Magda L. Kardashian ( Harout, April 22, 1926 – September 9, 2021) was an American film, television and stage actress.

Life and career

Harout was born in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

on April 22, 1926, to Armenian-born stage actor Yeghishe Harout, and his wife Gohar. Her father was also the proprietor of the Ivar Theatre, which opened on the

Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It begins in the east at Sunset Boulevard in the Los Feliz district and proceeds to the west as a major thoroughfare through Little Armenia and Thai Town, Hollywoo ...

in 1951. During the 1940s, Harout was a pageant queen, and in 1943 she sold

war bonds War bonds (sometimes referred to as Victory bonds, particularly in propaganda) are debt securities issued by a government to finance military operations and other expenditure in times of war without raising taxes to an unpopular level. They are a ...

to support U.S. troops during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. On May 29, 1947, she married Robert Thomas Kardashian (1920–1998), an Army Air Forces veteran, at the First Congregation Church in Los Angeles. They later honeymooned in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

. Her stage credits included ''Nine Armenians'' (1997) by Leslie Ayvazia and ''The Kiss at City Hall'' (2000). She received a number of awards for her appearances on stage, including from LA Weekly, Drama-Logue and the LA Drama Critics Circle. In 1999, Harout played the role of Aunt Alma in the independent comedy film '' A Wake in Providence''. Producer and writer

Vincent Pagano Vincent Pagano (born October 13, 1967 in Providence, Rhode Island) is an American film and television actor and screenwriter. Pagano's first recurring television role was on the NBC sitcom ''Suddenly Susan'' in 1996. Pagano wrote, produced and s ...

cast Harout promptly after meeting her, stating that "Magda opened her mouth, and we immediately fell in love with her voice.". Harout spoke

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

and French, and dyed her hair lighter in order not to be typecast in stereotypical ethnic roles. She also appeared in a number of

television commercials A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

. Harout died in Woodland Hills, California on September 9, 2021, at the age of 95.

Partial filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

1926 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Los Angeles American people of Armenian descent {{US-actress-stub