Overview
Ruth Leuwerik (; 23 April 1924 – 12 January 2016) was a German film actress, one of the most popular stars of German film during the 1950s. She appeared in 34 films between 1950 and 1977. Leuwerik is probably best known for her portrayal of Maria von Trapp in the films The Trapp Family and The Trapp Family in America.
Born in Essen as Ruth Leeuwerik, she grew up there and in Münster. She began her acting career with stage roles in the late 1940s. In the 1950s she and Dieter Borsche were considered as the ideal couple of the German film. In 1962 she starred in the Helmut Käutner film Redhead, which was entered in the 12th Berlin International Film Festival. She is a five-time Bambi Award winner. Leuwerik died in Munich on 12 January 2016.
Partial filmography
(1950) – Evelyne Winterthur (her film debut)
Father Needs a Wife (1952) – Susanne Meissner
The Great Temptation (1952) – Hilde
A Heart Plays False (1953) – Sybilla Zander
Must We Get Divorced? (1953) – Garda von Doerr
Beloved Life (1953) – Louise von Bolin
His Royal Highness (1953, after Thomas Mann's novel) – Imma Spoelman
Portrait of an Unknown Woman (1954) – Nicole
Ludwig II (1955) – Kaiserin Elisabeth von Österreich
Beloved Enemy (1955) – Violante Gore
Roses in Autumn (1955, after Theodor Fontane's novel Effi Briest) – Effi Briest
The Golden Bridge (1956) – Tima
The Trapp Family (1956) – Baronin Maria von Trapp
Queen Louise (1957) – Königin Luise
Goodbye, Franziska (1957) – Franziska
Immer wenn der Tag beginnt (1957) – Dr. Hanna Burkhardt
Taiga (1958) – Hanna Dietrich
The Trapp Family in America (1958) – Baronin Maria von Trapp
Dorothea Angermann (1959) – Dorothea Angermann
The Ideal Woman (1959) – Fanny Becker
Sweetheart of the Gods (1960) – Renate Mueller
A Woman for Life (1960) – Margarete Barnebusch
You Don't Shoot at Angels (1960) – Maria
Die Stunde, die du glücklich bist (1961) – Vera
Der Traum von Lieschen Müller (1961) – Autograph hunter
Redhead (1962) – Franziska Lukas
Eleven Years and One Day (1963) – Tina Rodenbach
The House in Montevideo (1963) – Marianne Nägler
An Alibi for Death (1963) – Dr. Maria Rohn
Und Jimmy ging zum Regenbogen (1971) – Valerie Steinfeld
(1977) – Frau Gerda Cornelius
Derrick (1978, Episode: "Ein Hinterhalt") – Dr. Marta Schwenn
The Buddenbrooks (1979, TV miniseries, after Thomas Mann's novel) – Konsulin
Derrick (1983, Episode: "") – Vera Baruda
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).