Andergast, Maria (1912-1995)

Andergast, Maria

ACTOR (GERMANY)

BORN 4 Jun 1912, Brunnthal an der Alz, Bayern (now: Garching) - DIED 14 Feb 1995, Wien
BIRTH NAME Pitzer, Maria
CAUSE OF DEATH cancer
GRAVE LOCATION Wien: Zentralfriedhof, Simmeringer Hauptstraße 234, Simmering (Gruppe 04, Reihe 35, Nummer 02 (Ehrengrab))

Maria Andergast was born Maria Pitzer. She lost her parents when she was two years old. She was raised by members of her family and took their last name. From an early age she liked dancing and Grete Wiesenthal was her teacher. After a severe traffic accident, a dancing career became impossible and she entered the Academy for Music and Fine Arts. But before she finished her studies she was engaged at the theatre in Aussig where she debuted in 1929.

Luis Trenker offered her a part in the movie "Der Rebell", but she had to decline because of other obligations. When he asked her again for "Der verlorene Sohn" (1934) she accepted. Many movies followed during the following years. In 1936 she married director Heinz Helbig and they moved to Berlin. In 1939 she went to Vienna and from then on she worked almost exclusively in that city. In 1941 the actor Siegfried Breuer became her second husband.

During the war she continued working and she appeared in the propaganda movies "Spähtrupp Hallgarten" (1941) and "Sechs Tage Heimaturlaub" (1941). In 1943 she met the composer Hans Lang at the Vienna Kammerspiele. He worked there as a conductor, and they performed a duet for fun. It was the start of a musical collaboration in films. In 1944 she was included on the Gottbegnadeten-Liste (list of God-Gifted Artists).

From 1945 onwards she was under contract at the Theater in der Josefstadt in Vienna. In 1947 the movie "Der Hofrat Geiger", a collaboration with Hans Lang, included the song "Mariandl" that made her name as a singer. With Lang she made "Kleine melodie aus Wien" (1949), "Hallo Dienstmann" (1951), "Der Mann in der Wanne" (1952) and further films. In the 1950s she appeared alongside Hans Moser, Paul Hörbiger, Attila Hörbiger, Rudolf Prack and Wolfgang Albach-Retty.

Five of her movies were directed by Franz Antal, to whom she was engaged from 1949. In 1958 she married actor and director Richard Häußler, who died in 1964. During the 1960s she occasionally worked for television. In 1966 she was injured in a car accident. She ended her career in 1971 and in 1972 she moved from Munich to Vienna. There she died in 1995 from cancer. In 2002 the Maria-Andergast-Weg was named after her in Donaustadt, Vienna.

Family
• Husband: Breuer, Siegfried (1941-) (divorce or separation)

Related persons
• was pupil of Wiesenthal, Grete

Images
Maria Andergast.	Maria Andergast. (1937-1938) Picture by Foto Binz	The grave of Maria Andergast at the Zentralfriedhof, Vienna. Picture by Androom (23 Aug 2009)
Maria Andergast. (1941-1944) Picture by Wien Film