FRANCISKA GAAL

Franciska Gaal (born Szidonia Silberspitz) was a Hungarian actress from the 1920s to the 1940s. She started as a cabaret performer while a teen and appeared in some European movies in the 1920s and early 1930s. She was signed by Cecil B. DeMille to her first American movie, The Buccaneer, in 1938, and at the time, she was promoted as a "Viennese importation", and it was said that she was "recognized as the continent's foremost dramatic actress". However, she did not translate well to American movies, and only appeared in three more American movies, although she did perform on the stage as well. She returned to Budapest in 1940, but lost her family and possessions during World War II, and returned to America in 1951, passing away in 1973 at the age of 68.