In Remembrance: Brigitte Mira

     Brigitte Mira, the German singer and actress who appeared in several of director Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s films, has passed away on Saturday, March 5, 2005 in Berlin, Germany. She was 94.

     Born on April 20, 1910 in Hamburg, Germany, Mira’s father was a Russian pianist who had immigrated to Germany. Her mother was a German native. Mira grew up in Düsseldorf and began her career as a ballet dancer and cabaret artist at age 19.

     Fassbinder would cast Mira in his 1974 film Ali: Fear Eats The Soul in the role of Emmi, a lonely widow who becomes romantically involved with an Arab immigrant (El Hedi ben Salem) and the prejudice the couple face from their neighbors and co-workers. Mira’s work in the role was noted by several critics

     Also in 1974, Mira appeared in Werner Herzog's acclaimed film Jeder Fuer Sich Und Gott Gegen Alle (The Enigma Of Kaspar Hauser).

     Mira worked with Fassbinder again on the 1975 films Fox And His Friends and Mother Kusters Goes To Heaven, 1981’s Lili Marleen as well as the 1980 television mini-series Berlin Alexanderplatz.

     Mira also starred in the popular German television series Drei Damen vom Grill (Three Women from Grill) and played the British Queen Mother in the comedy series Willi Und Die Wiindzors (Willie and the Windsors).