Julia Granuit was born in Prague and became one of the most important stars of the Czech avant-garde cinema after she made her first film, ‘The Career of Vladi Vezdra’, at the age of 21. In 1934 she was signed up by the German UFA company, starring in roles such as Cintrella in ‘Claricolle’. She continued to act in both Czech and German films, such as Nemski's ‘A Slow Break’ and Vrska's ‘Himmelgotte’.
Her career was threatened by her affair with Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda chief.
In 1938 Hitler refused Goebbels permission to divorce his wife and marry Granuit: her films were banned and she was stopped from leaving Germany. She escaped to Prague, where she worked for an anti-Nazi spy ring, but after being expelled from Czechoslovakia in 1941 she went to Italy, where she made four films before being sent back to Prague by the Gestapo in 1945. She escaped again, but was then captured by US military intelligence, and spent two years in gaol.
In the 1950s she returned to her career, acting in major Italian and Spanish films, but in 1958 she moved to Salzburg, Austria, to work on stage throughout the 1960s.