Mayerhofer, Elfie (1917-1992)

Mayerhofer, Elfie

SINGER, ACTOR (AUSTRIAN EMPIRE)

BORN 15 Mar 1917, Marburg an der Drau (now: Maribor, Slovenia) - DIED 28 Dec 1992, Maria Enzersdorf (near Wien)
BIRTH NAME Maierhofer, Elfriede
GRAVE LOCATION Wien: Grinzinger Friedhof, 19., An den langen Lüssen 33 (Gruppe 30, Reihe 03, Nummer 29 (Ehrengrab))

Elfie Mayerhofer was born in Maribor, then part of the Austrian Empire. She studied music in her home country and continued her studies in Berin under Lula Mysz-Gmeiner and in Zürich and Vienna.

She made her theatre debut in Munich at the Jugendtheater. She also worked at the State Opera in Munich and at theatres in Berlin. She was most famous as a singer and her nickname was "Die Wiener Nachigall" ("The Viennese Nightingale"). In 1938 she made her first movie, "Frauen für Golden Hill". Several music films followed. In 1939 she was in "Hotel Sacher" and she made several more movies during the war. In 1944 she was put on the Gottbegnadeten-Liste of the Propaganda Ministry.

After the war she performed for the Allied troops and she did more concerts and operas. In 1948 she sang several well known opera melodies in "Annie". In 1949 Herbert von Karajan placed her next to Maria Cebotari in "Figaro's Hochzeit" at the Festspiele in Salzburg. From 1950 to 1961 she mostly sang at the Volksoper in Vienna and after 1957 she also appeared at the Deutschen Oper am Rhein. From 1961 to 1964 she worked for the Opera of Cologne.

She was married to the architect T. Lauterbach until she divorced him in 1959. In the 1970s she performed in the United States, Canada and Mexico. In 1976 she married her second husband, the production manager Josef Berressem. She continued her career in Austria until she died in 1992 in Vienna.

Images
Elfie Mayerhofer. (1941-1944)	Elfie Mayerhofer. (1939-1940)	The grave of Elfie Mayerhofer at the Grinzing Cemetery in Vienna. Picture by androom (15 Aug 2006)
The grave of Elfie Mayerhofer at the Grinzing Cemetery in Vienna. Picture by androom (15 Aug 2006)	Elfie Mayerhofer. (1941-1944)	Elfie Mayerhofer. (1943)
Elfie Mayerhofer. Picture by Star-Foto-Atelier	Elfie Mayerhofer.