Keller, Greta (1903-1977)

Keller, Greta

CABARET SINGER, ACTOR (AUSTRIA)

BORN 8 Feb 1903, Wien - DIED 4 Feb 1977, Wien
BIRTH NAME Keller, Margaretha
GRAVE LOCATION Wien: Zentralfriedhof, Simmeringer Hauptstraße 234, Simmering (Gruppe 40, Nummer 053)

Greta Keller took dance lessons from an early age and later she took acting lessons as well. She debuted in "Pavillon" in Vienna and she appeared in "Broadway" next to Marlene Dietrich. She started recording in the 1920s and continued to do so until the 1970s. In 1928 she married the singer Joe Sargent, but he was an alcoholic and the marriage failed. In 1929 she was contracted by Ultraphon and this took her to Berlin and to Prague. In Berlin she worked with Peter Ingelhoff and Peter Kreuder.

During the Second World War she lived in New York. In Hollywood she met the actor Gaspar Griswold Bacon and she married him although he was eleven years her junior. Her husband was murdered in 1943. She was given sedatives for the shock and the child she carried was stillborn. The murder remained unsolved and in later years Keller stated that she was lesbian and he had been homosexual and that their marriage had served to support their film careers.

Keller returned to Europe after the war and resumed her career in Switzerland before she returned to Vienna and Berlin. At the St. Moritzer Palace-Hotel she was successful with her show "Chez Greta". In 1960-1961 she performed at the Walldorf Astoria hotel in New York. She continued performing in Europe and in the USA until shortly before her death.

Images

The grave of Greta Keller at the Zentralfriedhof, Vienna.
Picture by Androom (23 Aug 2009)