Fern Andra

Fern Andra
Born	Vernal Edna Andrews November 24, 1893 Watseka, Illinois, U.S.
Died	February 8, 1974 (aged 80) Aiken, South Carolina, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Actress, writer, film director/producer
Years active	1913–1930
Spouse(s)	General Samuel Edge Dockrell (1938–1973; his death) Ian Keith (1932/1934–19??; divorce) Kurt Prenzel (1923/24–19??; divorced) Baron Friedrich von Weichs (19??–1917; his death)

Fern Andra (November 24, 1893 – February 8, 1974) was an American actress, film director, script writer and producer. Next to Henny Porten and Asta Nielsen she was one of the most popular and best-known actresses in German silent films of the 1910s.

Biography

Born as Vernal Edna Andrews in Watseka, Illinois in 1893, the daughter of a circus performer and an opera singer, Andra was already appearing in public in a tightrope act by the age of four. She later trained in song and dance. As early as 1899, in New York, she made her first film, a version of Uncle Tom's Cabin.

She remained however with the circus, with which she embarked on an extensive tour across the United States, Canada and Europe. For a time, she was a member of Bird Millman's acclaimed troupe of wire artists. In Berlin she met Max Reinhardt, who gave her acting lessons. In 1913, aged 19, she appeared in her first German film, Das Ave Maria. Still only moderately well-known, she made her only Austrian film in 1915: Zwei Freunde. From 1916-18 she appeared almost exclusively on camera with Alfred Abel. In 1920 she starred in Robert Wiene's expressionist horror film Genuine. In the mid-1920s she lost her public appeal in Germany.

On July 4, 1922, she was involved in the Hamburg-Berlin mail plane accident. The pilot, World War I flying ace Lothar von Richthofen, was killed. Andra was initially misreported as dead, but survived. Her companion, director Georg Bluen, also survived and continued working with her until 1925.

From 1928 she worked in the UK and the US, later expanding her range to include radio and television.

Marriages

Fern Andra was married four times; all of the unions were childless:

• Baron Friedrich von und zu Weichs (died in 1917)
• Kurt Prenzel (married 1923 or 1924; divorced)
• Ian Keith (married 1932; they wed again in 1934, when the legality of the first ceremony was questioned; divorced)
• Gen. Samuel Edge Dockrell (1938–1973; his death)

Death

Fern Andra died in Aiken, South Carolina, on February 8, 1974, aged 80.

Selected filmography

• Madame Récamier (1920)
• The Night of Queen Isabeau (1920)
• The Red Rider (1923)
• Radio Magic (1927)
• Spangles (1928)
• The Warning (1928)
• The Burgomaster of Stilemonde (1929)
• The Eyes of the World (1930)
• Lotus Lady (1930)

External links

• Fern Andra at IMDb
• Fern Andra's photos