Regular Keller). She grew up in a German-Jewish family.

Entry into dance and acting

Maria Matray began her professional career as a dancer, receiving ballet lessons from an early age. At the age of 14 in 1921, she left school to pursue an artistic path and joined the Internationale Pantomimengesellschaft, the international pantomime company led by Hungarian choreographer, actor, and director Ernst Matray, performing as a dancer. This engagement marked the start of her long-term mentorship under Matray in both dance and acting, as she toured extensively with his troupe across Europe and as far as South America, including an appearance at the London Palladium. She performed during this early period under the stage name Maria Solveg. Her training as a dancer continued alongside these professional experiences, and she became significantly involved with Matray in the development of ballet choreographies. In 1927, she married her mentor Ernst Matray. She also gained early acting exposure through speaking roles in Berlin productions directed by Max Reinhardt.

Acting career

Rise in Weimar cinema

Maria Matray, under her stage name Maria Solveg, rose to prominence as a film actress in the late Weimar Republic after beginning her career in dance and stage acting. Her film debut occurred at age 16 with a leading role in the silent film Der letzte Deutschmeister (1923). Following her 1927 marriage to choreographer and director Ernst Matray, she received increasing film offers in Berlin, aligning with the period's vibrant film industry that featured innovative productions and the shift from silent to sound cinema. She achieved notable success with her role in Der Meister von Nürnberg (1927), directed by Ludwig Berger, which established her as a successor to prominent silent-era actresses and boosted her visibility in German cinema. Matray embodied the popular archetype of the cheeky, doll-like modern young woman, a recurring type in late Weimar films that reflected contemporary social trends and the era's fascination with youthful femininity. She successfully navigated the transition to sound films, maintaining momentum in the early 1930s with leading roles in productions such as Ich glaub' nie mehr an eine Frau (1930), opposite Richard Tauber, and Der Sohn des weißen Berges (1930), where she starred as the leading lady alongside Luis Trenker. By the early 1930s, Matray had become a recognized star of late Weimar cinema, appearing in a range of genres from dramas to adaptations, including Der Hexer (1932), an Edgar Wallace adaptation that highlighted her versatility in the sound era. Her prominence during this period reflected the dynamic output of the German film industry before the Nazi takeover disrupted careers in 1933.

Selected acting credits

Maria Matray, credited during her acting career under the stage name Maria Solveg, featured in numerous German films from the mid-1920s to 1932, spanning silent and early sound productions in the late Weimar Republic era. Her roles ranged from supporting parts to leads in genres including historical dramas, mountain films, musicals, and thrillers, with many credits in minor or unspecified parts, though several notable performances stand out. Among her earlier credits was Die Ehe (1929), one of her first prominent appearances in the transition to sound film. She played Jeannette in Vererbte Triebe: Der Kampf ums neue Geschlecht (1929). In 1930 she portrayed Katja in the musical Ich glaub' nie mehr an eine Frau (Never Trust a Woman), starring alongside Richard Tauber. That same year she appeared as Anni opposite Luis Trenker in the mountain drama Der Sohn der weißen Berge (The Son of the White Mountain). In 1931 she took the role of Fanny Angerer in the historical biopic Elisabeth von Österreich, centered on Empress Elisabeth. She also played Inge Weber in Der Weg nach Rio (Road to Rio), a crime drama. Her final acting credits came in 1932, including Vanda Bilt in Lügen auf Rügen (The Isle of Lies) and Mary Lenley in Der Hexer (The Ringer), the latter an adaptation of Edgar Wallace's mystery thriller. She concluded her on-screen acting that year with Carla in Ein Mann mit Herz. After 1932 Matray did not appear in further acting roles before her emigration.

Personal life

Marriage to Ernst Matray

Maria Matray married her mentor, the director and choreographer Ernst Matray, in 1927. She adopted his surname and the couple formed a close personal and professional partnership as a creative team in dance and theater. Shortly after the wedding, they embarked on a tour to the United States together. Maria and Ernst Matray closely collaborated on developing new choreographies and stage productions, building on her early involvement in his ensemble. Their partnership combined her talents as a dancer and actress with his expertise in direction and choreography, resulting in joint work across performance projects. This professional alliance defined much of her career during the marriage. The couple separated in 1955, and their marriage officially ended in divorce in 1962.

