Germaine Damar (born August 31, 1929) is a Luxembourger actress and dancer. Sometimes she used the stage name Ria Poncelet. She started her career as an acrobat and played in nearly 30 German films, including three films in which she was the partner of Peter Alexander. Early life and career She was born as Germaine Haeck in Petingen (Luxembourg). She was the third of four daughters of metallurgical worker Dominique Haeck and his wife Barbara Poncelet. At the gymnastics club of Nidderkuer (Niederkorn) in Luxembourg, the 5-year-old Damar laid the foundations for her future career. With her sister Geny and two gym teachers she formed the acrobatic quartet Los Habaneros. On 10 May 1940, after the invasion of Luxembourg by the German troops, she fled with her parents and siblings to Paris. There, the 12-year-old continued to develop her talents and she performed with her sister Geny and her former gym teacher Atilio Bariviera as Trio Deluxe at the Alhambra and the Bobino. She also took dance classes and was trained in acting and ballet. After World War II, she started a solo career and toured through Europe. She travelled to North Africa and the Orient to perform there with her sister Sylvie and Sylvie's husband as Trio Vialine. In Cairo, they even performed for King Farouk. She used as her stage name Ria Poncelet. In Cairo she also met the actress Zarah Leander, who mediated a screen-test for her in Hamburg in 1952 at Herzog Filmverleih. Although director Robert A. Stemmle was not satisfied with the test, she soon landed her first film role. Director Géza von Cziffra sought a talented dancer to replace the ill Maria Litto in his revue film Tanzende Sterne (Dancing Stars, 1952). He watched the screen-test and gave her the lead part opposite Georg Thomalla. She changed her name from Germaine Haeck into Germaine Damar and the press concluded for some time that she was a French dancer. Tanzende Sterne (Dancing Stars, 1952) became Damar's breakthrough. Herzog Filmverleih offered her a 5-year contract and she went on to play in a total of 28 films. She appeared in such light entertainment fare as Südliche Nächte (Southern Nights, 1953, Robert A. Stemmle), Die Drei von der Tankstelle (The Three from the Filling Station, 1955, Hans Wolff) with Walter Giller, and Symphonie in Gold (Symphony in Gold, 1956, Franz Antel) opposite Joachim Fuchsberger. Her best known