Alla Nazimova on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The youngest of three children born to Jewish parents Yakov Abramovich Leventon, a pharmacist, and Sarah Leivievna Gorowitz (later known as Sofia or Sophie Lvovna Gorovitz/Horovitz/Herowitz), who moved to Yalta in 1870 from Kishinev, she grew up in a dysfunctional family. Her parents divorced when she was eight. After her parents separated, she was shuffled among boarding schools, foster homes and relatives. As a teenager she began to pursue an interest in the theatre and took acting lessons at the Academy of Acting in Moscow. She joined Constantin Stanislavski's
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, a flamboyant actor and producer. In 1905, they moved to New York City and founded a Russian-language theater on the 
She created and worked under Nazimova Productions from 1917 to 1921. She filled many roles in film production, outside of acting. She served as a director, producer, editor, lighting designer, and received credit for costume design for the film Revelation. She wrote screenplays under the pseudonym Peter M. Winters, and was a director for films credited to the name of her partner Charles Bryant. In her film adaptations of works by such notable writers as
In 1899, she married Sergei Golovin, a fellow actor. From 1912 to 1925, Nazimova maintained a " lavender marriage" with Charles Bryant (1879–1948), a British-born actor. To bolster this arrangement with Bryant, Nazimova kept her marriage to Golovin secret from the press, her fans, and even her friends. In 1923, she arranged to divorce Golovin without traveling to the Soviet Union. Her divorce papers, which arrived in the United States that summer, stated that on May 11, 1923, the marriage of "citizeness Leventon Alla Alexandrovna" and Sergius Arkadyevitch Golovin, "consummated between them in the City Church of Boruysk June 20, 1899", had been officially dissolved. A little over two years later, on November 16, 1925, Charles Bryant, then 43, surprised the press, Nazimova's fans, and Nazimova herself by marrying Marjorie Gilhooley, 23, in Connecticut. When the press uncovered the fact that Charles had listed his current marital status as "single" on his marriage license, the revelation that the marriage between Alla and Charles had been a sham from the beginning embroiled Nazimova in a scandal that damaged her career.
It is believed that Nazimova coined the phrase sewing circle as code to refer to lesbian or bisexual actresses of her day who concealed their true sexuality.
Nazimova lived together with
The character of Nazimova also appears in Dominick Argento's opera ''Dream of Valentino'', in which she also played the violin. 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.
Actress Romy Nordlinger first portrayed Alla Nazimova in The Society for the Preservation of Theatrical History production of ''Stage Struck: From Kemble to Kate'' staged at the Snapple Theater Center in New York City in December 2013. In Fall 2016, PLACES, a multimedia solo show about Alla Nazimova, supported by the League of Professional Theatre Women's Heritage Program, written and performed by Romy Nordlinger debuted at Playhouse Theatre for a limited run.
The Garden of Allah cabaret was an influential LGBTQ+ cabaret venue in the mid-1900s that took its name and inspiration from Nazimova's original Garden of Alla.
Nazimova also appears in ''Medusa's Web'', a novel by fantasy-fiction writer Tim Powers.
Alla Nazimova Society
* * *
Alla Nazimova
at the Women Film Pioneers Project
History of the Garden of Allah with photos
Nazimova
photo gallery NYP Library
Photographs and literature on Alla Nazimova
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nazimova, Alla 1870s births 1945 deaths Crimean Jews 19th-century actresses from the Russian Empire Russian stage actresses 19th-century people from the Russian Empire 19th-century women writers from the Russian Empire 19th-century writers from the Russian Empire 20th-century American actresses 20th-century Russian people 20th-century American women writers Actresses from Moscow Actresses from New York City American film producers American people of Russian-Jewish descent Screenwriters from New York (state) American silent film actresses American stage actresses LGBT actresses Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) Actresses from the Russian Empire Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States Writers from the Russian Empire Jewish American actresses Jews and Judaism in New York City LGBT people from California LGBT people from Ukraine LGBT actors from Russia LGBT Jews LGBT screenwriters People from Yalta People with acquired American citizenship American women screenwriters Writers from New York City Deaths from coronary thrombosis Women film pioneers Age controversies American women film producers Jewish Ukrainian actors 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century Russian women Bisexual actresses American bisexual actors
Alla Nazimova (Russian: Алла Назимова; born Marem-Ides Leventon, Russian: Марем-Идес Левентон; June 3 O.S. May 22">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. May 22 1879 – July 13, 1945) was a Russian-American actress, director, producer and screenwriter.
