Manuela – born Doris Inge Wegener on August 18, 1943, in Berlin, Germany – was a schlager singer and actress. Her first job was as a factory work who would moonlight as a singer, performing in a variety of bands in Berlin. Discovered in 1962 while performing in one of those clubs, she was rushed into the studio and released her first single, “Hula-Seranade”, that same year. In 1963, she released four singles – including her German-language hit cover version of “Blame It on the Bossa Nova” - and her debut album, Manuela! She also starred in Im singenden Rößl am Königssee, her first film, in 1963. Manuela traveled to Hollywood, California to study the English language and studied with actress Kim Novak. She released dozens of singles throughout the 1960s and 1970s including the hits "Schwimmen lernt man in See" (1964), "Schneeman" (1964), “Küsse untern Regenbogen" (1965), "Monsieur Dupont" (1967), "Wenn es Nacht wird in Harlem" (1967), and many others. While other schlager singers faded into obscurity as the 1970s came to a close, Manuela had career resurgences in the 1980s and 1990s. Manuela died on February 13, 2001.
