Anny Ondra was a prominent Czech actress who starred in various films, or picture shows, as they were called in the 1920s, throughout her career. She not only acted in Czech films but also in German and English, she was able to establish herself as a leading actress early on in her acting career. With the invention of talking pictures, Ondra was able to remain in the public limelight and movie audiences were able to witness her artistic skill sets in sound films. Ondra is remarked as one of the trailblazing actresses of her time possessing the ability to entertain movie audiences in both silent and sound films. 

Before the public fully knew of and fell in love with Anny Ondra —the dazzling blonde actress recognized for her international performances in both silent and speaking films— there was first Anna Sophie Ondráková, a young talented girl who had her sights set on making herself known in picture films. 

On 15 May 1903, Ondra was born to Czech parents, Anna Mracek and Bohumír Ondráková, an officer in the Austro-Hungarian Army. Due to the nature of her father’s work, Ondra’s family traveled with him throughout Europe to where he would be stationed. Anna became exposed to different cultures and learned to speak several languages, including German, French, English, as well as her native Czech. The early part of Ondra’s childhood was spent traveling between Tarnów, Pula, and Prague. 

During her teenage years, Ondra made her stage debut at the age of 15 in a local Czech theater. Ondra’s comedic timing, charisma, and acting talents were applauded by audience members and her performances would go on to be noticed by an industry film employer who hired her to act in a film. At the age of 17, Ondra made her silent film debut in Gilly in Prague for the First Time under the direction of Karel Lamač, an up-and-coming actor who also starred in the film. Upon the completion of the film, Lamač and Ondra would go on to have a romantic relationship. 

The concluding outcome of the film would meet Ondra with an upsetting ending. Once her family had discovered that she had voluntarily acted in a picture film, her parents, especially her father, Bohumír Ondrák, were greatly upset with Ondra. She and her father had a shouting match over her involvement in the film, and her father gave Ondra a beating for allowing herself to think that acting was a suitable career choice for herself.

With her father’s employment as an officer, her parents wanted her to pursue a career that was more socially accepted, as working as an actress during the 1920s was seen on par with being a beggar. Her father sought to not have Ondrea seek acting as a career through sending her to a convent school in hopes of straightening out his daughter. He even found her a job in a governmental position so that Ondra would stop considering a career in acting. Upon seeing the lack of support from her family, Ondra realized that if she truly wanted to become a successful actress, she would have to leave her household to make her dreams a reality. Upon this realization, Ondra moved in with her boyfriend Karel Lamač and was determined to become an actress.

Ondra went on to star in over 20+ movies alongside Lamač, who would also direct and star in the majority of their films together. Their collaboration in the film industry helped to establish Ondra as a European star, introducing her to audiences in Czechoslovakia, France, and Germany, as well as gaining the attention of Alfred Hitchcock, a prominent English film director during the 20th century. 

Hitchcock was not only taken by Ondra’s performances in both comedy and drama films but also by her magnetic ability to entertain audiences from various parts of the globe. Ondra was cast as the lead actress in Blackmail, which would go on to become the first successful European talking picture in 1929. 

However, not everyone in the making of the movie was thrilled to have Ondra cast in the starring role. While Ondra was able to speak in English, she spoke it in a Czech accent, which producers of the film felt was not suitable for the English film. This caused disagreement amongst the filmmaking team as Hitchcock did not want to make the film without Ondra starring as the leading actress. 

To alleviate the situation, producers hired British actress Joan Barry to dub the voice of Ondra in the film. While sound films were slowly increasing in popularity over silent films during the early part of the 1930s, their newness still provided filmmakers with certain filmmaking obstacles. 

The only solution that producers were able to come to was to have Ondra lip-synch her lines while Barry spoke the dialogue off-camera. Inadvertently, this act of dubbing led for Ondra to become the first foreign-language dubbed actress in filmmaking history and Barry the first voice actress. 

The release of Blackmail was met with critical and commercial success, with critics praising the use of sound in the film. Blackmail has since gone on to be regarded as a landmark film and in recent years has been ranked as the 59th best British film in Time Out magazine. 

Upon the release of the movie, Ondra left England and settled down in Germany, where she and Lamač formed their own production company, Ondra-Lamač Films. Sadly, their romantic relationship would come to an end with both of them parting but remaining lifelong friends and continuing to work with each other in several films. 

Later in 1933, Ondra would marry the love of her life, Max Schmeling, a German heavyweight champion boxer. Their marriage caused a rapid sensation throughout Europe, with tabloids writing about Ondra and Schmeling as the fairytale couple of the 30s. During World War II the Nazi regime noticed the popularity of their marriage and tried exploiting the couple by having them support Nazi Germany. However, the couple refused as they did not support them. 

Throughout her marriage to Schmeling, Ondra continued to act and made over 90 films throughout her career. Of those films, 40 were made during the sound era. Ondra’s legacy is remembered as a young girl who believed in her talent and followed her dreams that eventually became a reality.  Her bravery and courage for starting in the film industry when films were transitioning from silent to sound will forever be remembered.

Written by Elizabeth Arebalo

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Sources: 

“Anny Ondra.” Wikipedia, . Accessed 13 Mar. 2025.

“Blackmail (1929 film). Wikipedia, . Accessed 13 Mar. 2025.

Baker, Rob. “Anny Ondra, Alfred Hitchcock, a Nazi Heavyweight Boxer and the First Actress to the Bishop Joke.” Flashback, . 9 May 2020.

“Fist Czech actress to conquer Europe born 120 years ago.” Radio Prague International, . 15 May 2022.

“Anny Ondra.” Alcetron, . 10 Oct. 2024.

“Anny Ondra - Biography.” IMDb, . Accessed 13 Mar. 2025.