Pola Negri

Pola Negri (December 31, 1899 – August 1, 1987) was a Polish-American film actress who achieved notoriety as a femme fatale in silent films.

Related Topics:
December 31 - 1899 - August 1 - 1987 - Femme fatale - Silent film

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Born Barbara Apollonia Cha?upiec in the village of Janowa, Poland, Negri trained as a dancer and performed ballet until forced by illness to change her profession. She turned to acting, and by the end of World War I had established herself as a popular stage actress in Warsaw, the capital, and had appeared in several films.

Related Topics:
Janowa - Poland - World War I

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Her popularity provided her with an opportunity to move to Berlin where she appeared in several films for Jewish film director Ernst Lubitsch. Their films were successful throughout the world, and in 1922 both were offered contracts with Hollywood studios. Negri's exotic style of glamour proved popular with audiences during the 1920s, and her association with such actors as Charles Chaplin and Rudolph Valentino ensured she remained in the public eye.

Related Topics:
Berlin - Ernst Lubitsch - Hollywood - Charles Chaplin - Rudolph Valentino

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Negri caused a media sensation after the death in 1926 of Valentino by announcing that they had planned to marry, and following the train that carried his body from New York to Los Angeles, posing for photographers at every stop. At his funeral she fainted several times, and had arranged for a large floral arrangement which spelled her name to be placed on Valentino's coffin. Despite the wide publicity she attracted, many of Valentino's friends stated that Valentino and Negri had not intended to marry. They dismissed her actions as a publicity stunt. Tallulah Bankhead, in particular, badmouthed her. Negri's career began to decline. Her style of vamp was beginning to go out of vogue, and the advent of talking pictures revealed a accented voice that the public did not warm to. As Negri put it: "They went from Pola to Polaroid".

Related Topics:
New York - Los Angeles - Tallulah Bankhead - Vamp

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She made only a few films after this, and worked mainly in Europe. After World War II, she found it very difficult to regain entry to the United States, but she managed it. After Mae West and Mary Pickford were ruled unsuitable, the director Billy Wilder approached Negri to appear in the film Sunset Boulevard (1950). Wilder recalled that Negri "threw a tantrum at the mere suggestion of playing a has-been", and the role was given to the more amenable and realistic Gloria Swanson who became immortal on celluloid.

Related Topics:
World War II - Mae West - Mary Pickford - Billy Wilder - Sunset Boulevard - Gloria Swanson

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In 1951, Negri became a naturalized citizen of the U.S.A. Her final film appearance was in the 1964 Walt Disney film The Moon-spinners, with teenaged actress Hayley Mills. In the same year she received an honorary award from the German film industry for her career work.

Related Topics:
Naturalized citizen - Walt Disney - The Moon-spinners - Hayley Mills

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Negri lived her remaining years in obscurity, remembered only by film buffs and researchers. She maintained her flamboyant persona to the end of her life and was often compared to the character she had been considered for, Norma Desmond, from the film Sunset Boulevard. She died around the age of 87 in San Antonio, Texas, where she resided on a ranch with a lady friend. Her death was caused by pneumonia, however she was suffering from a brain tumor for which she had refused treatment. She was interred in Calvary Cemetery, East Los Angeles. She had no survivors.

Related Topics:
San Antonio, Texas - Pneumonia - Calvary Cemetery, East Los Angeles

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Pola Negri has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to Motion Pictures at 6933 Hollywood Boulevard.

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