Hildegard Knef (December 28, 1925 - February 1, 2002) was a German actress, singer and writer. She was billed in some English language films as Hildegard(e) Neff. Arguably, her most influential roles included that of Susanne Wallner in Wolfgang Staudte's film Die Mörder sind unter uns (The Murderers Are Among Us) (the first film released after the Second World War in East Germany and produced by the Soviet filmmaking enterprise DEFA-Studio für Spielfilme) as well as her role as Marina in Die Sünderin (The Sinner) in which she performed the first nude scene in German filmmaking. The incident in the latter film sparked one of the largest scandals in German filmmaking history and drew the criticism of the Roman Catholic Church. She was the first and only German to have a successful Broadway show (Silk Stockings written by Cole Porter). She was sometimes compared to that other great German actress, Marlene Dietrich, in that they both were, or portrayed as, the liberated, self-confident woman. Hildegard Knef was one of the most important actresses of post-war Germany. In the 60's and 70's she enjoyed much success as a singer of German chansons, which she often co-wrote.
She has published several books. Her autobiography Der geschenkte Gaul - Bericht aus einem Leben (The Gift Horse - Report on a Life) is a candid, but not sensationalist, recount of her life in Germany during and after World War II. It became the best selling German book after World War II.
