Lale Andersen was a talented German singer who lived from 1905 to 1972. Many years after her death, some of her songs including Lili Marlen, Ein Schiff Wird Kommen, and Blaue Nacht am Hafen are still being played. Beyond music, she is also best known as an actress who has had a number of productions to her name. Here is a look at all that concerns her.
Quick Profile of Lale Anderson
- Full name: Elisabeth Carlotta Helena Berta Bunnenberg
- Date of birth: 23 March 1905
- Place of birth: Lehe, Bremerhaven, German Empire
- Died: 29 August 1972 (aged 67)
- Nationality: German and Swiss
- Occupation: Musician, actress, writer
- Spouses: Paul Ernst Wilke (m. 1922; div. 1931), Artur Beul (m. 1949)
The Birth and Life of Lale Andersen
It was as Elisabeth Carlotta Helena Berta Bunnenberg that the talented singer was born on 23 March 1905 in Lehe, (Bremerhaven) in what used to be the German Empire. She was birthed to Berta Adelheid Bunnenberg and Georg Adolf Hinrich Bunnenberg who was a steward.
Around the late 1920s and early 1930s, she got her career started as a musician and actress after she moved to Switzerland where she attended the Deutsches Theater in Schauspielschule where she studied acting.
She Was Married Twice
As regards her love life, the singer and actress walked down the aisle twice. Her first marriage was in 1929 when she was only 17 years old. Lale Anderson’s first husband was German Impressionist painter Paul Ernst Wilke. Her hsuband was older than her by more than 10 years when they got married. Sadly, the marriage lasted only 9 years before it came to an end in divorce in 1931.
The end of her marriage has always been a puzzling one as she was said to have walked out on her husband and three kids with her youngest child only six weeks old at the time in 1929. Two years later, the marriage gave way.
Nonetheless, she did not abandon her kids as while she continued to pursue her career, her children, Björn, Carmen-Litta, and Michael Wilke were left in the care of her mother and sister.
While still pursuing her career to become an actress and singer, her path crossed with that of Swiss song composer Artur Beul. The pair met in Zurich in 1933 and soon afterwards they started dating before getting married in 1949.
What Are The Best Songs of Lale Andersen?
- Lale Andersen Singt Plattdeutsche Volkslieder (1961)
- Singt Lieder Ihrer Heimat (LP, Album, Mono) (1961)
- Lale Andersen, Hans Christian Andersen – Lale Andersen Erzählt Märchen Von Hans Christian Andersen (1965)
- Zwölf Lander, Zwölf Lieder (1966)
- Good•Bye Memories (1966)
- Singt Lieder Von Der Waterkant (1967)
- Lale Andersen Und Das Orchester Hugo Strasser* – Lieder Für Lale (1967)
- Unsere Lale – Lale Andersen Singt Lieder Vom Meer (1968)
Lale Andersen Died in 1972
Having had so much success in her career as an actress and singer, Lale Andersen died in 1972 at the age of 67. The famous singer lost her life in a private clinic in Vienna where she was being treated for liver cancer. Before her passing, the singer requested that she be buried in the dune cemetery on the North Sea island of Langeoog, which was what happened. She left behind her husband, Artur Beul who lived until his death at the age of 94 on January 9, 2010.
She also left behind her three children, Björn Wilke who got involved in a documentary about Lale in 2001, Litta Magnus who is an actress who lived until 2011 when she died at 83, and Michael Wilke who was the youngest of Lale Andersen’s children. Michael was a producer, music publisher, and founder of MWM Records München. He published a book about his childhood and mother titled “Künstlerkind” (Artist’s Child) in 2009. He died in 2017.
