Vienna - Elfriede von Dassanowsky, Austrian film producer and movie pioneer, has died, the Austrian Press Agency quoted the Austrian consulate in Los Angeles as saying Wednesday. The former opera singer, actress and film producer passed away on Tuesday at the age of 83.
Dassanowsky, who had lived in Los Angeles since 1962, was said to have discovered several later film stars, among them Nadja Tiller and Oscar Werner.
Dassanowsky also worked as a voice trainer for a number of Hollywood stars.
Born in the Austrian capital Vienna in 1924, 16-year-old Dassanowsky was the youngest female student at Vienna's university for music and performing arts.
In 1944, she rejected a prestigious contract with Berlin's UFA film company, as she refused to become a member of the Nazi Party.
Together with silent movie director Emmerich Hanus, the actress founded the film studio Belvedere Film in 1946.
She moved to the United States after her marriage in 1955.
In 1999, then aged 75, Dassanowsky re-founded Belvedere Film, then based in Los Angeles and Vienna.
DPA
