Sirk, Douglas

DIRECTOR (GERMANY)
BORN 26 Apr 1900, Hamburg - DIED 14 Jan 1987, Lugano, Ticino
BIRTH NAME Sierck, Hans Detlef
GRAVE LOCATION Lugano, Ticino: Cimitero di Castagnola, Piazza San Giorgio (ashes)

Douglas Sirk had Danish parents and grew up in Denmark before he moved to Hamburg during his youth. In 1922 he started working as a theatre director. He married the actress Lydia Brinken in 1929. They had a son, Klaus-Detlef, since 1925, but they divorced in 1934. He married the actress Hilde Jary in the same year. In 1934 he entered into the service of the UFA film company. Because his wife Jewish they emigrated to the USA in 1937. He changed his name to Douglas Sirk and from 1942 onwards he worked in Hollywood. After the war he returned to Germany for his son, but he discovered that Claus-Detlef had died in Russia.

Between 1952 and 1959 he created a series of successful melodramatic movies, among them "Magnificent Obsession" (1954), "All that Heaven Allows" (1955) and "Imitation of Live" (1959). After that he left the USA and settled in Switzerland. the film critics rediscovered his work during the 1970s and he was also an inspiration to the French nouvelle vague movement. He died in 1987 in Lugano.

Family
• Wife: Jary, Hilde (1934-1987)

Images

The grave of Douglas Sirk at the Cimitero di Castagnola in Lugano, Ticino.
Picture by Androom (15 Feb 2019)

 

Sources
Douglas Sirk - Wikipedia


Sismondi, Jean Charles Léonard de

Published: 23 May 2020
Last update: 24 May 2020