On
'' (1923) is regarded as a cultural landmark.
Nazimova was bisexual and openly conducted relationships with women while being married to a man. She created the Garden of Allah Hotel, Garden of Allah hotel, which became a retreat for many celebrities of the time. She is credited with having originated the phrase "sewing circle" as a discreet code for lesbian or bisexual actresses.
Broadway, she was noted for her work in the classic plays of Henrik Ibsen">Ibsen
Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...
, Chekhov and Ivan Turgenev">Turgenev. She later moved on to film, where she served many production roles, both writing and directing films under pseudonyms. Her film ''Salomé (1923 film)">Salome
Salome (; he, שְלוֹמִית, Shlomit, related to , "peace"; el, Σαλώμη), also known as Salome III, was a Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II, son of Herod the Great, and princess Herodias, granddaughter of Herod the Great, an ...Early life
She was born Marem-Ides Leventon (Russian name: ''Adelaida Yakovlevna Leventon'') in Yalta, Crimea, Russian Empire. Although her accepted birth year is 1879, that is far from certain because there are different sources that indicate 1878 or even 1876. Her stage name Alla Nazimova was a combination of Alla (a diminutive of Adelaida) and the surname of Nadezhda Nazimova, the heroine of the Russian novel ''Children of the Streets''. She was widely known as just Nazimova. Her name was sometimes transcribed as Alia Nasimoff.
The youngest of three children born to Jewish parents Yakov Abramovich Leventon, a pharmacist, and Sarah Leivievna Gorowitz (later known as Sofia or Sophie Lvovna Gorovitz/Horovitz/Herowitz), who moved to Yalta in 1870 from Kishinev, she grew up in a dysfunctional family. Her parents divorced when she was eight. After her parents separated, she was shuffled among boarding schools, foster homes and relatives. As a teenager she began to pursue an interest in the theatre and took acting lessons at the Academy of Acting in Moscow. She joined Constantin Stanislavski's Moscow Art Theatre
The Moscow Art Theatre (or MAT; russian: Московский Художественный академический театр (МХАТ), ''Moskovskiy Hudojestvenny Akademicheskiy Teatr'' (МHАТ)) was a theatre company in Moscow. It was f ...
using the name of Alla Nazimova for the first time.
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, 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 Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets.
Traditionally an im ...
. The venture was unsuccessful, and Orlenev returned to Russia while Nazimova stayed in New York.
She was signed by the American producer Henry Miller and made her Broadway debut in New York City in 1906 to critical and popular success. Her English-language premiere in November 1906 was in the title role of '' Hedda Gabler''. She reportedly learned English in five months. She quickly became extremely popular ( Nazimova's 39th Street Theatre was named after her) and remained a major Broadway star, often starring in works by Ibsen
Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...
and Chekhov. Dorothy Parker described her as the finest Hedda Gabler she had ever seen.
Nazimova's film career began when she was 37 years old. Due to her notoriety in a 35-minute 1915 play entitled ''War Brides'', Nazimova made her silent film debut in 1916 in the filmed version of the play, which was produced by Lewis J. Selznick
Lewis J. Selznick (May 2, 1870 or 1869 – January 25, 1933) was an American producer in the early years of the film industry. After initial involvement with World Film at Fort Lee, New Jersey, he established Selznick Pictures in California.
B ...
