Lilia Skala facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lilia Skala
Skala in 1969
Born	Lilia Sofer (1896-11-28)28 November 1896 Vienna, Austria-Hungary
Died	18 December 1994(1994-12-18) (aged 98) Bay Shore, New York, U.S.
Resting place	Lakeview Cemetery New Canaan, Connecticut, U.S.
Education	TU Dresden
Occupation	Architect Actress
Years active	1931–1990
Spouse(s)	Louis Erich Skala ​ ​ (m. 1922; his death 1980)​
Children	2

Lilia Skala (born Lilia Sofer; 28 November 1896 – 18 December 1994) was an amazing Austrian-American woman. She was both a talented architect and a famous actress!

Many people remember her best from the movie Lilies of the Field (1963). She played a special role in it and was even nominated for an Academy Award. This is one of the highest honors in movies!

Lilia Skala also received nominations for two Golden Globe Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award. These awards celebrate great acting in film and television.

Before becoming an actress, Lilia Skala worked as an architect. She was one of the very first women architects in Austria. She was also the first woman to join the Austrian Association of Engineers and Architects. She studied at the University of Dresden in Germany and graduated with top honors.

Her incredible life story was even turned into a play called Lilia!. Her granddaughter, Libby Skala, wrote and performed this special one-woman show.

Early Life and Education

Lilia Sofer was born in Vienna, a beautiful city in Austria. Her mother, Katharina Skala, was Catholic. Her father, Julius Sofer, was Jewish and worked for a company that made things.

Lilia was one of the first women to earn a degree in architecture and engineering. She studied at the University of Dresden. After she finished her studies, she worked as an architect in Vienna.

In the late 1930s, Lilia and her family faced a very difficult time. They were forced to leave their home in Austria. This was because of the Nazis, who were taking over the country.

Lilia, her husband Louis Erich Skala, and their two young sons had to escape. Lilia and Erich decided to use Lilia's mother's last name, Skala. This name sounded less Jewish, which helped them stay safe. They managed to escape Austria at different times and eventually found a new home in the United States.

Career in Architecture and Acting

Lilia Skala became interested in theater when she was a teenager. But her parents wanted her to choose a more "serious" job. At that time, women couldn't study at the University of Vienna. So, her parents sent her to the Technical University of Dresden in Germany.

We don't know exactly why Lilia chose architecture. But we do know she was excellent at it! She succeeded in a field that was mostly for men back then. She graduated with the highest honors. After college, Lilia went back to Vienna and kept working as an architect.

Lilia always looked for beauty, whether in buildings or in performing. About a year after her son Peter was born, she started taking acting lessons. She found her love for theater again!

Her acting talent grew, and she appeared in many TV shows. From 1952 to 1985, she was in shows like The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. She also acted on Broadway, which is a famous theater area in New York City. She played Grand Duchess Sophie in a play called Call Me Madam. This was not long after she arrived in the U.S. as a refugee, working in a zipper factory. She even played the Countess, who was Lisa Douglas’s mother, on the TV show Green Acres in the 1960s.

Lilia Skala is most famous for her role as Mother Maria in the 1963 movie Lilies of the Field. For this role, she was nominated for an Oscar. She also appeared in other movies like Ship of Fools (1965), Charly (1968), Flashdance (1983), and House of Games (1987).

Later Life and Legacy

Lilia Skala passed away in 1994 in Bay Shore, New York. She was 98 years old.

Her sons, Peter and Martin Skala, gave a special gift to the International Archives of Women in Architecture. It was a collection of architectural drawings Lilia made when she was a student. These drawings were from 1915 to 1920. They were part of the few things Lilia took with her when she fled from the Nazis in 1939. This collection helps us remember her amazing work as an architect.

Personal Life

Lilia Skala followed a religion called Christian Science. She learned about this religion in Vienna in the 1920s.

Filmography

See also

In Spanish: Lilia Skala para niños