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| Berlin (1928) |
Hester Frederika Marguerite Watt was born February 22, 1896 in the Brown Mine neighborhood of Johannesburg, Transvaal Republic. According to later interviews, she claimed her father was German and her mother was a local native woman. It's possible her European father migrated to Johannesburg around 1886 during the Witwatersrand Gold Rush to seek his fortune. In pre-Apartheid South Africa, laws were very relaxed, allowing for interracial marriages to be permitted.
As a young child, Hester would've witnessed the chaos of the Second Boer War and the British seizing control over the Transvaal from the Boers. By the time she had begun school in 1902, the war was over and South Africa was on its way to becoming unified, which it did in 1910 as the Union of South Africa. Despite the unification, the Transvaal continued to be extremely Dutch. Although German was spoken in the Watt household, English, Dutch and Afrikaans were spoken in public. Although she had slightly more freedom as a young Coloured woman compared to native women like her mother, her life was still restricted as a woman of color.
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| Marriage certificate (1916) |
By 1915, the Watt household relocated to the Fairland neighborhood in the nearby town of Roodepoort. It was here that 19-year old Hester had been introduced to 37-year old Swedish businessman, Bror Arvid Thunberg. Originally from Gothenburg, Bror had been traveling to South Africa since as early as 1900 accompanied by his younger brother Viktor. The circumstances of which the couple met is known, however on March 29th, 1915, the couple announced their engagement. The news had reached Swedish newspapers a month later. After a two year engagement, the couple married in Johannesburg on December 23rd, 1916. Hester's parents had given consent and her father was listed as a witness on the marriage certificate. Shortly after the wedding, the new Mrs. Thunberg accompanied her husband back to his homeland in Sweden.
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| 1930 Swedish Census |
Suddenly, after settling into a villa in the wooded suburb of Storegården, located in the northern part of Gothenburg's Askim district, Hester was in Germany, performing under the pseudonym “Hester Harvey”. From July 1917 until January 1918, she was dancing and singing in cabarets around Berlin and Munich with great success.
Her new career was cut short suddenly when she discovered she was pregnant. The Thunbergs returned to South Africa for the birth of their son, Yngve Andreas Thunberg in Johannesburg on November 11th, 1918 upon the end of World War I. As soon as she was able, Hester was back in Europe by May 1919, performing at Berlin's Reichs-Café. Soon she was with child again and on July 17th, 1920, Ingrid Linnea Thunberg was born in Gothenburg.
Hester returned to work instantly, as she returned to Berlin the following month to film “Das Floß der Toten” (The Fleet of the Dead). Set in German South West Africa (now Namibia), Hester played a local native woman who triggers an uprising against the German authorities. The film was released in Germany on March 7th, 1921. She appeared in another film, “Söhne der Hölle” (Sons of Hell) which was released on October 18th, 1921. However little information is known about this film. Shortly after filming, she returned home to Sweden for the birth of her third child, Astrid Viola Thunberg on December 10th, 1921.
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| Die Rache der Mulattin (1923) |
In May 1923, Hester returned to Berlin as the star of Leo Heller and Fritz Lemmen's one act play, “Die Rache der Mulattin” (The Revenge of the Mulatto). The production was staged at the illustrious Friedrich-Wilhelm-Städtisches Theater, which was under the direction of the legendary Max Reinhardt. Hester and her co-star, Georg Burghardt received considerable applause from German audiences.
The following year, she starred in Erik Charell's revue “An Alle…!” at the Großes Schauspielhaus. Opening October 18th, 1924, the revue was considered the first revue to be introduced to German stages. The show was composed of two acts and 21 sketches and featured the John Tiller Girls, Josefine Dora, Reeves & Reeves, Elvira Ronné and Diane Belli & Mars performing to the songs of Dr. Ralph Benatzky, Rudolph Nelson and Irving Berlin. The revue ran for six months, closing April 1925.
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| Zurück zu Methusalem (1925) |
In November 1925, she appeared in George Bernard Shaw's play “Zurück zu Methusalem” (Back to Methuselah) at the Theater in der Königgrätzer Straße. The cast was also composed of a young Marlene Dietrich as Eve. The play also appeared at the Theater Tribüne in January 1926.
In July 1926, Hester appeared in Hans H. Zerlett's operetta, “Die Leichte Isabell” (The Light Isabell) at the Schiller Theater. Directed by Robert Gilbert and starring Erika Nymgau and Greta Mosholm, the operetta was a huge success and after two months, moved over to the Theater am Nollandorfplatz in September. During this time, she also made a few appearances on German radio.
From 1927-1930, Hester went on a tour of Germany and Austria, appearing in Hamburg, Dortmund, Bonn, Vienna and Graz. In-between touring, she frequently appeared in Berlin at the Haus Vaterland's Wild West Bar, singing and dancing before a set of chorus girls known as the Arizona Girls. Frequently the Arizona Girls accompanied her on her tour. In the background, a band composed of clarinetist Sidney Bechet and Afro-German drummer William MacAllen blasted the latest jazz numbers.
In mid-1931, Hester joined Professor William Curt Doorlay's “Brazilian Kaleidoscope Revue”. Professor Doorlay's revue had been touring across the world since the early 1920s and was extremely popular in Germany. Joining around the summer of 1931, Hester toured with the revue for nearly eight months, appearing around Germany, Lithuania, Sweden, Italy and Switzerland. The heavily pregnant Hester abandoned the revue promptly after the Swiss tour to give birth to her fourth child, Arvid Erling Thunberg on May 31, 1932.
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| Dollar (1938 film) |
After Arvid's birth, Hester's career in Germany slowed down to a halt. In January 1933, Adolf Hitler had been elected as the new Chancellor of Germany and racist laws were being quickly put in place, restricting Black entertainers from working in Germany. Instead, she became a popular singer at Stockholm's popular Gröna Lund amusement park and toured the folk parks across the country.
Between 1937-1938, she appeared in two films, “John Ericsson - segraren vid Hampton Roads” and “Dollar” with Ingrid Bergman. Unfortunately she was casted in the minor role of maid in both films. After an appearance in Hamburg in March 1938, Hester disappeared from the stage for a while.
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| 1940 Swedish Census |
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| Pinguin Negerbar (1950) |
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| Berlin (1949) |
She reappears from 1949-1950, in Germany at the Pinguin Negerbar, the only Black nightclub in Berlin. There she appeared with many of her old colleagues from before the war, including William MacAllen and his Orchestra. After the club closed down in August 1950, she disappeared from the limelight again.
On April 4th, 1954, 75-year old Bror Arvid Thunberg died and 58-year old Hester became a widow after 17 years of marriage. She lived quietly amongst her children and their families in Gothenburg until her death on November 19th, 1976.
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