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Lale Andersen (March 23, 1905 – August 29, 1972) was a German chanson singer-songwriter born in Bremerhaven, Germany. She is best known for her interpretation of the song Lili Marleen in 1939, which became tremendously popular on both sides during the second World War.
She was born in Lehe and baptized Liese-Lotte Helene Berta Bunnenberg. In 1922, at the age of 17, she married Paul Ernst Wilke (1894 – 1971), a local painter. They had three children together: Björn, Carmen-Litta, and Michael. Shortly after the birth of the third child, the marriage broke up. Leaving the children in the care of her relatives (sister Thekla and brother Helmut), Lale went in October 1929 to Berlin, where she reportedly studied acting at the Schauspielschule at the Deutsches Theater. In 1931, her marriage was ended by divorce. About the same year, she began appearing on stage in various cabarets in Berlin. From 1933 to 1937, she performed at the Schauspielhaus in Zürich, where she also met Rolf Liebermann, who would remain a close friend for the rest of her life. In 1938, Lale was in Munich at the cabaret Simpl, and soon afterwards joined the prestigious cabaret Kabarett der Komiker in Berlin.
While at the Kabarett der Komiker, she met Norbert Schultze, who had just written the music for Lili Marleen. Lale recorded the song in 1939, but it would only become a hit when the Soldatensender Belgrad (Belgrade Soldier's Radio), the radio station of the German armed forces in occupied Yugoslavia began broadcasting it in 1941. LiliMarleen quickly became immensely popular with German soldiers at the front. The transmitter of the radio station at Belgrade, was powerful enough to be received all over Europe, and the song soon became popular with the Allied troops as well.
Nevertheless, Nazi officials did not like the sad song about parted lovers, and Joseph Goebbels prohibited its being played on the radio. Lale was not allowed to perform publicly for nine months, not simply because of the song but also because of her friendship with Rolf Liebermann, who was Jewish, as well as with other Jewish artists she had met in Zürich. In desperation, Lale unsuccessfully attempted to commit suicide. When she was allowed to perform again, it was only subject to several conditions, one of which was not to sing Lili Marleen. In the remaining war years, Lale Andersen had one minor appearance in a propaganda movie and was made to sing several propaganda songs in English. Shortly before the end of the war, Lale retired to Langeoog, a small island off the North Sea coast of Germany.
After the war, Lale Andersen all but disappeared as a singer. In 1949, she married Swiss composer Artur Beul. In 1952 she made a comeback with the song Die blaue Nacht am Hafen, for which she had written the lyrics herself. In 1959 she had another big hit Ein Schiff wird kommen..., a cover version of the title song from the movie Never on Sunday, originally sung by Melina Mercouri. Both songs won her a gold album each in Germany. In 1961, she participated as the representative of Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Einmal sehen wir uns wieder, which reached 13th place with three points. Throughout the 1960s, she toured extensively through Europe and also performed in the United States and Canada until her farewell tour Goodbye memories in 1967. Two years later, she published a book entitled Wie werde ich Haifisch? – Ein heiterer Ratgeber für alle, die Schlager singen, texten oder komponieren wollen (How do I become a shark? A cheerful companion for all, that sings songs, writes lyrics and composes music), and in 1972, shortly before her death, her autobiography Der Himmel hat viele Farben (The Sky has many Colours) appeared and topped the bestselling list of the German magazine Der Spiegel.
Lale Andersen died of a heart attack in Vienna, Austria, at the age of 67. She was buried at the dune cemetery on the East Frisian island of Langeoog.
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