She was born Katharina Stern into a creative family in Berlin. Her three sisters were actresses, and her aunt was the German artist Käthe Kollwitz. Sterna adopted her stage name, and became a dancer upon first seeing Anna Pavlova. She trained under Viennese dancer/teacher Grete Wiesenthal, and was promoted by theatrical producer Max Reinhardt.
Sterna was also in a number of German silent films during the 1910’s/1920’s, incl: “Marionetten" (1915), followed by the short film serial "Ticky-Tacky" in 1918/19. Other films: “Ein genialer Einfall" (1919), "Das Verlobungsfernrohr" (1919), "Flimmerherzen" (1920), "O du Quetschfalte meines Herzens" (1920), "Kameraden" (1921); and "Tingel Tangel" (1930), her only sound film.
Katta Sterna died in Berlin at age 85 in 1984.
(Photo by Trude Fleischmann, 1925
