
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 b…
movieThe Hawk
1933
movieThe Blackguard
1925 · Princess Marie as a child
movieJoyless Street
1925
movieThe Little Napoleon
1923 · Lieselotte
movieFräulein Raffke
1923 · Kind
Tabitha, Stand Up
1922
Aus den Erinnerungen eines Frauenarztes - 2. Lüge und Wahrheit
1922
Aus den Erinnerungen eines Frauenarztes - 1. Fliehende Schatten
1922
movieNosferatu
1922 · Child at Window (uncredited)
Allein im Urwald
1922
movieDer Sträfling von Cayenne
1921
Das Opfer der Ellen Larsen
1921 · Child
movieThe Haunted Castle
1921 · Kleines Mädchen (uncredited)
movieThe Wandering Image
1920 · Irmgards Tochter
movieThe Golem: How He Came into the World
1920 · Little Girl
movieJohannes Goth
1920
Patience
1920
movieThe Merry-Go-Round
1920
movieKämpfende Gewalten oder Welt ohne Krieg
1920 · Klein Lisa
movieHarakiri
1919 · Child
movieDie Ehe der Frau Mary
1919 · a 4-year-old child