La Jana(1905-1940)
- Actress
- Soundtrack
La Jana was the stage name of the brunette Viennese-born actress and
exotic dancer Henriette 'Henny' Hiebel. She was trained as a ballerina
for ten years and first performed at the Frankfurt Kinderoper at the
age of eight. Of boyishly slim build, she appeared on stage in cabaret
in 1921. Soon after, she was reputedly discovered for the screen by the
director Géza von Cziffra at the Chat
Noir cabaret in Paris. She received good publicity from a successful
tour of Britain, during which the press alternately touted her as being
Spanish or Hungarian. The build-up continued with glamour photographs
for Vogue magazine. Movies followed and La Jana hit the big time with
Truxa (1937) (dancing on a giant
tambourine) and
The Stars Shine (1938).
Propelled to instant stardom, she came to represent oriental or Latin
mystery and allure as the scantily-clad heroines of
The Tiger of Eschnapur (1938),
Das indische Grabmal (1938)
(as the high priestess of a cult) and
Stern von Rio (1940).
Her life ended tragically young at the very peak of her popularity. She
died of pneumonia at the age of 35, a fact which rather cemented her
cult status. Since she left few personal notes, little of La Jana's
life is known. This has given life to unverified rumours and
scuttlebutt. One fanciful story has it that she aided in the escape
from Nazi Germany of Jewish acting colleagues and was consequently
murdered by the SS.
La Jana was married to the opera star
Michael Bohnen and was said to have
previously been romantically involved with Wilhelm, the last Crown
Prince of the former German Empire.
exotic dancer Henriette 'Henny' Hiebel. She was trained as a ballerina
for ten years and first performed at the Frankfurt Kinderoper at the
age of eight. Of boyishly slim build, she appeared on stage in cabaret
in 1921. Soon after, she was reputedly discovered for the screen by the
director Géza von Cziffra at the Chat
Noir cabaret in Paris. She received good publicity from a successful
tour of Britain, during which the press alternately touted her as being
Spanish or Hungarian. The build-up continued with glamour photographs
for Vogue magazine. Movies followed and La Jana hit the big time with
Truxa (1937) (dancing on a giant
tambourine) and
The Stars Shine (1938).
Propelled to instant stardom, she came to represent oriental or Latin
mystery and allure as the scantily-clad heroines of
The Tiger of Eschnapur (1938),
Das indische Grabmal (1938)
(as the high priestess of a cult) and
Stern von Rio (1940).
Her life ended tragically young at the very peak of her popularity. She
died of pneumonia at the age of 35, a fact which rather cemented her
cult status. Since she left few personal notes, little of La Jana's
life is known. This has given life to unverified rumours and
scuttlebutt. One fanciful story has it that she aided in the escape
from Nazi Germany of Jewish acting colleagues and was consequently
murdered by the SS.
La Jana was married to the opera star
Michael Bohnen and was said to have
previously been romantically involved with Wilhelm, the last Crown
Prince of the former German Empire.