Helen Leslie Schneider was born in Brooklyn, New York City, the daughter of Dvora and Abraham Schneider. Schneider studied piano before forming her own blues band and playing in venues throughout New England and New York.
She has had a varied career in music, theater, recording, literature and film.
Between 1978 and 1984, she achieved success as a rock singer in Germany; her song "Rock 'n' Roll Gypsy" reached the top 10 record charts and she received a Gold Record Award and shared the Goldene Europa Award with John Lennon. In 1980 she toured with the German rock legend Udo Lindenberg. She played one of the leads in the 1983 film Eddie and the Cruisers, which has since gained a huge cult following, especially in Germany, where Schneider has name recognition.[1]
In 1987, she began her theater career at the Theater des Westens in Berlin playing Sally Bowles in the musical Cabaret. From 1995 to 1998, she performed as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard by Andrew Lloyd Webber. From 1999 to 2001, she performed as Eva Perón in the musical Evita at the Bad Hersfelder Festspiele. In 2014 she starred as Judy Garland in the European production of End of the Rainbow. She received enormous acclaim for her one-woman performance pieces: A Walk on the Weill Side, A Voice and A Piano, and Verwandlungen. In 2006 she received the DIVA – German Entertainment Prize for her lifetime achievements.
In 2007, Schneider returned to the recording business. She recorded three CDs with Edel Music. For "Dream a Little Dream" she received a golden CD award in jazz. In 2015, she signed with the independent record label SPV. She recorded her first original album in 30 years: "Collective Memory", with music composed by her guitarist, Jo Ambros, and lyrics written by her colleague and book co-author, Linda Uruburu. In 2017 this team followed up with Helen's latest album entitled: "Movin' On".
After a few successful Master Classes in 2018 Helen joined the teaching staff of Stage School Hamburg as a teacher of "Song Interpretation".
Bibliography
"Helen Schneiders Tiergeschichten für große und kleine Kinder" ("Helen Schneider's Animal Stories for Young and Older Children" – a reading book full of stories about children and their relationship to wild and domestic animals) (Helen Schneider & Linda Uruburu, Lilli Messina (Illustr.), Klaus Weimann (Übers.)), Baumhaus Medien, 2007
"Maximilian Schnecks wunderbarer Regentag" ("Maximilian Snail's Wonderful Rainy Day" – a picture book about a snail's adventures crossing the road) (Helen Schneider & Linda Uruburu, Lilli Messina (Illustr.), Klaus Weimann (Übers.)), Baumhaus Medien, 2007
Discography
1976 LP So Close (Windsong)
1977 LP Let It Be Now (RCA)
1979 LP Ein Mädchen aus New York – Live in Hamburg (RCA, 1979; LP) – (Transl.: a girl from New York)
1980 LP Crazy Lady (WEA Warner Music, 1980; LP)
1981 LP Mr. Valentino – Ihre großen Erfolge (RCA, 1981)
1981 LP Schneider with the Kick (WEA Warner Music, 1981/ 1992)
1982 LP Rock 'n' Roll Gypsy (WEA Warner Music, 1982, LP; Compilation of WEA-Alben, i.e. "Schneider with the Kick", 1996, CD)
1982 LP Exposed (WEA Warner Music, 1982; LP)
1983 LP Breakout (WEA Warner Music, 1983; LP)
1983 EP Smuggled Out A-Live (Warner Music; Live-EP)
1983 LP The Best of Helen Schneider (WEA Warner Music, 1983/84; LP)
1984 LP Helen Schneider (Amiga, 1984; LP)
1988 LP Back on Track (Epic/CBS, 1988; LP)
1989 LP A Walk on the Weill Side (CBS Records, 1989; LP)
"Ghetto", New York City (Circle in the Square Theater), 1988
"Frida: The Story of Frida Kahlo", Boston & New York City (Brooklyn Academy of Music), 1992–93; Wien (Schauspielhaus), 2000; Recklinghausen (Sommer-Festival), 2002
"Anything Goes", Berlin (Theater des Westens), 1993–94
