Franciska Gaal was born on February 1, 1904 in Budapest, Austria-Hungary as Szidónia Silberspitz. She was an actress, known for The Girl Downstairs (1938), Little Mother (1935) and The Buccaneer (1938). She was married to Francis Dajkovich. She died on January 2, 1973 in New York City, New York, USA.
Groomed and promoted in Hungary as a young, child-like singing star of light film romance by producer Joe Pasternak, who later settled in the US and did the same thing for 狄安娜·德宾.
One of 13 children of an aristocratic Hungarian family. Started as a cabaret singer. After her brief career in Hollywood, she returned to Budapest in 1940. As a result of the war, she lost most of her family and estates, returning to America in 1951 to appear on Broadway in "The Happy Time".
Made her film debut in 1921 in the Hungarian "Az eger" (1921), but didn't become a star in German cinema until the early 1930s.
Her career was abruptly brought to an end because of the political circumstances in Germany. She was Jewish, and emigrated to the US even before the war broke out, where she had roles in movies like Cecil B. DeMille's "The Buccaneer" (1938), "The Girl Downstairs" (1938) and at Bing Crosby's side in "Paris Honeymoon" (1939).
Only made one film after World War II, "Renée XIV" (1946), after which she retired from the film business.
Survived the war and Nazi persecution hidden in a bombed-out estate, and after a failed comeback in Budapest, returned to the US in 1947.
Was already a highly successful stage actress when producer Joe Pasternak discovered her for Universal's European subsidiary "Deutsche Universal". In 1937 she and the rest of the Universal team left Austria and emigrated to the US. In Hollywood, she wasn't able to find suitable roles, and she returned to Hungary in 1940.
Apart from minor theatre roles in the early 1950s, she didn't surface again as an actress.
Little is known about her life in New York, and on August 13, 1972, the former star of German sound comedy died impoverished and unnoticed by the public.
Popular Continental cabaret artist of the 1920s and 1930s who starred in Cecil B. DeMille's 'The Buccaneer' (1938) and later appeared in two other US films. She also appeared sporadically on Broadway.
She appeared in the 1935 German film "Peter" singing "Heute fühl' ich mich so wunderbar!" ("How happy I am today!").
