30 Portraits of Gusti Huber in the 1930s and 1940s

Auguste “Gusti” Huber (July 27, 1914 – July 12, 1993) was an Austrian-American stage and film actress. She is best known for her critically acclaimed performance as Edith Frank (Anne Frank’s mother) on Broadway and in the 1959 film The Diary of Anne Frank.

Born in Vienna, Austria, she trained at the Academy for Music and Representative Art in Vienna under Rudolph Beer (among others). She made her early stage debut in 1929 at Vienna’s Deutsches Volkstheater before joining the Schauspielhaus in Zürich, where she honed her craft over 180+ roles. Later, she became a prominent leading lady at the prestigious Burgtheater in Vienna.

Huber entered film in Tanzmusik (1935) and achieved major stardom in Unentschuldigte Stunde (The Unexcused Hour, 1937). Throughout the late 1930s and World War II, she was one of the most popular leading actresses in Austrian and German cinema, starring in popular films such as Land der Liebe (1937), Kleiner Mann – ganz gross! (1938), and Jenny und der Herr im Frack (1941).

After World War II, Huber entertained American troops in Austria, where she met her second husband, U.S. Army Captain Joseph Besch. Moving to the United States in 1946, she reportedly became the first Austrian actress cleared by the U.S. military government after de-Nazification screening.

Upon moving to New York, she transitioned seamlessly to Broadway. She starred in Elia Kazan’s 1952 production Flight into Egypt, playing an Austrian refugee. She originated the role of Margot Wendice in the 1952 Broadway run of Frederick Knott’s thriller Dial M for Murder (the role Grace Kelly famously played on film).

In 1955, Huber was cast as Edith Frank in the original Broadway production of The Diary of Anne Frank, directed by Garson Kanin. Her poignant performance as Anne’s protective, heartbroken mother earned critical acclaim. When director George Stevens adapted the Pulitzer Prize-winning play into the 1959 Hollywood feature film The Diary of Anne Frank, Huber was brought on to reprise her role on screen.

Her casting in the Holocaust drama sparked controversy due to her extensive film work in Third Reich Germany and reports that she had refused to work with a Jewish colleague in pre-war Vienna. However, director Garson Kanin and key producers stood firmly behind her, and her performance remains deeply remembered today.

Huber retired from acting in 1961. Following her retirement, she dedicated much of her later life to speaking at high schools in the New York area about Anne Frank’s legacy and the human lessons of the Holocaust. Huber was also the matriarch of an acting family: her daughter was actress Bibi Besch (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan), and her granddaughter is actress Samantha Mathis (Broken Arrow, Billions).