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Listen to Zarah Leander, watch music videos, read bio, see tour dates & more!

Zarah Leander

Pop

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Top Songs By Zarah Leander

Listen to Davon Geht Die Welt Nicht Unter (From the Film „Die große Liebe“) by Zarah Leander, Michael Jary & UFA-Tonfilm-Orchester, see lyrics, music video & more!
Davon Geht Die Welt Nicht Unter (From the Film „Die große Liebe“)Zarah Leander, Michael Jary & UFA-Tonfilm-Orchester
Listen to Nur Nicht Aus Lieve Weinen (From the Film „Es war eine rauschende Ballnacht“) by Zarah Leander, Friedrich Schroeder & FFB-Orchester, see lyrics, music video & more!
Nur Nicht Aus Lieve Weinen (From the Film „Es war eine rauschende Ballnacht“)Zarah Leander, Friedrich Schroeder & FFB-Orchester
Listen to Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen by Einar Groths Orchestra & Zarah Leander, see lyrics, music video & more!
Bei Mir Bist Du SchoenEinar Groths Orchestra & Zarah Leander
Listen to Jede Nacht Ein Neues Glóck by Zarah Leander, see lyrics, music video & more!
Jede Nacht Ein Neues GlóckZarah Leander
Listen to Ich weiß, es wird einmal ein Wunder gescheh'n by Zarah Leander, see lyrics, music video & more!
Ich weiß, es wird einmal ein Wunder gescheh'nZarah Leander
Listen to Ein Paar Traenen Werd Ich Weinen by Zarah Leander, see lyrics, music video & more!
Ein Paar Traenen Werd Ich WeinenZarah Leander
Listen to Ein Paar Tränen Werd Ich Weinen (From the Film  „Das Lied der Wüste“) by Zarah Leander, UFA-Tonfilm-Orchester & Nico Dostal, see lyrics, music video & more!
Ein Paar Tränen Werd Ich Weinen (From the Film „Das Lied der Wüste“)Zarah Leander, UFA-Tonfilm-Orchester & Nico Dostal
Listen to Und Dann Tanz Ich Einen Czardas by Zarah Leander & Michael Jary, see lyrics, music video & more!
Und Dann Tanz Ich Einen CzardasZarah Leander & Michael Jary
Listen to Ich weiß, es wird einmal ein Wunder Gescheh'n by Zarah Leander, see lyrics, music video & more!
Ich weiß, es wird einmal ein Wunder Gescheh'nZarah Leander
Listen to Nur nicht aus Liebe weinen by Zarah Leander, see lyrics, music video & more!
Nur nicht aus Liebe weinenZarah Leander

Latest Release

Listen to Cuba Cabana - EP by Zarah Leander
ALBUMCuba Cabana - EPZarah Leander

More albums from Zarah Leander

Listen to Wiggers sjunger Jules Sylvain by Wiggers, Zarah Leander & Artur Rolén
ALBUMWiggers sjunger Jules SylvainWiggers, Zarah Leander & Artur Rolén
Listen to Icons of German Cinema: Zarah Leander in Stockholm, Vol. 1 (Recorded 1930-1953) by Zarah Leander
ALBUMIcons of German Cinema: Zarah Leander in Stockholm, Vol. 1 (Recorded 1930-1953)Zarah Leander
Listen to Det Basta... by Zarah Leander
ALBUMDet Basta...Zarah Leander
Listen to Svenska Sångfavoriter 2 by Zarah Leander
ALBUMSvenska Sångfavoriter 2Zarah Leander
Listen to Eine Frau wird erst schön durch die Liebe by Zarah Leander
ALBUMEine Frau wird erst schön durch die LiebeZarah Leander
Listen to Ich weiss, es wird einmal ein Wunder gescheh'n by Zarah Leander
ALBUMIch weiss, es wird einmal ein Wunder gescheh'nZarah Leander
Listen to Pardon meine Damen, Pardon meine Herren by Zarah Leander
ALBUMPardon meine Damen, Pardon meine HerrenZarah Leander
Listen to Warum soll eine Frau kein Verhältnis haben? by Zarah Leander
ALBUMWarum soll eine Frau kein Verhältnis haben?Zarah Leander
Listen to Zarah Leander by Zarah Leander
ALBUMZarah LeanderZarah Leander
Listen to Zarah Leander 1 by Zarah Leander
ALBUMZarah Leander 1Zarah Leander
Listen to Zarah Leander 2 by Zarah Leander
ALBUMZarah Leander 2Zarah Leander
Listen to Zarah Leander: Die größten Erfolge by Zarah Leander
ALBUMZarah Leander: Die größten ErfolgeZarah Leander
Listen to Zarah Leander: Die ersten Jahre by Zarah Leander
ALBUMZarah Leander: Die ersten JahreZarah Leander
Listen to Vem kan segla förutan vind by Zarah Leander
ALBUMVem kan segla förutan vindZarah Leander
Listen to TætPå/Schön war die Zeit, Vol. 2 by Zarah Leander
ALBUMTætPå/Schön war die Zeit, Vol. 2Zarah Leander
Listen to TætPå/Vill ni se en stjärna? Vol. 1 by Zarah Leander
ALBUMTætPå/Vill ni se en stjärna? Vol. 1Zarah Leander

