Actress.  Born in Duren,  Germany,  she got her first engagement at Max Reinhardt’s Deutsches Theater Berlin in 1927. A year later she made her film debut with “Freie Fahrt”, which won her immediate attention from the critics. Schmitz’s other movies include “Tagebuch einer Verlorenen” (1929), “Vampire” (1932), and  “F.P. 1 antwortet nicht” (1932). Her career faded after World War II, and she committed suicide with an overdose of sleeping pills.  Director Rainer Werner Fassbinder based his film “Veronika Voss” (1982) on Schmitz’s tragic story.  (bio by: MECC)