- Born
- Died
- Birth nameTherese Gift
- Therese Giehse realized her passion for the theatre and acting at an early age. Though her family tried to change her mind about the theater she made her way to the stage anyway. She had a very intense friendship with the famous German writer Thomas Mann and his children Erika and Klaus. Klaus later dedicated his novel "Mephisto", which was a portrait of actor Gustav Gruendgens, to her. She also found a good friend in the writer Bertolt Brecht - she was the first actress to play his "Mother Courage". She was Jewish and decided to leave Germany when Hitler came to power, although it is known that he greatly appreciated her acting. In her exile in Switzerland she founded a kind of cabaret with Erika Mann. After the war she returned to Germany and began a new career in films.
- IMDb mini biography by: Anonymous
- SpouseJohn Hampson-Simpson(May 20, 1936 - ?)
- Pictured on a 1 DM stamp, which was part of a series honoring women of the German history (11 November 1988).
- A street and a subway station in Munich are named after her.
- An ensemble member at the Munich Kammerspiele from 1926-33 and from 1949-73, on January 1, 1933, together with Magnus Henning, and Erika Mann and Klaus Mann, she founded the literary cabaret Die Pfeffermühle (The Peppermill). As a Jewish artist, she was forced to flee Nazi Germany later that same year. She emigrated to Switzerland, where she remained during the entirety of World War II. In 1936, Giehse married British author John Hampson-Simpson, thus gaining British citizenship, which could protect her from potential German attacks. From 1938-45 she worked at the Zürich Schauspielhaus. From 1949-52 she worked at the Berliner Ensemble.
- Creator of the title role of Brecht's Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder in Zurixh in April 1941.
- Director Paul Verhoeven died during the eulogy he delivered for her at the Munich Kammerspiele (22 March 1975).
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