Lotte Lenya (18 October 1898 – 27 November 1981) was an Austrian singer and actress. In the German-speaking and classical music world she is best remembered for her performances of the songs of her husband, Kurt Weill. In popular culture, she is widely recognized for her performance as Rosa Klebb in From Russia with Love. She is also known for receiving a mention in the Louis Armstrong and Bobby Darin versions of the song "Mack the Knife".
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Lotte Lenya (18 October 1898 – 27 November 1981) was an Austrian singer and actress. In the German-speaking and classical music world she is best remembered for her performances of the songs of her husband, Kurt Weill. In popular culture, she is widely recognized for her performance as Rosa Klebb in From Russia with Love. She is also known for receiving a mention in the Louis Armstrong and Bobby Darin versions of the song "Mack the Knife".
Lenya was born Karoline Wilhelmine Charlotte Blamauer to working class Roman Catholic parents in Vienna, Austria. She moved to study in Zürich, Switzerland in 1914, taking up her first job at the Schauspielhaus using the stage name Lotte Lenja. She moved to Berlin to seek work in 1921.
In 1922 Lenya was seen by her future husband, the German composer Kurt Weill during an audition for his first stage score Zaubernacht, but because of his position behind the piano, she did not see him. She was cast, but owing to her loyalty to her voice teacher who...
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