Biography

German-Jewish dancer, actress and writer, daughter of an engineer and later director of AEG. Married her mentor, the director and choreographer Ernst Matray. Acted in films under the name Maria Solveg, perhaps best remembered as leading lady to Louis Trenker in the mountaineering drama The Son of the White Mountain (1930). With her husband, emigrated to the United States in 1936, becoming an American citizen four years later. Worked sporadically in Hollywood during the 1940's as choreographer or assistant director. Began a new career in the early 1950's (as Maria Matray) as a writer of television scripts, mostly in collaboration with Answald Krüger.

With her choice of her stage name she proved her sense of humor. Her father was against her strive for a career at the theater and used to say: "Maria soll weg vom Theater! - Maria should go away from the theater!". From this remark she formed her stage name Maria Solveg.

In 1927 she got married with Ernst Matray and they went to an USA tour. After their return she has a great success with the movie "Der Meister von Nürnberg" (1927), which established her as successor of silent movie actresses who had made their marks.

After her divorce she wrote first successful scripts for the cinema in 1956, among them "Mein Vater, der Schauspieler" (1956), and"Frau im besten Mannesalter" (1958).

To her well-known movies belong "Balalaika" (1939), "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1939), "Pride and Prejudice" (1940), "A Woman's Face" (1941), "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1941), "I Married an Angel" (1942) and "Random Harvest " (1942). Maria Matray stand aside for her husband Ernst Matray's benefit and her name wasn't mentioned in the credits of the movies.