This vintage real photo postcard features German born film actress, singer, and nurse, Leila Negra (1930-). She looks adorable posing with her teddy bear. She spent the beginning of her career as a child film actress in the 1940’s, became a singer post World War II, and in the late 1950’s, she became a nurse. Her father was a British sailor who emigrated there from Ghana. He was not involved raising Leila. Her mom was the daughter of a white German woman and a Creole man from Martinique. Due to her mothers family not accepting the birth of Leila, her mother placed Leila in an orphanage where she remained for the first three years of her life. Her mother took her from the orphanage and moved to Hamburg to be near Leila’s grandmother. Leila’s mom worked as a musician. When Leila was ten years old, her mother died from a botched abortion. Leila’s parenting was taken over by her grandmother. Growing up, Leila was exposed to horrible racism. The Nazis ended her education and placed her into forced labor in a factory. Her film career was initiated by Joseph Goebbels, Germany’s Minister of Propaganda. He was recruiting black children to play African natives in government UFA films. Her film debut was in “Munchhausen” (1943). The IMDb credits her with six film appearances. In 1957, she began training as a nurse. Nursing became her second career. This vintage postcard portrait was published by Veb Volkskunstverl. The firm was located in Reichenbach, Germany. Leila was photographed for this postcard by the Bruggemann studio, located in Leipzig, Germany. SOLD
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