Helga Feddersen

Who was Helga Feddersen?

Helga Feddersen was a popular German actress, comedienne, singer, author, and theater director.

Feddersen was born in Hamburg. She took up acting early in her life, first being cast for minor parts such as maids, cooks and cleaning ladies. After her first successes she moved up major rôles such as naive heroines, young mothers and young ladies of noble heritage.

After a cancer operation in 1955, which resulted in a slight disfiguration of her face, directors shied back from casting her as romantic heroine. Shrewdly recognizing the hint given to her by the fates, she decided to change genres, now appearing most successfully in comedies. Being of Northern German origin with a strong but likeable Northern German accent, Feddersen was mostly cast for productions set in Northern Germany. She often played women of slightly naive but gentle and likeable characters.

Despite her success in comedies, Feddersen still remained popular as a serious actress. Among her most notable appearances on the silver screen was the part of Klothilde in the 1959 cinema adaptation of Thomas Mann's classic novel Buddenbrooks.