Liska March (February 17, 1906 – May 30, 2003) was a dancer in the

Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' was a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934 and 1936. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as ''The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air ...

, an actress in motion pictures of the early sound era, and a producer of Broadway plays. March was born in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

and played in stock there prior to going to

New York, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Uni ...

. While in New York City Liska appeared in the Follies and also took part in ''Sunny'', a play which featured actress

Marilyn Miller Marilyn Miller (born Mary Ellen Reynolds; September 1, 1898 – April 7, 1936) was one of the most popular Broadway musical stars of the 1920s and early 1930s. She was an accomplished tap dancer, singer and actress, and the combination of these ...

. She died in 2003 at the age of 97.

Career

She came to

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

to act in films in April 1929. Her first movie appearance was a role in support of Eddie Leonard in the

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

production, ''Melody Lane''. She was in the cast of ''Koffer des Herrn O.F..Die'' (1931), aka ''

The Trunks of Mr. O.F. ''The Trunks of Mr. O.F.'' (German: ''Die Koffer des Herrn O.F.'') is a 1931 German comedy film directed by Alexis Granowsky and starring Alfred Abel, Peter Lorre, and Harald Paulsen. Produced by Tobis Film, it was made at the Johannisthal Studio ...

''. She once told a reporter that she never wanted a ''voice double'' in her film roles, commenting ''Wouldn't it be quite annoying if your voice would refuse to renew its contract and you would have to scurry around and find another one like it?'' One of a select group of non-performers (or in her case, ex-performers) awarded membership in

The Actors Studio The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights at 432 44th Street (Manhattan), West 44th Street between Ninth Avenue (Manhattan), Ninth and Tenth Avenue (Manhattan), Tenth avenues in the ...

, March was an associate producer of two original plays on Broadway during the 1950s. ''School For Scandal'' was the third production in a series presented by Terese Hayden. This was an 18th-century comedy which opened in June 1953 at the Theatre de Lys.

Patricia Neal Patricia Neal (born Patsy Louise Neal, January 20, 1926 – August 8, 2010) was an American actress of stage and screen. A major star of the 1950s and 1960s, she was the recipient of an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, and two ...

starred as Lady Teazle. Liska helped present ''The Genius and the Goddess'', a 1957 Broadway play. Among the actors involved was child star

Nancy Kelly Nancy Kelly (March 25, 1921 – January 2, 1995) was an American actress in film, theater and television. A child actress and model, she was a repertory cast member of CBS Radio's ''The March of Time'' and appeared in several films in the late 1 ...

. The setting for this one was a St. Louis living room in the years 1921 and 1922. Miss March played a Sister of Mercy in ''The Ballad of Joe Hill'' (1971). She was among those who presented the movie at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

Selected filmography

* ''

'' (1931)

Citations

References

*Festival De Cannes homepage, Films Presented in Cannes, ''Joe Hill''. *Internet Broadway Database, ''The Genius and the Goddess''. *

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

, ''Liska March Doesn't Want Voice Double'', May 12, 1929, Page 20. *Los Angeles Times, ''Liska March In It'', May 21, 1929, Page A10. *

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

, ''Sheridan Comedy A Revival Tonight'', June 23, 1953, Page 26.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:March, Liska American female dancers American film actresses 20th-century American actresses March Liska 2003 deaths 1906 births 20th-century American dancers 21st-century American women