. She was paid $1,000 per day, and the film was a success. A young actor with a bit part in the movie was Richard Barthelmess, whose mother, Caroline W. Harris, had taught Nazimova English. Nazimova had encouraged him to try out for movies and he later became a star. In 1917, she negotiated a contract with Metro Pictures, a precursor to MGM, that included a weekly salary of $13,000. She moved from New York to Hollywood, where she made a number of highly successful films for Metro that earned her considerable money.
She created and worked under Nazimova Productions from 1917 to 1921. She filled many roles in film production, outside of acting. She served as a director, producer, editor, lighting designer, and received credit for costume design for the film Revelation. She wrote screenplays under the pseudonym Peter M. Winters, and was a director for films credited to the name of her partner Charles Bryant. In her film adaptations of works by such notable writers as Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...
and Ibsen
Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...
, she developed filmmaking techniques that were considered daring at the time. Her film projects, including '' A Doll's House'' (1922), based on Ibsen, and '' Salomé'' (1923), based on Wilde's play, were critical and commercial failures. ''Salomé'', however, has become a cult classic, regarded as a feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
milestone in film. In 2000, the film was added to the National Film Registry. By 1925, she could no longer afford to invest in more films, and financial backers withdrew their support.
In 1927, she became a naturalized citizen of the United States.
Left with few options, she gave up on the film industry, returning to perform on Broadway, notably starring as Natalya Petrovna in Rouben Mamoulian's 1930 New York production of Turgenev's '' A Month in the Country'' and an acclaimed performance as Mrs. Alving in Ibsen's ''Ghosts
A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...
'', which critic Pauline Kael described as the greatest performance she had ever seen on the American stage. In the early 1940s, she returned to films, playing Robert Taylor's mother in ''Escape
Escape or Escaping may refer to:
Computing
* Escape character, in computing and telecommunication, a character which signifies that what follows takes an alternative interpretation
** Escape sequence, a series of characters used to trigger some so ...
'' (1940) and Tyrone Power's mother in ''Blood and Sand
Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the c ...
'' (1941). This late return to motion pictures fortunately preserves Nazimova and her art on sound film.
Personal life
Marriages
In 1899, she married Sergei Golovin, a fellow actor. From 1912 to 1925, Nazimova maintained a " lavender marriage" with Charles Bryant (1879–1948), a British-born actor. To bolster this arrangement with Bryant, Nazimova kept her marriage to Golovin secret from the press, her fans, and even her friends. In 1923, she arranged to divorce Golovin without traveling to the Soviet Union. Her divorce papers, which arrived in the United States that summer, stated that on May 11, 1923, the marriage of "citizeness Leventon Alla Alexandrovna" and Sergius Arkadyevitch Golovin, "consummated between them in the City Church of Boruysk June 20, 1899", had been officially dissolved. A little over two years later, on November 16, 1925, Charles Bryant, then 43, surprised the press, Nazimova's fans, and Nazimova herself by marrying Marjorie Gilhooley, 23, in Connecticut. When the press uncovered the fact that Charles had listed his current marital status as "single" on his marriage license, the revelation that the marriage between Alla and Charles had been a sham from the beginning embroiled Nazimova in a scandal that damaged her career.
Relationships with women
From 1917 to 1922, Nazimova wielded considerable influence and power in Hollywood. She helped start the careers of both ofRudolph Valentino
Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguolla (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926), known professionally as Rudolph Valentino and nicknamed The Latin Lover, was an Italian actor based in the United States who starred ...
's wives, Jean Acker and Natacha Rambova. Although she was involved in an affair with Acker, it is debatable as to whether her connection with Rambova ever developed into a sexual affair.
Nevertheless, there were rumors that Nazimova and Rambova were involved in a lesbian affair (they are discussed at length in ''Dark Lover'', Emily Leider's biography of Rudolph Valentino) but those rumors never have been confirmed. She was very impressed by Rambova's skills as an art director
Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games.
It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...
