After studying acting with Max Grube, she made her theatrical debut in 1893 in Urania.
Following performances for the remainder of the decade in theaters across Germany, during which she was a member of Max Reinhardt's Deutsches Theater, she then toured England during 1901 and 1902 and the Netherlands during 1902 and 1903, when she retired suddenly, began to provide care for homeless men and women, and assisted the Salvation Army and the Berliner Prisoner Association.
Launching her own production company in 1925, she returned to films with the studio UFA the following year.
That same year, she also founded the Gate of Hope, an asylum for women who had recently been freed from prison.
Ultimately establishing a charitable foundation which bore her name, she recruited fellow artists and leaders in the scientific community to assist with her work and join her organization's leadership board.