Germaine Damar

At the gymnastics club of Nidderkuer (Niederkorn) in Luxembourg, the 5-year-old Damar laid the foundations for her future career.

With her sister Geny and two gym teachers she formed the acrobatic quartet Los Habaneros.

There, the 12-year-old continued to develop her talents and she performed with her sister Geny and her former gym teacher Atilio Bariviera as Trio Deluxe at the Alhambra and the Bobino.

In Cairo she also met the actress Zarah Leander, who mediated a screen-test for her in Hamburg in 1952 at Herzog Filmverleih.

Director Géza von Cziffra sought a talented dancer to replace the ill Maria Litto in his revue film Tanzende Sterne (Dancing Stars, 1952).

She appeared in such light entertainment fare as Südliche Nächte (Southern Nights, 1953, Robert A. Stemmle), Die Drei von der Tankstelle (The Three from the Filling Station, 1955, Hans Wolff) with Walter Giller, and Symphonie in Gold (Symphony in Gold, 1956, Franz Antel) opposite Joachim Fuchsberger.

Her film Die Beine von Dolores was such a big hit in Argentina, that Damar moved for three years to South America.

Germaine Damar in June 2011 (Photograph: François Besch )
Damar on the cover of Argentinian magazine Radiofilm , 1960