, and Rambova designed the innovative sets for Nazimova's film productions of '' Camille'' and '' Salomé''. The list of those Nazimova is confirmed to have been involved with romantically includes actress Eva Le Gallienne, film director Dorothy Arzner, writer Mercedes de Acosta, and Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...
's niece Dolly Wilde.
Bridget Bate Tichenor
Bridget Bate Tichenor (born Bridget Pamela Arkwright Bate) (November 22, 1917 – October 20, 1990) was a British surrealist painter of fantastic art in the school of magic realism and a fashion editor. Born in Paris, she later embraced Mexico a ...
, a Magic Realist artist and Surrealist painter, was rumored to be one of Nazimova's favored lovers in Hollywood during 1940–1942. The two had been introduced by the poet and art collector Edward James, and according to Tichenor, their intimate relationship angered Nazimova's longtime companion Glesca Marshall
Catherine Glesca Marshall (September 19, 1906 – August 21, 1987) was an actress and theatrical benefactor who was known primarily as the most enduring lover of Alla Nazimova, silent screen actress and a legend of her time. Glesca met Nazimova ...
.It is believed that Nazimova coined the phrase sewing circle as code to refer to lesbian or bisexual actresses of her day who concealed their true sexuality.
Nazimova lived together with Glesca Marshall
Catherine Glesca Marshall (September 19, 1906 – August 21, 1987) was an actress and theatrical benefactor who was known primarily as the most enduring lover of Alla Nazimova, silent screen actress and a legend of her time. Glesca met Nazimova ...
from 1929 until Nazimova's death in 1945.
Friends and relations
Edith Luckett
Edith Prescott Luckett Davis (July 16, 1888 – October 26, 1987) was a film and Broadway theatre, Broadway stage actress in the 1900s through the 1920s. She was the mother of Nancy Reagan, First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989, and ...
, a stage actress and the mother of future U.S. First Lady
The first lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is the title held by the hostess of the White House, usually the wife of the president of the United States, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has never ...
Nancy Reagan
Nancy Davis Reagan (; born Anne Frances Robbins; July 6, 1921 – March 6, 2016) was an American film actress and First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989. She was the second wife of president Ronald Reagan.
Reagan was born in N ...
, was a friend of Nazimova, having acted with her onstage. Edith married Kenneth Seymour Robbins, and following the birth of their daughter Nancy in 1921, Nazimova became her godmother. Nazimova continued to be friends with Edith and her second husband, neurosurgeon Loyal Davis, until her death. She was also the aunt of American film producer Val Lewton.
Garden of Alla
Nazimova's private lifestyle gave rise to widespread rumors of outlandish and allegedly debauched parties at her mansion on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California, known as The Garden of Alla, which she leased in 1918 and bought outright the next year. Facing near-bankruptcy in 1926, she converted the 2.5-acre estate into a hotel by building 25 villas on the property. The Garden of Alla Hotel opened in January 1927. But Nazimova was ill-equipped to run a hotel and eventually sold it and returned to Broadway and theatrical tours. By 1930, the hotel had been purchased by Central Holding Corporation, which changed the name to theGarden of Allah Hotel
The Garden of Allah was a famous hotel in West Hollywood, California (then an unincorporated area of Los Angeles which was usually considered a part of Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood), at 8152 Sunset Boulevard between Crescent Heights and Haven ...
. When Nazimova moved back to Hollywood in 1938, she rented Villa 24 at the hotel and lived there until she died.
Death and memorials
On July 13, 1945, Nazimova died of a coronary thrombosis, age 66, in the Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles. Her ashes were interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery inGlendale, California
Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from ...
. Her contributions to the film industry have been recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Californ ...
.
Legacy
Nazimova has been depicted a number of times in film and onstage. The first two were biographical films aboutRudolph Valentino
Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguolla (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926), known professionally as Rudolph Valentino and nicknamed The Latin Lover, was an Italian actor based in the United States who starred ...
: ''The Legend of Valentino
''The Legend of Valentino'' is a 1975 American made-for-television biographical film written and directed by Melville Shavelson. It deals with real life events about the actor and sex symbol of the 1920s Rudolph Valentino.
