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April 28, 2008
Who's the Jewish Movie Star? Take 2: Answer
Alla Nazimova in Camille, 1921. Scan courtesy of Dr. Macro.
In Evelyn F. Scott's lovely, nostalgia drenched memoir Hollywood: When Silents Were Golden—her mother was Beulah Marie Dix, a screenwriter prominently associated with the Cecil B. DeMille—the author describes an evening in Hollywood when the DeMille swimming pool overflowed and flooded the property.
We went to the movies instead and saw a desperately exotic Alla Nazimova die in arms of desperately handsome Valentino in Camille, and cried enough to flood another pool.
The picture is Alla Nazimova and the still is from Camille.
Mazal Tov to Seraphic Friends Tamster and Buttercup for correctly guessing the identity of our Jewish movie star. This was a tough one.
Alla Nazimova, (1879 - 1945) real name Miriam Edez Adelaida Leventon, was born in Yalta, Crimea, Russia. Her father was Yaakov Leventon and her mother was Sonya Horowitz. Nazimova's childhood was miserable. Her parents separated when she was just a child and she was shuffled from foster homes to boarding schools, and to various relatives.
A brilliant and talented teenager, she gravitated to the theater and studied in Stanislavsky's Moscow Art Theater.
Nazimova achieved major stardom in Europe, then came to American Broadway where she was a huge hit. Nazimova then turned her talents to the exciting new medium of motion pictures.
In 1917 she was earning $30,000 per film, with a $1,000 per day bonus for every day of filming. So successful were her films that she was given a $13,000 per week contract in Hollywood. At the time, actress Mary Pickford was earning just $3,000 per week. Keep in mind those were the days before income taxes—when a dollar was actually worth something. Nazimova produced, wrote and starred in her own films in order to control every aspect of her artistic vision.
From 1917 until 1922, Nazimova was a major power in Hollywood. She was generous to younger actors and helped start the careers of Anna May Wong, Patsy Ruth Miller, and Rudolph Valentino.
Nazimova developed her own filmic techniques which were quite daring. Her highly styalized Salome is rigorously based on the drawings of Aubrey Beardsley.
Her private life was quite scandalous, even for scandal-ridden Hollywood, and her mansion on Sunset Boulevard, The Garden of Allah, built in 1919, became infamous for debauched parties. In 1927, desperate for money, Nazimova turned the mansion and grounds into the Garden of Allah Apartments.
Nazimova's popularity waned by 1925, and she withdrew from film production and returned to the stage.
A more mature, but absolutely riveting Nazimova can be seen as Robert Taylor's mother in Escape (1940) and as Tyrone Power's mother in Blood and Sand (1941).
Alla Nazimova, early studio portrait.
Douglas Sirk Directs Linda Darnell
Less Dialogue is More: Mervyn LeRoy, Vivien Leigh, Robert Taylor and Waterloo Bridge.
Alla Nazimova
Charlton Heston: A Moment of Silence
Lilyan Tashman.
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Movie Magazines: They Don't Print 'em Like They Used To
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Olive Thomas: Hollywood's First Suicide
Mary Pickford: The Greatest Movie Star
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Brigitte Bardot & Sean Connery in Shalako—Sorta
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at April 28, 2008 11:38 AM
Comments
Seraphic Secret is private property, that's right, it's an extension of our home, and as such, Karen and I have instituted two Seraphic Rules and we ask commentors to act respectfully.
1. No profanity.2. No Israel bashing. We debate, we discuss, we are respectful. You know what Israel bashing is. The world is full of it. Seraphic Secret is one of the few places in the world that will not tolerate this form of anti-Semitism. That's it. Break either of these rules and you will be banned.
I'd take a $1000 a day bonus today.
Posted by: Jack at April 28, 2008 02:42 PM
Jack: Not if you were a movie star, you wouldn't.
Posted by: kishke at April 28, 2008 02:55 PM
Jack:
Jackimova! Great ring.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.seraphicpress.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at April 28, 2008 04:03 PM
I was surprised to learn that she played Zofia Koslowska, in my favorite movie;” Since You Went Away”. Also, a little trivia my Dad was a car hop at The Garden of Allah in the 50's.Guessing one out of two wasn't bad, eh?
Posted by: Tamster at April 28, 2008 08:37 PM
Tamster:
I forgot that Nazimova was “Since You Went Away.” I'll have to screen it again.
Does Dad have any great stories? The ghost of Nazimova's wild parties for instance?
You did great! That was a tough one. I'm getting the next Jewish star ready and it's going to be a real challenge.
Start studying.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech at April 28, 2008 09:54 PM
Jack: Not if you were a movie star, you wouldn't.
Ah, but I would. I'd represent myself and develop a marketing plan around the concept of "paid what he is worth and not a dollar more."
Endorsements, that is the ticket. Movies are just a platform to endorsements for Jackimova.
Touch me, Love me, But not too much, your Jackimova is flighty and fickle, but fluid in love and romance.
Posted by: Jack at April 28, 2008 11:04 PM
A star's worth is measured by what the market will bear.
Posted by: kishke at April 29, 2008 06:14 AM
A star's worth is measured by what the market will bear.
Or what the studio thinks that the market will bear. That is why my agent carries around a folder full of piecharts and meaningless statistics.
Posted by: Jack at April 29, 2008 07:14 AM
So far as the actor (and agent) is concerned, the studio is the market.
Posted by: kishke at April 29, 2008 08:07 AM
I am studying as I write this reply and will be ready for the next photo.
No, fun stories except The majority of the cars came in to the parking lot off La Cienega to the Garden of Allah.Occasionally,when the detectives came in and their first request was to park their cars in the rear so not to be suspicious.
Posted by: Tamster at April 29, 2008 04:34 PM
Tamster:
Response to the quiz has been so positive that we're going to make it a regular feature for a while, or until we run out of Jewish movie stars.
We're going to make a few refinements in the quiz in order to assist shy guessers and avoid embarrassment.
The quiz will pop up on Friday. We've already chosen our Jewish movie star and now it's just a matter of finding the proper picture.
That's the hard part for us.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech at April 29, 2008 09:12 PM