Nadja Tiller facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Nadja Tiller
Tiller in 2009
Born	(1929-03-16)16 March 1929 Vienna, Austria
Died	21 February 2023(2023-02-21) (aged 93) Hamburg, Germany
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1949–2009
Spouse(s)	Walter Giller ​ ​ (m. 1956; died 2011)​

Nadja Tiller (16 March 1929 – 21 February 2023) was an Austrian actress. She was one of the most popular German-speaking actresses of international films of the 1950s and 1960s.

Biography

Nadja Tiller, daughter of actor Anton Tiller of Vienna and his wife Erika Tiller (1902–1979) (formerly Erika Körner), an opera singer and actress from Danzig, was born in Vienna, Austria, where she attended a Realgymnasium secondary school. In 1945 she began her studies at the Max-Reinhardt-Seminar, which she later continued until 1949 at the Musik- und Schauspielakademie. In the same year, she became an ensemble member at the Theater in der Josefstadt. In 1949, she won the Miss Austria competition, a national beauty pageant for unmarried women in Austria. She made her major-film debut in 1952 in Märchen vom Glück (Good Luck Fairytale).

In 1955, she acted opposite O. W. Fischer in the film Ich suche Dich, based on a play by A. J. Cronin. Her international breakthrough role was that of Rosemarie Nitribitt in the 1958 German movie Rosemary (1958). She appeared in over 70 films, including many international productions. She performed with, among others, O. W. Fischer, Curd Jürgens, Hansjörg Felmy, Mario Adorf, Jean Gabin, Yul Brynner, Robert Mitchum, Rod Steiger, Jean-Paul Belmondo, and Jean Marais, and at the height of her career was considered along with Sophia Loren to be among the most alluring women in European film.

In 1967 and 1968 she appeared in the play Jedermann (Everyman) at the annual Salzburg Festival. In the 1970s and 1980s she had fixed theater engagements in Lübeck, Berlin, and Vienna. In Lübeck (1976) and in Vienna (1981), she played the lead female role in the Kurt-Weill-musical Lady in the Dark. In the 1980s she promoted the Mon Chéri line of pralines produced by Italian manufacturer Ferrero. Until the late 1990s, she appeared in boulevard plays. In 1997 at the Hamburger Kammerspielen and in guest performances, she played the aging Joan Crawford in the play Besuch bei Joan by Cas Enklaar, which with co-star Andreas Brucker and under the direction of Horst Königstein was filmed for television the following year.

Subsequently, she played occasional leading roles and made guest appearances in various television productions. After a long absence from the cinema, she was cast in 2005 by Til Schweiger in his Roadmovie Barfuss and in 2009 by Leander Haußmann in his film comedy Dinosaurier – Gegen uns seht ihr alt aus! [de].

From September – October 2010, Nadja Tiller made guest appearances in the role of the greatest diva of all time in Schorsch Kamerun's production of the play Vor uns die Sintflut at the Thalia Theater Tent in Hamburg's Hafencity. From January – April 2015, she appeared in the musical My Fair Lady as Mrs. Higgins at the Staatstheater Braunschweig, a role she repeated in the 2015-16 season.

Nadja Tiller and her husband Walter Giller jointly received a Bambi for their life's work on 30 November 2006. In mid-March 2008, they moved into the Augustinum retirement home in Hamburg.

Tiller died on 21 February 2023 in Hamburg, Germany.

Family

Tiller married actor Walter Giller in 1956; they had a son (b. 1964) and a daughter (b. 1959). Giller died of cancer on 15 December 2011, aged 84.

Selected filmography

Cameo appearances

• Die grosse Chance (1957)
• Peter Voss, Hero of the Day (1959)
• The Pipes (1966)

Decorations and awards

• 1956: Golden Mask for best young actress
• 1959: Italian Film Awards (Biennale) for The Girl Rosemarie
• 1960: Film Award in Silver for Best Actress for Labyrinth
• 1963: Prêmio Saci, Argentinian Film Award for Moral 63
• 1979: Film Award in Gold for many years of excellent work in the German film industry
• 1999: Platinum Romy for lifetime achievement
• 1999: Medal of the Austrian capital Vienna
• 1999: Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class
• 2000: Merit Cross on Ribbon of the Federal Republic of Germany (Verdienstkreuz am Bande)
• 2005: DIVA Award in the category "Lifetime Award (Hall of Fame)" Lifetime Achievement
• 2006: Bambi in the category "lifetime achievement"
• 2009: Askania Award for cinematic work (with Walter Giller)
• 2014: Radio Play Award of the German Academy of Performing Arts for the radio drama Traumrollen

See also

In Spanish: Nadja Tiller para niños