It was broadcast by ABC ...
'' (1975), in which she was portrayed by Alicia Bond; and '' Valentino'' (1977), in which she was portrayed by Leslie Caron. She was featured in two 2013 silent films about Hollywood's silent movie era: '' Return to Babylon,'' in which she was played by Laura Harring, and ''Silent Life'', based on the life of Rudolph Valentino
Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguolla (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926), known professionally as Rudolph Valentino and nicknamed The Latin Lover, was an Italian actor based in the United States who starred ...
, where she was played by Sherilyn Fenn.The character of Nazimova also appears in Dominick Argento's opera ''Dream of Valentino'', in which she also played the violin. 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.
Actress Romy Nordlinger first portrayed Alla Nazimova in The Society for the Preservation of Theatrical History production of ''Stage Struck: From Kemble to Kate'' staged at the Snapple Theater Center in New York City in December 2013. In Fall 2016, PLACES, a multimedia solo show about Alla Nazimova, supported by the League of Professional Theatre Women's Heritage Program, written and performed by Romy Nordlinger debuted at Playhouse Theatre for a limited run.
The Garden of Allah cabaret was an influential LGBTQ+ cabaret venue in the mid-1900s that took its name and inspiration from Nazimova's original Garden of Alla.
Nazimova also appears in ''Medusa's Web'', a novel by fantasy-fiction writer Tim Powers.
Filmography
See also
* List of American film actresses *List of film producers
Following is a list of notable film producers, some of whom have also worked in other media.
''(list is sorted alphabetically by surname)''
A–M
*J. J. Abrams''Lost'', ''Cloverfield'', ''Alias'', '' Mission: Impossible III'', ''Star Trek ...
* List of Jewish actors
This is a list of notable Jewish actors. Some of these may have had some Jewish ancestry, and are ethnically considered Jewish, but did not practice Judaism. (e.g. Douglas Fairbanks).
Born in the 1990s–2000s
Born in the 1980s
Born in t ...
* List of people from California
* List of people from New York City
* List of people from Ukraine
* List of Russian people
* List of women writers
References
Further reading
* Golden, Eve (2001). ''Golden Images: 41 Essays on Silent Film Stars''. Jefferson, North Carolina:McFarland & Company
McFarland & Company, Inc., is an American independent book publisher based in Jefferson, North Carolina, that specializes in academic and reference works, as well as general-interest adult nonfiction. Its president is Rhonda Herman. Its former ...
. .
* Lewton, Lucy Olga (1988). ''Alla Nazimova, My Aunt, Tragedienne: A Personal Memoir''. Minuteman Press.
* Smith, Frederick James (September 1918). "Those Nazimova Eyes!" in ''Picture Play''.
External links
Alla Nazimova Society
* * *
Alla Nazimova
at the Women Film Pioneers Project
History of the Garden of Allah with photos
Nazimova
photo gallery NYP Library
Photographs and literature on Alla Nazimova
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nazimova, Alla 1870s births 1945 deaths Crimean Jews 19th-century actresses from the Russian Empire Russian stage actresses 19th-century people from the Russian Empire 19th-century women writers from the Russian Empire 19th-century writers from the Russian Empire 20th-century American actresses 20th-century Russian people 20th-century American women writers Actresses from Moscow Actresses from New York City American film producers American people of Russian-Jewish descent Screenwriters from New York (state) American silent film actresses American stage actresses LGBT actresses Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) Actresses from the Russian Empire Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States Writers from the Russian Empire Jewish American actresses Jews and Judaism in New York City LGBT people from California LGBT people from Ukraine LGBT actors from Russia LGBT Jews LGBT screenwriters People from Yalta People with acquired American citizenship American women screenwriters Writers from New York City Deaths from coronary thrombosis Women film pioneers Age controversies American women film producers Jewish Ukrainian actors 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century Russian women Bisexual actresses American bisexual actors