Lilli Palmer Biography

The daughter of a German surgeon and an Austrian actress, Palmer jumped into amateur theatrical in Berlin when she was ten-years-old.

She trained formally as a character actress under Ilka Gruning, an actress best known for her brief appearance as a refugee in 'Casablanca' (1942). Palmer fled from Germany in 1932, fearful of the incoming Nazi regime and went to Paris. She supported herself by performing at the notorious Moulin Rouge nightclub.

Wishing to move to London, Palmer learnt English well enough to start working in British films from 1935. In 1936 she appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s 'Secret Agent'.

After World War II, Palmer moved on again, this time with her husband, Rex Harrison, to America, where she acted in stage productions and on screen as the leading lady.

'The Four Poster' (1952), co-starring Harrison, was Palmer’s most successful Hollywood film and the key to her international success, though it eventually led to the break up of her marriage.

Resettling in Europe in 1954, with a new husband, Carlos Thompson Palmer, she acted in continental films and returned to Hollywood for the occasional role.

Her witty 1975 autobiography, 'Change Lobsters and Dance', was a best seller.

She died from cancer in 1986 in Los Angeles. She was 71.