Alla Nazimova

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Alla Nazimova, born Mariam Edez Adelaida Leventon May 22 1879 - July 14 1945, was an American theater and film actress, scriptwriter, and producer. She is often known as just Nazimova, and was also known as Alia Nasimoff.<ref>"Alla Nazimova" (German). Retrieved on 2006-09-27. “auch: Alia Nasimoff (also: Alia Nasimoff)”</ref>

[edit] Early life

Nazimova was one of three children of Yakov Leventon and Sonya Horowitz. The family was Jewish and lived in Yalta, Crimea, then part of the Russian Empire, now part of Ukraine. She grew up in a dysfunctional family and, after her parents' separation, was shuffled between boarding schools, foster homes, and relatives. Her emotional distress caused her to rebel against authority as a way of gaining attention. A precocious child, she was playing the violin by age seven. As a teenager she began to pursue an interest in the theatre and took acting lessons at the Moscow-based Academy of Acting before joining Stanislavsky's Moscow Art Theater as "Alla Nazimova," and later just "Nazimova." Her stage name was taken from her middle name Adelaida, combined with the surname of Nadezhda Nazimova (the heroine of the Russian novel Children of the Streets), whom she admired.<ref name="Alla">Mavromatis, Kally; Glen Pringle (1999). "Alla Nazimova - Silent Star of February 1999" (English). Retrieved on 2006-09-27.</ref> She married Sergei Golovin, a fellow actor, in 1899; the marriage was "in name only," and the two never legally divorced.<ref name="Alla"/>

[edit] Career

Nazimova's theater career blossomed early and by 1903 she was a major star in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. She toured Europe, including London and Berlin, with her boyfriend Pavel Orlenev,<ref name="Alla"/> a flamboyant actor and producer. In 1905 they moved to New York City and founded a Russian language theater on the Lower East Side. The venture was unsuccessful and Orlenev returned to Russia while Nazimova stayed in New York.

She was signed up by the American producer Henry Miller and made her Broadway debut in 1906 to critical and popular success. She quickly became extremely popular (a theater was named after her) and remained a major Broadway star for years, often acting in Henrik Ibsen's and Anton Chekhov's plays.

Nazimova made her silent film debut in 1916, due to her notoriety in a 35-minute 1915 play entitled War Brides. This brought her to the attention of Lewis J. Selznick. Over the next few years she made a number of highly successful films that earned her a considerable amount of money. By 1917, she was earning as much as $30,000 per film, with a $1,000 per day bonus for every day of filming. She was also given a $13,000 per week contract. At the time, actress Mary Pickford was on a $3,000 per week contract.<ref name="Alla"/>

In 1918, at age 39, Nazimova felt confident enough in her abilities that she began producing and writing films in which she also starred. In her film adaptations of works by such notable writers as Oscar Wilde and Henrik Ibsen she developed her own filmmaking techniques, which were considered daring at the time. Her projects, including A Doll's House (1922) based on Ibsen and Salomé (1923) based on Wilde, met with little popular success and lost a great deal of money.

By 1925 she could no longer afford to invest in more films and financial backers withdrew their support. Left with few options, she gave up on the film industry, returning to perform on Broadway until the early 1940s when she appeared in a few more films, presumably in need of money. Her most often seen role today is that of Tyrone Power's mother in the 1941 film version of Blood and Sand.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Private life

Her private lifestyle gave rise to widespread rumors of outlandish and allegedly debauched parties at her large mansion on Sunset Boulevard known as the Garden of Allah.^{[verification needed]} She lived in a partnership of mutual convenience with Charles Bryant, an actor who was openly gay, for 14 years.<ref name="Alla"/><ref name="obit">""Alla Nazimova Dies at 66"" (JPG), 1945. Retrieved on 2006-09-27. (in English)</ref>

By this time (between the years of 1917 and 1921), Nazimova wielded considerable influence and power in Hollywood.<ref name="Alla"/> By all accounts she was extremely generous to young actresses in whom she saw talent, and became involved with at least some of them romantically. She helped start the careers of both of Rudolph Valentino's wives, Jean Acker and Natacha Rambova; she was involved in a romantic relationship with Acker.^{[verification needed]} She was very impressed by Rambova's skills as an art director, and Rambova designed the innovative sets for Nazimova's productions of Camille and Salomé. After meeting a young Patsy Ruth Miller at a Hollywood party, Nazimova assisted in getting Miller's career launched. Nazimova was briefly involved with actress June Marlowe,^{[verification needed]} whom she later introduced to producer/director Lloyd Hamilton. She also helped the career of young actress Tallulah Bankhead after a brief affair.^{[verification needed]} Nazimova was named by Charlie Chaplin in his 1920 divorce decree as his wife Mildred Harris's lover.^{[citation needed]} Nazimova also had a romantic relationship with cameraman Paul Ivano,^{[verification needed]} who is perhaps best known for his work with Erich Von Stroheim. She also was involved in a brief fling with established actress Maude Adams.^{[verification needed]}

A friend of actress Edith Luckett and her husband, Dr. Loyal Davis, Nazimova was made godmother to former first lady Nancy Reagan, Luckett's daughter from a previous marriage, in 1921.<ref>"First Lady Biography: Nancy Reagan" (English). The National First Ladies Library (2005). Retrieved on 2006-09-27. “Her godmother was the famous actress Alla Nazimova”</ref> She was the aunt of American film producer Val Lewton.<ref name="obit"/>

A breast cancer survivor,^{[citation needed]} Nazimova died of a coronary thrombosis at the age of 66 on July 13 1945,<ref>"Alla Nazimova" (English). Retrieved on 2006-09-27. “Her death on July 13, 1945 was attributed to coronary thrombosis.”</ref> in the Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, California,<ref name="obit"/> and was interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.<ref>"Alla Nazimova" (English) (2001). Retrieved on 2006-09-27.</ref>

Her contributions to the film industry have been recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

[edit] Legacy

Nazimova has been portrayed in film three times. The first two were biographical films about Rudolph Valentino, 1975's The Legend of Valentino, in which she was portrayed by Alicia Bond, and 1977's Valentino, in which she was portrayed by Leslie Caron. The most recent was 2004's Return to Babylon, a film about Hollywood's silent movie era, in which she was portrayed by Laura Harring.

Nazimova was also featured in make-up artist Kevyn Aucoin's 2004 book Face Forward, in which he made up Isabella Rossellini to resemble her, particularly as posed in a certain photograph.[1]

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Notes

<references/>

[edit] References

• Lucy Olga Lewton. Alla Nazimova, My Aunt, Tragedienne: A Personal Memoir, Minuteman Press, 1988.
• Gavin Lambert. Nazimova: A Biography, Knopf, 1997, 420pp, ISBN 0-679-40721-9
• Eve Golden. Golden Images: 41 Essays on Silent Film Stars, Jefferson, North Carolina, McFarland & Company, 2001, ISBN 0-7864-0834-0

[edit] External links

• Alla Nazimova at the Internet Movie Database
• Alla Nazimova at the Internet Broadway Databasede:Alla Nazimova

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