Lia de Putti (Putty Lia)

Lia de Putti (in Hungarian Putty Lia; 1897 to 1931) was a Hungarian-born star of German silent film and, briefly, of Hollywood. Her path crossed György Rauscher’s twice: he appeared alongside her in the 1921 Hungarian silent film Ilona, and he later painted her (/bibliography#szamado-2019, p. 33).

Who she was

De Putti became one of the celebrated “vamp” actresses of 1920s German cinema, best remembered for E. A. Dupont’s Varieté (Variety, 1925) opposite Emil Jannings. She moved to the United States to work in Hollywood in the later 1920s, and died in New York in 1931, still in her early thirties.

The connection to Rauscher

The earliest of Rauscher’s documented brushes with the film world is his small role, “Józsi,” in the 1921 Hungarian silent film Ilona, in which de Putti also appeared (/bibliography#szamado-2019, p. 33). It is the only acting credit attested for him, and it sits in his student years (see /biography/training). He painted her portrait later, among the film and theatre sitters of his career.