She was born Eleonore Nest on August 4, 1915, in Berlin to American parents who were Methodist missionaries. During her parents' time as missionaries, she was discovered by a German movie producer on a poster promoting a Sunday school program. She was soon asked to work in movies. With the permission of her parents, she acted in her first movie in 1918. She used the name Loni Nest instead of Eleonore Nest. Between 1918 and 1933, she starred in 41 movies, opposite such actors as Charles Boyer, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich and Fritz Feld. Nest left movies in 1933 to move back to her parents' original home in Boston. She left to focus on the family's involvment in a new Methodist church, where her father would serve as deacon. She also wanted to leave Germany as soon as possible due in part to the rise of Nazism that began when Adolf Hitler took power. Nest enrolled in college, and then became a music teacher. She worked for public schools in Massachussetts for over 40 years. In 1938, ...
Nosferatu
1922
Harakiri
1919
The Golem: How He Came Into the World
1920
The Haunted Castle
1921
The Hawk
1933
Joyless Street
1925
The Merry-Go-Round
1920
The Wandering Image
1920
The Little Napoleon
1923
The Blackguard
1925
Fräulein Raffke
1923
Johannes Goth
1920
Der Sträfling von Cayenne
1921
Die Ehe der Frau Mary
1919
Kämpfende Gewalten oder Welt ohne Krieg
1920