Early life Andersen was born in
Lehe and baptized
Elisabeth Carlotta Helena Berta Bunnenberg, but known informally as "Liese-Lotte"—a diminutive of her first two names—to friends and family; this continued after her first marriage when she was known as "Liselotte Wilke". In 1922, aged 17, she married German Impressionist painter (1894–1971). They had three children: Björn, Carmen-Litta, and (1929–2017) the youngest of whom also enjoyed a career in the German music industry. Shortly after the birth of their last child, the marriage broke up. Leaving the children in the care of her siblings Thekla and Helmut, Andersen went to
Berlin in October 1929, where she reportedly studied acting at the
Schauspielschule at the
Deutsches Theater. In 1931, her marriage ended in divorce. Around this time, she began appearing on stage in various
cabarets in Berlin. From 1933 to 1937, she performed at the
Schauspielhaus in
Zürich, where she also met
Rolf Liebermann, who would remain a close friend for the rest of her life. In 1938, she was in
Munich at the cabaret
Simpl, and soon afterwards joined the prestigious Kabarett der Komiker (Comedians' Cabaret) in Berlin. Andersen was awarded a gold disc for over one million sales of "Lili Marleen"
His Master's Voice – EG 6993]. It is thought that she was awarded her copy after the end of World War II. A copy of this particular gold disc owned by the "
His Master's Voice" label was discarded during the renovation of their flagship store on Oxford Street, London, during the 1960s where, hitherto, it had been on display. However, the disc was recovered and is now in a private collection. Nazi officials did not approve of the song and
Joseph Goebbels prohibited it from being played on the radio. Andersen was not allowed to perform in public for nine months, not just because of the song but because of her friendship with Rolf Liebermann and other Jewish artists she had met in Zurich. In desperation, she reportedly attempted suicide. Andersen was so popular, however, that the Nazi government allowed her to perform again, albeit subject to several conditions, Shortly before the end of the war, Andersen retired to
Langeoog, a small island off the
North Sea coast of Germany.
Career after World War II After the war, Andersen all but disappeared as a singer. In 1949, she married Swiss composer
Artur Beul. In 1952 she made a comeback with the song "Die blaue Nacht am Hafen", the lyrics of which she had written for herself. In 1959, she had another hit "Ein Schiff wird kommen...", a cover version of "
Never on Sunday", the title song from the movie of the same name, originally sung in Greek by
Melina Mercouri. Each song won her a gold album in West Germany. In 1961, she participated as the West German representative in the
Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Einmal sehen wir uns wieder", which only reached 13th place with three points. Fifty-six years old at the time, she held the record of the eldest participant at Eurovision for over 45 years – surpassed only in 2008 by the 75-year-old Croatian entertainer
75 Cents. Her death was the first among female Eurovision contestants and German-speaking Eurovision contestants and, following
Jacques Pills and
Jean-Paul Mauric, the third among Eurovision contestants in general; Mauric also appeared in Eurovision 1961. ==Footnotes==