TALA BIRELL

Her movie career lasted thirty years from 1926 to 1955, with 66 credits to her name. On the one hand, that is a great achievement. Sadly, on the other hand, she was hindered by not being fully appreciated for the talent she was. She was cast all too often as the alternative or the substitute.

Sometimes people see you as someone you are not. Such was the case of Tala Birell.

She was born, Natalie Bierl, on September 10, 1907, in Bucharest, Romania, to a German couple. Her mother before marriage was the Baroness Stephanie Sahaydakowska of Poland, and her father, Carol Blerl, was born in Vienna but made his money in oil in Romania. She would later change the spelling of her family name to B I R E L L because the press continually misspelled it.

She was educated in a private school during World War 1 in Berlin. 

In 1926 the attractive 5-foot 6 young woman landed a bit part in her first film 'Don't Play with Love.' But she also loved doing stage.

She was discovered in Germany by famed producer Max Reinhardt who signed her to be the understudy for Marlene Dietrich in leading roles, launching a stage career in Germany and Austria. Her success was instantaneous, and she was given a contract by the British International Film Company.

Being able to fill in for the legendary Marlene Dietrich gave her a tremendous start in show business. But it also initially established her as a substitute for someone else, clouding perceptions of who she genuinely was. This substitution perception would follow her for the rest of her career.

From 1930 to 1931, she headlined 4 German-language films, mostly remakes of successful French and British films. 'People in the Cage' was a remake of the 1930 British film 'The Love Storm.' Birell took the same lead role as Fay Compton had in the original British version.

And 'My Cousin from Warsaw' was the alternate-language version of the French film by the same name.

She went to England to star in "Cape Forlorn" under revered director Ewald André Dupont. 

Agents for Universal Studios discovered Tala singing and acting on the stages and screen in Vienna and brought her to the attention of studio head Carl Laemmle. Her experience and talent were only enhanced by the fact she knew four languages fluently: German, French, Polish, and English. She was signed to a term contract, which took effect after her European commitment ended. Universal brought her to America for a part in Universal's "Love on Command," the German version of "Diplomatic Boudoir." 

Even though she admitted to being homesick for her mother back in Europe, she remained in Hollywood.

Next, she starred in the 1932 Universal film 'Doomed Battalion.' 

She became a relatively big name for a while in American films in the 1930s. She was often referred to as a rival to Greta Garbo, due to her German origin, accent, and cold glamorous appearance.

It did not matter that she had done things on her own in Europe on stage and screen. When she came to Hollywood, this Garbo-conscious town, she was put through the make-up mill. Her light brown hair was bleached and brushed into a Garbo bob, and all the trickery that lies in paint pots was employed to make her over, She was photographed in Garboesque poses, and her studio had a "second Garbo."

Natalie Bierl of Bucharest Romania had grown into a talented actress who admired Garbo but did not wish to imitate her. So Tala Birell was unhappy. After she did "The Doomed Battalion," she met her doom in "Nagana."

The studio dropped her after the poorly produced "Nagana." It was a starring vehicle for Tala Birell, but it was made of stock shots of wild animals and jungles, with Tala and Melvin Douglas thrust in here and there for story purposes. Tala says she never figured out who she was in the story, or how Douglas happened to wander into it, or why the picture was even produced.

It was bad enough, however, to cause Douglas to go back to the stage and gain success all over and to cause Tala Birell to be 'dropped." She, too, went to New York.

'I was determined not to go home a failure,' she said. I told myself I should never join the parade of foreign players who come to Hollywood and go back without accomplishing anything. It was hard to get a play in New York because my accent was heavy. But I stayed until I found one-my role was a Russian countess."

And in that role, a movie producer saw her and brought her back to Hollywood - because she looked like Garbo. It was for the picture, "Let's Fall in Love." And that led to other exotic roles, adventuresses, and villainesses.

Could she finally be herself? She was studying, erasing her accent, improving her English. She let her hair return to its natural color. She did well in "Crime and Punishment." She was hopeful.

In 1937 she became an American citizen. She was busy being Tala Birell, or so she thought.

During the 1940s, she took acting parts in patriotic anti-Nazi war films. In "China," she was a courageous Russian. In "Till We Meet Again" she was Madame Bouchard of the French Resistance. In the serial Jungle Queen, she was a Nazi Doctor Elise Bork, and in Women in the Night, she portrayed Yvette Aubert, the French adventurer, and entertainer who saves the world from destruction with the sacrifice of her life. 

Sadly, despite her attempts at transformation, she was still being framed as the "Second Garbo" in the press. She continued to be viewed as someone she wasn't—endlessly being compared to others.

Following World War 2, Germany had changed, and her mother, who lived there, was not doing well. Leaving Hollywood in 1946, Tala Birell headed for Berlin. She said, "Ever since Germany started the war, I've tried to get Mama out of there, but never succeeded. And ever since it ended, I've tried to visit her. And only now it looks like I will be able to get there.

Tala Birell later would tell the press, " It's true that I am behind the Iron Curtain, 104 miles to be exact, but I am well protected by the British, French and American troops.

"I am in Berlin working for the United States Army as a command entertainment director. The unique situation in Berlin provides us with a new and enthusiastic audience the thousands of refugees seeking asylum in our sector. It never occurred to me that my silence might make anyone think that I had disappeared behind the Iron Curtain because I am an American citizen and have been for some years."

Her talents did not go to waste. As the Field Entertainment Supervisor, she sometimes took part in shows at military clubs in Munich, Nuremberg, and Orléans in France. Later, with the title Command Entertainment Director she put on shows for U.S. troops and refugees from Eastern Europe. 

When things settled down, she attempted to restart her screen career. But her appearance as Queen of Cygnii in the 1955 Flash Gordon TV Series, would prove to be her final curtain.

She retired in 1957 for health reasons, passing away in 1958 and was laid to rest next to her mother in the family tomb in Bavaria, Germany.

Sometimes other people and situations keep us from fully being who we are. Tala worked hard at breaking through that boundary as best she could. In many ways, she succeeded. She remains an example for us all. Be you!

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