**Dita Parlo (1906-1971)** was a German actress who became an iconic figure of European cinema in the 1920s and 1930s. Active in both silent and sound cinema, she worked primarily in Germany and France, distinguishing herself with her ethereal beauty, intense gaze, and ability to convey vulnerability and melancholy.

She is best remembered for two seminal roles: the tormented protagonist in Luis Buñuel's surrealist film *L'Âge d'Or* (1930), and the unforgettable prisoner Elsa, who embodies the hope and tragedy of war, in Jean Renoir's wartime masterpiece *La grande illusion* (1937).

Parlo often specialized in roles of sensitive, pure, or tragic women, facing difficult circumstances with dignity. Her international career, which included a brief stint in Hollywood, was interrupted by World War II, but her legacy in these pivotal films endures.