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Lilia Skala

 
Actor: Lilia Skala
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Actors
  • Born: Nov 28, 1896 in Vienna, Austria
  • Died: Feb 18, 1994 in Bay Shore, Long Island, New York
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '60s-'80s
  • Major Genres: Drama, Mystery
  • Career Highlights: House of Games, Lilies of the Field, Heartland
  • First Major Screen Credit: Lilies of the Field (1963)

Biography

Educated at the University of Dresden, actress Lillia Skala launched her stage career in her native Vienna, where she briefly worked with the legendary Max Reinhardt. The advent of Hitler compelled Skala to relocate to the U.S. in 1939; two years later, she made her Broadway bow in Letters to Lucerne. In 1951, she was cast as Duchess Sophie in the Irving Berlin musical Call Me Madam, the role that brought her to Hollywood for the 1953 filming of the same property. During the 1950s, she supplemented her theatre income by playing regular roles on such soap operas as The Guiding Light and Search for Tomorrow. In 1963, Skala was nominated for an Oscar for her finely etched portrayal of the tenacious Mother Maria in Lillies of the Field. She went on to contribute strong performances in such films as Roseland (1977) and Testament (1983). Couch potatoes of the 1960s will immediately recognize Lillia Skala for her occasional appearances as Eva Gabor's mother on the popular sitcom Green Acres. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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Wikipedia: Lilia Skala
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Lilia Skala
Born Lilia Sofer
November 29, 1896(1896-11-29)
Vienna, Austria
Died December 18, 1994 (aged 98)
Bay Shore, Long Island, New York

Lilia Sofer Skala (November 28, 1896 — December 18, 1994) was an Austrian-American actress.

Contents

Early life

Skala was born Lilia Sofer in Vienna, Austria. Her mother, Katharina Skalla, was Catholic, and her father, Julius Sofer, was Jewish and worked as a manufacturers representative for the Waldes Koh-i-noor Company.[1][2] In the late 1930s, she was forced to flee her Nazi-occupied homeland with her husband, Louis Erich Skala, and their two young sons.[3][2] Skala and her husband managed to escape (at different times) from Austria to England, and eventually settled in the USA.

Career

Lilia Skala appeared on countless television shows and serials from 1952 to 1985 (for example, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour in 1965), and as Grand Duchess Sophie kept company on Broadway with Ethel Merman in Call Me Madam not too many years after toiling in a Queens zipper factory as a non-English-speaking refugee from Austria. The family later moved to Englewood, New Jersey.

She was nominated for an Best Supporting Actress for her most famous role as the Mother Superior in Lilies of the Field opposite Oscar-winning Sidney Poitier. Skala also appeared in Ship of Fools, Charly, Heartland, Eleanor and Franklin, Roseland, Flashdance and House of Games

She died in Bay Shore, New York, of natural causes at age 98. Her life is the subject of an eponymous one-woman play Lilia! The play is written and performed by her granddaughter, Libby Skala.[4]

References

  1. ^ Tallmer, Jerry (2009-08-14). "Libby Skala encapsulates 100 years of life, love, dance". Chelsea Now. http://www.chelseanow.com/articles/2009/08/14/arts/dance/doc4a858a1b693e1198453422.txt. Retrieved 2009-08-18. 
  2. ^ a b http://findingaids.cjh.org/?pID=121478
  3. ^ Theatrical tribute to a special grandmother
  4. ^ Libby Skala Interviews & Press

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

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Actor. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Lilia Skala".  Read more