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
Le saut de la mort (1937) (dancing on a giant
tambourine) and
Les étoiles brillent (1938).
Propelled to instant stardom, she came to represent oriental or Latin
mystery and allure as the scantily-clad heroines of
Der Tiger von Eschnapur (1938),
Le Tombeau hindou (1938)
(as the high priestess of a cult) and
Etoile de 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.
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.