Nazi era and emigration

Persecution and exile

As a result of her Jewish heritage, Maria Matray became subject to persecution following the Nazi seizure of power in Germany in 1933. The Nazi regime's antisemitic policies rapidly excluded Jewish artists from professional life through bans, boycotts, and increasing personal threats, prompting many in the film and theater industries to flee. Matray and her husband Ernst Matray, also affected by these measures, left Germany at the end of 1933 shortly after her final performance with the Matray-Ballett. Their path into exile led first through France and Britain before they reached the United States in September 1936, where they settled in Los Angeles. She and her husband found some work as choreographers for dance sequences in several American films, though this marked a substantial shift from her previous prominence in German cinema.

Screenwriting career

Post-war transition and return

After World War II, Maria Matray remained in the United States, where she had begun working as a screenwriter in 1946. She returned to Germany in 1953. Upon her return, Matray shifted her focus to screenwriting, initially contributing stage adaptations for Ernst Matray, some of which were produced in the early days of German television. Following their professional and personal separation, she formed a long-term writing partnership with Answald Krüger from 1956 onward. This collaboration marked her establishment as a prolific screenwriter for film and television in post-war West Germany. In 1960, Matray reacquired German citizenship. Her post-war activities centered on scriptwriting rather than acting, reflecting a sustained transition that had begun during her exile.

Major screenwriting works

Maria Matray established a prolific screenwriting career in post-war Germany, beginning in the 1950s and focusing predominantly on television, where she collaborated extensively with Answald Krüger on scripts blending crime procedurals, political scandals, and historical docudramas. Her output included over fifty writing credits, with a particular emphasis on long-form television works that examined themes of justice, treason, and historical trials. Her most substantial contribution came through the crime series Sonderdezernat K1 (1972–1982), for which she served as writer on 23 episodes and is credited as a co-creator alongside Krüger and Harald Vock. She also provided a script for the long-running detective series Der Alte in 1978. These procedural works represented her primary engagement with ongoing television formats during the 1970s and early 1980s. Matray's earlier and parallel output featured several notable television docudramas centered on real historical events. She scripted Der Hitler/Ludendorff-Prozeß (1971), depicting the 1924 high treason trial, as well as Der Panamaskandal (1967), which explored a major financial scandal from the late 19th century. Among her other significant historical and political works were Affäre Dreyfus (1968, three parts), Bernhard Lichtenberg (1965), and Klaus Fuchs – Geschichte eines Atomverrats (1965). Her feature film screenplays included the earlier Die schöne Lügnerin (1959).

Later years and death

Final years and legacy

Maria Matray spent her final years in Munich, where she had resided since the early 1960s. Having built a highly successful second career as a screenwriter after her return to Europe, she contributed extensively to German television, particularly through historically researched plays and crime series, often in long-term collaboration with Answald Krüger until his death in 1977. Matray's legacy encompasses her prominence as an actress and dancer during the late Weimar Republic, where she achieved stardom with graceful and natural performances, as well as her prolific post-war work as a screenwriter that helped shape West German television drama. Shortly after her death, her autobiography Die jüngste von vier Schwestern: Mein Tanz durch das Jahrhundert was published, providing a personal account of her experiences across dance, acting, choreography, and screenwriting. Her written estate, including the "Filmarchiv Maria Matray" with photographs, reviews, and manuscript materials, is preserved at the Akademie der Künste in Berlin. In recognition of her contributions to German film and television, a street in Berlin-Karlshorst bears her name as Maria-Matray-Straße.

Death

Maria Matray died on 30 October 1993 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, at the age of 86. Born Maria Charlotte Stern on 14 July 1907 in what is now Berlin, she had lived through nearly nine decades marked by her contributions to German cinema and television from the Weimar era onward.
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