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Renate Müller

sunshine susie

Renate Müller was born in Munich on April 26th, 1906. Her father was one of Munich’s leading newspaper publishers and her mother was a painter.

A keen interest in acting and poetry led her to the Harzer Bergtheater in Thale where, under the tutelage of Georg Wilhelm Pabst, she made her stage debut in Ein Sommernachtstraum (Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream) in 1925, aged 19.

Moving to Berlin, she studied under Theatre Impressario Max Rheinhardt before making her first film appearance in Peter Der Matrose (Peter the Sailor) in 1929.

She quickly became one of the most successful German singers and actresses of the time, appearing in 25 films from 1929 to 1937.

Her major international breakthrough was in Die Privatesekretärin in 1931. It was so popular, it was remade in the same year in English, as Sunshine Susie. This time Müller starred alongside the hugely famous British actor, Owen Nares.

She took the lead role in the original German version of Viktor und Viktoria in 1933, starring alongside Hilde Hildebrand. Victor / Victoria was to be remade several times over the years, including the Blake Edwards re-make of 1982, starring Julie Andrews in the role made famous by Müller.

Her talent and blue-eyed blonde ‘Aryan’ looks attracted the attention of the Nazi party and, in particular, Joseph Goebbels. He arranged an introduction to Adolf Hitler, and encouraged a relationship between the two.

She continued to appear in a succession of light-weight comedies but Goebbels had other ideas. He put her under Gestapo surveillance, and pressurised her to appear in Nazi propaganda films.

She finally gave into the pressure, making the blatantly anti-semitic film Togger which premiered in February 1937. Filming had taken place around Tempelhof the previous Autumn, and it was be Renate Müller’s last role.

She suffered a nervous breakdown and was admitted to a clinic. As far as the public were concerned, it was for a knee injury. She was put under pressure to end a relationship with a Jewish lover, and the Nazis feared she may leave Germany.

The circumstances surrounding her death are unclear and there are many different versions of what occurred on October 7th, 1937. The German press claimed she died from Epilepsy. Other witnesses said she fell from a window of her house after the arrival of Gestapo agents. It was, in all likelihood , a suicide. The Ministry of Propaganda feared a public relations disaster and spread rumours that she had become a morphine addict, was an alcoholic and mentally disturbed.

She was cremated at Wilmersdorf Krematorium and buried in Parkfriedhof Lichterfelde in Berlin Steglitz. Fans were forbidden from attending her funeral. She was just 31 years old.

(image: Bauer-Uta)

Her life story was adapted for the screen in 1960, in Liebling der Götter (The Darling of the Gods) where she was played by well-known German actress Ruth Leuwirk.