The Early Years

Im not going to waste a lot of  space on this subject. Its well documented in Conrad Veidts biography "From Calagari to Casablanca" by Jerry Allen. But to understand our Goddess you will need a little background information.
Viola was the daughter of international film star Conrad Veidt and his wealthy socialite wife Felicitates Radke, Her Grandmother was a Countess and her Grandfather a diplomat for the Kaiser.
Viola was an only child and grew up with great privilege . She crossed the Atlantic seven time in first class on those great ships of the early 20th century,At age four she had her first mink coat.
The Veidts had homes in Berlin,St Moritz ,London,and Beverly Hills,They had a suite in one of Vienna s most fashionable hotels and one at the Waldorf in New York.
As she got older Viola was sent to an elite boarding school where Maria Riva Dietrich's daughter was her room mate.  On weekends Marlene would take the girls home and cook wonderful German food.
When she was younger her favorite babysitter was Greta Garbo. Hollywood was a tight community in those day and the expatriates tended to hang together.
During the war (WW2) Viola and her mother fled to Switzerland where they stayed in The Winter Palace Hotel with the Prince and Princess of Spain.It was there on the radio Viola learned of her fathers death at age 49. She would never get over it.
After the war she moved to New York where she modeled and shared an apartment with Diana Barrymore and Sarah Churchill. Her mother was always one of the best dressed woman in the world and knew Pauline Pfeiffer the Paris editor of Vogue magazine ,she later became Mrs. Ernest Hemingway. Tired of the hustle and bustle of Manhattan Viola decided to visit Key West.She feel in love with the laid back tropical atmosphere and moved,getting a job singing cabaret style at the tradewinds nightclub on Caroline St.She became friends with the Truman's and used to play cards with Harry and shop Duval St with Margaret.Then came her disaster stay in Miami where she would meet both men she would marry and divorce.The first an airline pilot the second a broke New York socialite who embezzled all of her money.Broke she went and stayed with friend Lilly Pulitzer in Palm Beach and managed the designer boutique at Saks. It was there where she meet playwright Tennessee Williams.The rest is history