She spent much of her childhood in Russia before moving to Germany and studying acting from her maternal grandmother.

She established a flourishing literary career for herself, producing novels, short stories, and plays while continuing to work as an actress in Berlin.

In 1913, with the release of To Give a Girl Away (Ein Mädchen zu Verschenken), she became Germany's first female director.

[2] She wrote other scripts over the years, but that was her sole directorial effort.

She was married three times: first to writer Maximilian Bern, second to author Leo Feld, and third to composer Waldemar Wendland,[3] and was related to Austrian actor Anton Walbrook (her second cousin).