Greta Meyer

Greta Meyer (August 7, 1883 – October 8, 1965) was a German-born actress whose career spanned stage and screen across Europe and the United States for nearly seven decades. Born into a theatrical family comparable in stature to the Barrymore family in America, Meyer made her stage debut at age three with her father's stock company. She went on to perform in operettas and plays in Amsterdam, Berlin, Dresden, Vienna, and other European cities, and she sang for Austria's emperor and Kaiser Wilhelm. Among her notable European stage engagements, she starred in The Merry Widow for the Count of Luxembourg.

Meyer arrived in the United States as the lead performer of an operetta company, and when that production concluded its run, she remained in New York. There she appeared in The Bat and other stage productions. She also founded a German-language theater in New York, though anti-German sentiment in the aftermath of World War I brought protests and declining attendance, ultimately forcing the theater to close. Meyer subsequently studied Yiddish and toured the United States performing with a Yiddish Arts Theater stock company.

At a financially difficult period in her career, Meyer organized a farewell performance in New York City before what she expected would be a sparse audience, intending to return to Germany. The event sold out and standing room was filled, allowing her to settle her debts and keep $480. She traveled to Germany as planned but ultimately returned to America. In 1923 she became a United States citizen.

Her Broadway career extended from 1912 to 1930 and included appearances in Auction Pinochle and Tonight or Never. Her early film work included the Dutch production De jantjes in 1922 and the German film Die Königsloge in 1929. Between 1933 and 1942 she appeared in numerous Hollywood films, among them The Great Waltz in 1938 and Bitter Sweet in 1940.

In 1963, Meyer was evicted from her residence at 505 North Westmount Drive in West Hollywood, California, when the property owners chose to demolish the structure in favor of new construction. She moved in with a friend, with limited space to store her collection of acting memorabilia, and at that time considered relocating to Germany. Meyer died in Gardena, California on October 8, 1965.