Biography

A star of German post-war cinema, Dority Margit Saad was born in Munich, the daughter of Lebanese linguist Fuad Jabbour Saad and his wife Agnes, a language teacher. After matriculating, Margit took acting classes at the Otto Falckenberg Academy, financing her studies by working as a model. Tall, blond and undeniably photogenic, she soon graced several magazine covers. One of these led to her screen debut in 1951. During the next two years, she also made her stage bow at the Düsseldorfer Kabarett. Margit was 'discovered' there by the director Robert A. Stemmle and promptly assigned her first starring role in the musical Südliche Nächte (1953). For much of the remaining decade, she was typed in undemanding fare as naïve ingénues or exotic love interest in operettas (The Gypsy Baron (1954)), lightweight comedy (Man ist nur zweimal jung (1958)) Heimatfilms (Drei Birken auf der Heide (1956)) and schmaltzy romances (Drei Mädels vom Rhein (1955)).

With public tastes tending towards more sophisticated material, Margit was finally able to escape her typecasting: first up, as a gangster's moll in the popular caper comedy Peter Voss, der Millionendieb (1958), starring opposite O.W. Fischer. Next came a first-billed role as a boutique owner acting as banker for a gang of drug smugglers in Heiße Ware (1959). This was followed by Joseph Losey 's British noir drama The Concrete Jungle (1960) which had Margit cast as the girlfriend of ruthless Soho villain Johnny Bannion (played by Stanley Baker in one of his best roles). Among her other international appearances were episodes of The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre (1959) and The Saint (1962) and she was rather incongruously cast as General Carla of the 'Women's Army of Parazuella' in The Magnificent Two (1967), a so-so comedy with the duo of Morecambe & Wise.

Margit made many stage appearances in both Germany and Austria. Possibly her greatest theatrical success was in the title role of Irma La Douce opposite Harald Juhnke, which premiered in Baden-Baden in 1961. From 1971, she was also active as a director of television documentaries. She made four TV movies based on literary works, beginning with Abenteuer aus dem Englischen Garten (1984) for which she also co-authored the screenplay.

Margit Saad was married to French director, stage and costume designer Jean-Pierre Ponnelle. She held French citizenship but resided in Munich where she died on August 7 2023, aged 94.