Leopoldine Konstantin

Leopoldine Konstantin, born Leopoldine Eugenie Amelie Konstanti on 12 March 1886 in Moravia, Austria-Hungary, was an Austrian actress whose career spanned stage, silent film, sound film, and television across several decades. She died on 14 December 1965 in Hietzing, Vienna, at the age of 79.

Konstantin studied acting under Alexander Strakosch, whom she married in 1906. The marriage ended in divorce in 1924, the same year she wed Hungarian counsellor and author Géza Herczeg, with whom she had a son, Alexander. That marriage also ended in divorce, in 1938. In 1923, she had a house built in Westerland for herself and her son.

Her stage career began with her debut at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin in 1907, where she appeared in Frank Wedekind's Spring Awakening and Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet that same year. She went on to perform in A Winter's Tale in 1908 and A Midsummer Night's Dream in 1910. From 1911, she was associated with the Kammerspiele in Berlin, where she became a recognized presence in Berlin cultural circles. She moved to Vienna in 1916, and by 1924 she was performing the title role in Friedrich Schiller's Mary Stuart. Her Broadway appearances extended from 1912 to 1946 and included roles in Sumurun and The Constant Wife.

Konstantin began working in silent films in 1912, initially in leading roles. As offers shifted toward smaller parts following the First World War, she stepped away from the medium. She returned to film work in 1933, and in 1935 she relocated first to Austria and then, by way of Britain, to the United States. Having arrived with no knowledge of English, she supported herself through factory work while undertaking intensive language study. That effort led to her casting in Alfred Hitchcock's 1946 film Notorious, in which she played the mother of Claude Rains' character, despite being only three years his senior in age.

In 1948, Konstantin appeared in two television series before returning to Vienna. Her subsequent work consisted of occasional theatre roles and poetry readings on the radio.