Lilia Skala (Vienna, Austria, November 28, 1896 - December 18, 1994, Bay Shore, New York) was an actress. In the late 1930s, she was forced to flee her Nazi-occupied homeland with her Jewish husband, Erik Skala, and their two young sons. Lilia and her husband managed to escape (at different times) from Austria to England, and eventually settled in the USA. In time, she came to embrace Christian Science.
She was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress for her most famous role as the Mother Superior in Lilies of the Field opposite Oscar-winning Sidney Poitier.
She died in Bay Shore, New York, of natural causes at age 98.
Her life is the subject of an eponymous one-woman play written and performed by her granddaughter, Libby Skala.
Charly (1968)
