Esther Carena

(1898 - 1972)

The daughter of a German father and Spanish mother, she studied medicine for one semester and trained in an Italian acrobat troupe. Until 1916 she lived mostly in Italy and performed there in stage sketches. In 1916 she came to Germany and was discovered by Swedish film actor and director Nils Olaf Chrisander. She was presented as a heroine in thrillers, dramas, and melodramas that were staged by Harry Piel at the end of the First World War. She designed many of her own costumes. In 1924 she married the set designer Franz Schroedter and retired from films.