Lee Parry

Biography

Beautiful German silent actress and singer, the daughter of a stage actor, opera tenor and variety director, who was popularly known as 'Papa Benz'. Parry was discovered for films in 1919 by the director/producer Richard Eichberg (whom she subsequently married). She reached the pinnacle of her career starring opposite Paul Wegener (of 'Golem' fame) in the historical drama Monna Vanna (1922). Otherwise, she was at her best in comedies. After Parry's film career reached a hiatus in the late 1920's, she made a short-lived comeback in talking pictures, starring in a couple of Viennese operettas. She was also a successful radio singer and recording artist of popular hits like "Ich bin von Kopf bis Fuß auf Liebe eingestellt" (with the orchestra of Theo Mackeben). In 1956, Parry moved to Buenos Aires with her second husband, the director of the German theatre-in-exile, "Freie Deutsche Bühne". Following a theatrical comeback in the play "Manon", she continued to perform for several more years on various stages across South America.