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Publicity photo of Maria Schell for The Brothers Karamozov. Photo by MGM-

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Maria Schell

Maria Schell was an Austrian-Swiss actress. She was one of the leading stars of German cinema in the 1950s and 1960s. Throughout her acting career, she was featured in so many films.

Schell started her career in 1942, and it was a success. She was awarded the Cannes Best Actress Award in 1954 for her performance in Helmut Kautner鈥檚 war drama The Last Bridge.

She studied in a religious institution in Colmar. Schell received dramatic training in Switzerland, Zurich. To pay for her studies, she was a secretary there.

Learn more about Maria Schell in these top 10 interesting facts.

1. Maria Schell Was Born in 1926

Maria Schell was born Maria Margarethe Anna Schell on January 15, 1926, in the Australian capital Vienna. She was the daughter of actress Margarethe who ran an acting school and Hermann Ferdinand Schell, a Swiss poet, playwright, owner of a pharmacy and novelist.

Schell was the older sister of actor Maximilian Schell and lesser-known actors Carl Schell (1927 to 2019) and Immaculata 鈥淚mmy鈥� Schell (1935 to 1992).

In 1938 after the Anschluss, her family moved to Zurich in Switzerland. Schell began commercial training but soon entered the film business when she met the Swiss actor and director Sigfrit Steiner.

2. Schell Was First Featured in Film in 1942

Schell premiered in Steiner鈥檚 1942 film Steibruch alongside the well-known Swiss actor Heinrich Gretler. She later took acting lessons for several theatre engagements.

3. She Cast in Her First Leading Role After World War II

Photo by Mieremet, Rob / Anefo-

After World War II. Schell was cast in her first leading role in the 1948 film The Angel with the Trumpet, directed by Karl Hartl. 

The Angel with the Trumpet is a 1948 Austrian historical drama film. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Ernst Lothar, and it was remade in Britain in 1950 under the same title.

Maria Schell starred as Selma Rosner. Subsequently, in 1950 she starred in The Angel with the Trumpet, written by Karl Hartl; Schell starred as Anna Linden.

4. Schell Amassed Acclaim for her Acting in 1954

She amassed acclaim for acting in Helmut Kautner鈥檚 鈥�The Last Bridge war drama. She also won the Cannes Best Actress Award for her performance in the drama.

5. Schell Was Featured in Many films

Le notti bianche (film). Photo sourced from

Schell started her acting career in 1942 when she featured in her first film and continued being featured in other films. In 1951 she starred in films such as The Magic Box, Dr. Holl, and The Heart of the Matter 1953.

Her emotional acting earned her the nickname Seelchen (Little soul)/ she was given the name by her colleague Oskar Werner.

When in Hollywood, she met with Yul Brynner, who urged her to be cast in The Brothers Karamazov in 1958 in the role of Grushenka. She also starred with Gary Cooper in The Hanging Tree in 1959 and with Glenn Ford in Cimarron in 1960.

Schell starred in famous movies such as Superman in 1978, Rose Bernd in 1957 and Le notti Bianche in 1957. In 1959 she appeared on 鈥淲hat鈥檚 my Line 鈥渁s the mystery guest on February 15 and starred in The Bloody Judge alongside Christopher Lee.

Additionally, she appeared on stage, including an acclaimed performance in the 1976 Broadway play Poor Murderer by Pavel Kohout and the leading role in Friedrich Durrenmatt鈥檚 play The Visit with the Schauspielhaus Zurich ensemble, among many other films.

6. Schell Received Many Accolades and Awards

Maria Schell’s acting career was a success. She received many prestigious accolades and awards during her life and even after her death.

In 1951-1957, 1987 and 2002, she received Bambi Awards, the Volpi Cup at the Venice International Film Festival for Gervaise in 1956 and 1957 and 1958, and Golden and Silver Bravo Otto.

In 1977 during the German Film Awards, she received Gold Award for many years of excellent work in the German film industry and, in 1983, a Golden Camera.

Additionally, in 1954 Schell got Honorable Mention at the Cannes International Film Festival for The Last Bridge, 1n 1974 Merit Cross of the Federal Republic of Germany, in 2002 Australia Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class.

After her death in 2008a street was named in her honour. Maria Schell street in Landstrasse (Vienna鈥檚 3rd District, area Aspanggrunde/ Euro-gate).

7. Maria Schell Had an Affair with Glenn Ford

Schell admitted to carrying on a passionate love affair with Glenn Ford (a Canadian American actor) in 1960 on the location of their film Cimarron. Ford鈥檚 son Peter confirmed her story in his 2011 biography Glenn Ford: A Life.

Schell gave Ford a dachshund puppy which he named Bismarck, in 1981. The dog became his favorite and a constant source of comfort for him in his later years when he became ill and bedridden.

After the dog鈥檚 death, he had it cremated and requested that its ashes be buried with him upon his death. Ford died in 2006.

8. Maria Schell Was Married Twice 

Photo by Mieremet, Rob / Anefo-

At first, she was married to film director Horst Hachler and they divorced in 1965. After the divorce, she got married the second time to director Veit Relin. She then got divorced again in 1986.

Schell’s daughter from her second marriage, actress Marie There’s Relin, was married to Bavarian playwright Franz Xaver Kroetz and had three children.

Her daughter made a media and internet appearance as a spokeswoman for housewives (If Pigs Could Fly. Die Hausfrauenrevolution,2004).

9. She Had Autobiographical Works

Schell also has Autobiographical works such as Die Kostbarkeit des Augenblicks. Gedanken, Erinnerungen. Langen Muller, Munchen in 1985. In 1998 Und Wenn鈥檚 a Katz is! 鈥淢ein Weg durchs Lebn. Lubbe, Bergisch Gladbach.

10. Maria Schell Died From Pneumonia

Her last years were overshadowed by her ill health and in 1991, she attempted suicide and suffered repeated strokes.

Schell’s final public appearance was at the premiere of her brother Maximilian鈥檚 documentary film My Sister Maria (2002). Both of them were awarded the Bambi Award for their work.

Schell lived reclusively in the remote village of Preitenegg, Carinthia, in the Australian Alps until her death from pneumonia on April 26, 2005, aged 79.

Upon her death, her brother released a statement: 鈥淭owards the end of her life, she suffered silently, and I never heard her complain. I admire her for that. Her death might have been a salvation for her. But not for me, she is irreplaceable.鈥