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Lyda Roberti (née Pecjak; May 20, 1906 – March 12, 1938) was an American singer and stage and film actress.


Early years

Born in
Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
, then part of Imperial Russia, Lyda Roberti was the daughter of a German father (a professional clown surnamed Pecjak) and a Polish mother. As a child she performed in the
circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...
as a
trapeze A trapeze is a short horizontal bar hung by ropes or metal straps from a ceiling support. It is an aerial apparatus commonly found in circus performances. Trapeze acts may be static, spinning (rigged from a single point), swinging or flying, an ...
artist and
bareback Bareback riding is a form of equestrianism, horseback riding without a saddle. It requires skill, balance, and coordination, as the rider does not have any equipment to compensate for errors of balance or skill. Proponents of bareback riding argu ...
rider. She had an elder brother, Robert, also born in Poland, and a younger sister, Manya. To escape the upheaval in Russia after the Communist revolution in 1917, the Pecjak family settled in
Shanghai, China Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...
, where Lyda earned money as a dancer in the Carlton café. Eventually, she saved enough money to pay her passage to the United States, where she performed in
vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...
in both San Francisco and Los Angeles.


Career

Roberti made her
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
debut in ''
You Said It ''You Said It'' is a musical by Harold Arlen (music) and Jack Yellen (lyrics) that uses a musical book by Yellen and Sid Silvers.The musical opened at the Chanin's 46th Street Theatre in New York City on January 19, 1931 and ran for 192 perform ...
'' in 1931 and, with its success, became an overnight sensation. During her run with the show, she was nicknamed "Broadway's preferred Polish blonde". Historian Edward Jablonski found that "much of her appeal to the audiences at the time was due to her Polish accent" and cited instances when her pronunciation of certain consonants would "stir audiences to gales of laughter." One year later, she was signed to Paramount Pictures, where she appeared in Edward F. Cline's comedy film '' Million Dollar Legs'' (1932). In 1933, she performed in two more Broadway musicals: the short-lived ''
Pardon My English ''Pardon My English'' is a musical with a book by Herbert Fields and Morrie Ryskind, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and music by George Gershwin. Set in 1933 Dresden, the farcical plot satirizes the Prohibition era. Production history Producers Alex ...
'' and the much more successful ''
Roberta ''Roberta'' is a musical from 1933 with music by Jerome Kern, and lyrics and book by Otto Harbach. The musical is based on the novel ''Gowns by Roberta'' by Alice Duer Miller. It features the songs " Yesterdays", "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "Let ...
''. Throughout the 1930s, she played in a string of films. Her sexy but playful characterizations, along with the accent she had acquired during her years in Europe and Asia, made her popular with audiences. In 1936, Roberti replaced
Thelma Todd Thelma Alice Todd (July 29, 1906 – December 16, 1935) was an American actress and businesswoman who carried the nicknames "The Ice Cream Blonde" and "Hot Toddy". Appearing in about 120 feature films and shorts between 1926 and 1935, sh ...
in several films after Todd's death.


Personal life

On June 25, 1935, Roberti married aviator Bud Ernst in
Yuma, Arizona Yuma ( coc, Yuum) is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The city's population was 93,064 at the 2010 census, up from the 2000 census population of 77,515. Yuma is the principal city of the Yuma, Arizona, M ...
. They separated one year later but secretly reconciled in January 1937 and remained together until her death. Roberti struggled with health issues for most of her life, mainly related to her heart. In the spring of 1935, she underwent surgery for heart and appendix issues. In 1936, she was forced to withdraw from '' Wives Never Know'' owing to an unnamed illness. A series of heart attacks forced her to curtail her workload in 1937.


Death

On the night of March 13, 1938, Roberti suffered another severe heart attack. Dr. Myron Babcock unsuccessfully administered heart stimulants, and Roberti died at age 31 with husband Ernst at her bedside. Her funeral two days later drew 400 people, including many of her Hollywood colleagues. According to her friend and co-star
Patsy Kelly Patsy Kelly (born Sarah Veronica Rose Kelly; January 12, 1910 – September 24, 1981) was an American actress. She is known for her role as the brash, wisecracking sidekick to Thelma Todd in a series of short comedy films produced by Hal R ...
, Roberti died from a
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
while bending to tie her shoelace. In an interview with
Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fil ...
for ''Film Fan Monthly'', Kelly said, "As a child, her father was in the circus, and he used to throw her on bareback, and we never knew it had affected her heart, and one day – boom!" Roberti is interred in the
Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks & Mortuaries is an American corporation that owns and operates a chain of cemeteries and mortuaries in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside counties in Southern California. History The company was founded by a group of ...
in
Glendale, 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 ...
.


Filmography

*


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberti, Lyda 1906 births 1938 deaths 20th-century American actresses American film actresses American people of German descent American people of Polish descent Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) White Russian emigrants to the United States Vaudeville performers 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers