Grew up in Switzerland and returned there in her retirement under the name Bettina Berggruen.
Studied acting under Otto Falckenberg in Munich.
She is Catholic, but was married to art collector Heinz Berggruen who was Jewish. He was her third husband and predeceased her in 2007. They had two children.
On stage from 1943-45 at the Preußischen Staatstheater.