Saturday, June 22, 2013

Miss Dorrit Weixler


I guess we are going to stay on the beautiful German stars with morphine addictions...

I do keep things lighthearted and fun don't I?


Dorrit Weixler was born on March 27, 1892 in Berlin, Germany. 

I don't have any information about her earlier life other than that she had an older sister named Grete who was also an actress. 

She made her screen debut in a 1911 film short titled, Alwin auf der Hochzeitsreise. That is what the first few years of her career consisted of, short films directed by Alwin Neuss. 

In 1913 she began collaborating with another director, Franz Hofer. He cast Dorrit in mostly comedic roles of a spunky teenager. Perhaps she was turning into a mix of Mabel Normand and Mary Pickford....German style! 


While her career did consist mostly of shorts, she did appear in some feature length films as well, starting in 1913 with the film Das rosa Pantoffelchen

In 1915 she moved on to another studio and began to appear in her own 'serials' like Dorrit's Chauffeur and Dorrit Gets Job for Life. The German film audiences loved her.

The following year Dorrit appeared on the stage for the first time for a promotional campaign through the studio. The house was packed and everyone was eager to see the film star perform live and she didn't disappoint for the first couple of dances and routines, but all of a sudden she collapsed and the curtains closed. There was a lot of speculation about what happened and why she passed out but nothing conclusive came to light. But, for some reason she was prescribed morphine, the go-to drug during that time, and it wasn't long before Dorrit became addicted.


On November 16, 1916, six months after her collapse at the theatre, Dorrit Weixler hung herself in the sanitarium where she had been admitted in order to rest. She was only 23 years old.

She was buried in the Sudwestkirchhof cemetery in Stahnsdorf, Germany. 


Dorrit's last film, Dorritchens Vergnugungsreise was released in 1921, five years after her death.

As I said before, she was mostly cast in young, rambunctious teenage roles but I should also point out that a lot of the time her costume in her films was a sailor suit. It must have been something that was very much associated with her because she has quite a few photographs in said outfit. 

2 comments:

  1. What a sad story! She looks like a German Clara Bow. I'm always amazed at how many forgotten actresses you profile.

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    1. Thank you! Like I said, I want to make sure these people are never forgotten. And you are the second person to comment that she looked like Clara Bow, and I am now beginning to see it!

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