Lilli Palmer

Lilli Palmer (born Lillie Marie Peiser on May 24, 1914 in Poznan, Poland (then Posen, Prussia) – January 27, 1986 in Los Angeles) was an international actress.

Palmer, who took her surname from an English actress she admired, was one of three daughters born to German surgeon, Dr. Alfred Peiser and Austrian stage actress Rose Lissman. She studied drama in Berlin before fleeing to Paris in 1933 following the Nazi takeover. While performing in cabarets, she attracted the attention of British talent scouts and was offered a contract by Gaumont-British. She made her screen debut in Crime Unlimited (1935) and appeared in British films for the next decade.

In 1943, she married actor Rex Harrison and followed him to Hollywood in 1945. She signed with Warner Brothers and appeared in several films, notably Clock and Dagger (1946) and Body and Soul (1947). She also periodically appeared in stage plays as well as hosting her own television series in 1951. Harrison and Palmer appeared together in the hit Broadway play Bell, Book and Candle in the early 50s and later starred in the film version, The Four Poster (1952). Harrison and Palmer divorced in 1957. They have one son, Rex Carey Alfred Harrison (born in 1944).

Palmer went on to play both leading and supporting parts in the U.S. and abroad. She was married to Argentine actor Carlos Thompson from 1958 until her death from cancer in 1986.

A talented writer, she published her memoirs Change Lobsters and Dance in 1975 and a novel, The Red Raven in 1978.

References

Palmer, Lilli. Change Lobsters and Dance: An Autobiography. New York: Macmillan, 1975. ISBN 0025946102