Zarah Leander's Popular Music Videos

Music Video

Watch Wodka für die Königin (with Peter Thomas Sound Orchester) music video by Zarah Leander
Wodka für die Königin (with Peter Thomas Sound Orchester)
Zarah Leander
Watch Wodka für die Königin (Mike Candys Remix) [with Peter Thomas Sound Orchester] music video by Zarah Leander
Wodka für die Königin (Mike Candys Remix) [with Peter Thomas Sound Orchester]
Zarah Leander

About Zarah Leander

Listen to Zarah Leander, watch music videos, read bio, see tour dates & more!
Hometown
Karlstad, Sweden
Born
1907
Genre
Pop
Zarah Leander was the most popular singing movie star during the Nazi period. Born Zarah Hedberg in Sweden, she came up through the ranks of small-town Swedish vaudeville and operetta to establish herself on the Viennese stage by 1935, appearing in Ralph Benatsky's Axel an der Himmelstür. UFA studios in Berlin had lost Marlene Dietrich to Hollywood in 1930, and had since then been seeking a suitable replacement. Although not a strong actress, Zarah Leander's looks combined the sultry sensuality of Dietrich with the Nordic iciness of Greta Garbo. Her singing voice was suitable for Viennese operetta, and from the standpoint of sheer musical talent, she could certainly outpace what Dietrich had been able to offer in this respect. These aspects of Leander's talent proved enough to convince UFA to sign her as a contract player in 1936. She first hit it big with movie audiences in two films directed by Detlef Sierck (later known by his Hollywood name of Douglas Sirk) Zu Neuen Ufern (1937) and La Habanera (1937). Sirk had the wisdom to engage composer Ralph Benatsky to write the music for the first of these films, and by the second, he had established Leander's basic character of type: an exotic foreign entertainer who, after being duped through some unscrupulous means, manages to recapture her dignity and find fulfillment through a twist of fate. While Sirk fled Nazi Germany not long after La Habanera was completed, this formula was able to sustain Leander's unchallenged popularity in Germany for her next nine features, including huge hits such as Heimat (1938) and Es War Eine Rauschende Ballnacht (1939). With Die Grosse Liebe (1942), Leander played against type, and as a result, enjoyed her greatest success. She appeared as a music hall entertainer ensnared in a love triangle between a jealous composer and a soldier. Although ruthlessly butchered by both Allied and Axis censors, Die Grosse Liebe somewhat surreptitiously mirrored the exhaustion and futility felt by most ordinary Germans during the Second World War, and reflected a common hope that the war should soon end. Theo Mackeben composed the music, and two of the songs from Die Grosse Liebe, "Mein Leben für die Liebe" and "Ich Weiss, Es Wird Eimal ein Wunder Geschehen," were among Leander's biggest hits. During the making of Damals (1943), Leander received a communiqué from Hitler's Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels. Under the terms of Leander's 1936 contract, her salary as a UFA contract player was deposited directly into her Swedish bank account. Goebbels informed Leander that her contract was to be re-negotiated into Deutschmarks, and that the time had arrived for her to become a German citizen. In return, Goebbels offered Leander property in East Prussia, but she would also have to surrender her Swedish-based businesses and property to the Reich. Her German home had already been destroyed by bombs, so Leander left for Stockholm, abruptly ending her career as the top operetta star in Nazi Germany. The Third Reich itself would not long outlast it. This was the beginning of a 15-year period where Zarah Leander would find most of the doors of opportunity closed to her. During this period, Leander relied on her Swedish interests, including running a fish cannery, and worked occasionally in minor films. But her association with Nazi Germany and its film industry proved poisonous to her reputation, and many Swedes reviled her as a Nazi collaborator. In 1958, Leander finally managed a comeback in the Viennese production of Madame Scandaleuse, an operetta written by Peter Kreuder. From that point until her retirement in 1972, an older and wiser Zarah Leander was celebrated as a legendary performer in German-speaking lands, appearing on-stage and in television, but only seldom in movies. Leander wrote an autobiography, Es War so Wunderbar, and several documentary films have been made on her admittedly interesting life, both before and after her death at age 74 in 1981. ~ Uncle Dave Lewis

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