Foto: Alexander Binder (1888-1929)

1897 - 1931

Lya de Putty took acting lessons in Bucharest and had only mediocore success at the theater. She made her film debut in 1918 with the movie "A csasza katonai - Die Soldaten des Kaisers".

In 1920 she went to Berlin where she played support roles at the beginning. Among them are movies like "Das indische Grabmal" (21) and "Othello" (21). Eventually F. W. Murnau engaged her for his movie "Der brennende Acker" (22) where she played one of her most impressive parts. Now she had success and with it she played in many further movies in which she worked together with a lot of stars of this time.

In 1925 she impersonated the leading role under the direction of Ewald André Dupont in the movie "Variété" with which she reached the zenith of her career. The film was a huge success, especially in the USA. Lya de Putti knew how to play a woman between two men with real female challenge. 

The movie "Junges Blut" (26) was her last German movie for a long time, after that she went to the USA. 
Adolph Zukor engaged her in Hollywood where she already was well-known because of her appearance in the movie "Variété". She was able to gain a foothold without any problems. She acted in D. W. Griffiths movie "Sorrows of Satan" in 1927 and when she made a contract with Universal she got leading roles in the movies "Midnight Rose" (27) and "Buck Privates" (27). 
Between these two movies she returned to Germany for a short time in order to shoot the movie "Charlotte etwas verrückt".

During this stay happened a serious accident when Lya de Putti fell down from a window. The press interpreted it as an attempted suicide. But Lya de Putti recovered quick and returned to the USA.
There she shot her last silent movie called "The Informer" (29). 

Lya de Putti swallowed a chicken bone at the end of 1931 which had to be surgical removed; but there were complications because of a blood poisoning and a pneumonia which led to her death in the same year.
 

Other movies with Lya de Putti:
Pe valurile fericirii - Die Wellen der Liebe (20) Zigeunerblut (20) Die Liebschaften des Hektor Dalmore (21) Treibende Kraft (21) Ilona (21) Du bist das Leben (21) Phantom (22) Die drei Marien und der Herr von Marana (22) Die Schlucht des Todes (23) S.O.S. Die Insel der Tränen (23) Die Fledermaus (23) Thamar, das Kind der Berge (24) Malva (24) Komödianten (24) Claire - Die Geschichte eines jungen Mädchens (24) Im Namen des Kaisers (25) Eifersucht (25) Manon Lescaut (26) Prince of Tempters (26) God Gave Me Twenty Cents (26) The Heart Thief (27) The Scarlet Lady (28)