Nita Naldi (born Mary Nonna Dooley; In this reference Naldi's birth name Nonna is mistakenly cited “Donna”. Naldi's birthname in this reference is also incorrectly cited as “Donna”. November 13, 1894 – February 17, 1961) was an American stage performer and

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

actress. She was often cast in theatrical and screen productions as a

vamp The VaMP driverless car was one of the first truly autonomous cars Dynamic Vision for Perc ...

, a

persona A persona (plural personae or personas), depending on the context, is the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional Character (arts), character. The word derives from Latin, where it originally ref ...

first popularized by actress

Theda Bara Theda Bara ( ; born Theodosia Burr Goodman; July 29, 1885 – April 7, 1955) was an American silent film and stage actress. Bara was one of the more popular actresses of the silent era and one of cinema's early sex symbols. Her femme fatal ...

Early life

Nita Naldi was born in a tenement in New York City to

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

Irish parents, Julia (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Cronin) and Patrick Dooley, in 1894.“Nina Naldi”
23 Sahara Knights: Rudolf Valentino Film Festival, Rudolf Valentino Society and Publishing, LLC. Retrieved November 6, 2018. Four of her siblings died in infancy, with only her younger brother, Daniel Aloysius, surviving to adulthood. Known in her youth as Nonna, she was named in honor of her great aunt, Mary Nonna Dunphy, a

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

who in 1879 had founded

Academy of the Holy Angels The Academy of the Holy Angels is an all-female private middle school and college preparatory high school located in Demarest, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in sixth through twelfth grade. The school is a spons ...

Fort Lee, New Jersey Fort Lee is a borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop the Palisades. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 40,191. As of the 2010 U.S. census, th ...

. Later, in 1910, young Nonna herself attended the Catholic school, the same year her father “'left the family'”. The Academy was located directly across Linwood Avenue from Willat/Fox film studio. Her mother's death in 1915 required Nonna to care for her two younger siblings. To support them and herself she took several jobs, including work as an artist's model and a cloak model. She soon entered

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 ...

with her brother Frank, and by 1918 she was performing as a chorus girl at the

Winter Garden Theatre The Winter Garden Theatre is a Broadway theatre at 1634 Broadway in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It opened in 1911 under designs by architect William Albert Swasey. The Winter Garden's current design dates to 1922, when ...

in ''The Passing Show of 1918''. Her appearance in that Broadway production led to more stage jobs, and soon Naldi found herself 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 ...

'' of 1918 and 1919. It was at this time when Nonna Dooley changed her name to "Nita Naldi," which she adapted from the name of a childhood friend, Florence Rinaldi. Working under her new name, Naldi continued acting on Broadway; and after her well-received performance in ''The Bonehead'', producer William A. Brady in 1920 offered her a role in his play ''Opportunity''.

Film career

Naldi was asked to perform in a short film with Johnny Dooley, a Scottish comedian who, despite his last name, was unrelated to her. She soon quit the film, however, after realizing that Dooley had romantic intentions with another woman. Naldi was then offered a role in ''A Divorce of Convenience'' with

Owen Moore Owen Moore (12 December 1886 – 9 June 1939) was an Irish-born American actor, appearing in more than 279 movies spanning from 1908 to 1937. Early life and career Moore was born in Fordstown Crossroads, County Meath, Ireland. Along with his p ...

. Following those two films, she had small roles in several independent films before being cast as the exotic character Gina in

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

's 1920 release'' Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'' starring

John Barrymore John Barrymore (born John Sidney Blyth; February 14 or 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942) was an American actor on stage, screen and radio. A member of the Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage, and briefly att ...

. Barrymore himself reportedly recommended her for the role after he “spotted” her dancing at the Winter Garden.“Nita Naldi of Silent Films Dies; Won Fame Opposite Valentino“
obituary, ''The New York Times'', February 18, 1961, nspecified page Obituary linked through “The Hitchcock Zone” online collections. Retrieved November 5, 2018. Her noted performance in that film subsequently afforded Naldi more career opportunities. It also established her long-term friendship with Barrymore, who affectionately nicknamed her his “Dumb Duse”. Blood and Sand (1922) - 3

Naldi was selected by Spanish author

Vicente Blasco Ibáñez Vicente Blasco Ibáñez (, 29 January 1867 – 28 January 1928) was a journalist, politician and bestselling Spanish novelist in various genres whose most widespread and lasting fame in the English-speaking world is from Hollywood films that were ...

for the role of Doña Sol in the film version of his novel, '' Blood and Sand'' (1922). Naldi was signed by

Famous Players-Lasky Famous Players-Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company formed on June 28, 1916, from the merger of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company—originally formed by Zukor as Famous Players in Famous Plays—and t ...

for the role, and it became her first pairing with screen idol

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 ...

. The film was a major success, giving Naldi the image of a

vamp The VaMP driverless car was one of the first truly autonomous cars Dynamic Vision for Perc ...

, which would follow her for the rest of her life. Naldi and Valentino were never romantic, and she would be one of the few to befriend his wife

Natacha Rambova Natacha Rambova (born Winifred Kimball Shaughnessy; January 19, 1897 – June 5, 1966) was an American film costume designer, set designer, and occasional actress who was active in Hollywood in the 1920s. In her later life, she abandoned design ...

, though that friendship would sour when the Valentinos divorced. During this time, Naldi posed for famous Peruvian artist

Alberto Vargas Joaquin Alberto Vargas y Chávez (9 February 1896 – 30 December 1982) was a Peruvian-American painter of pin-up girls. He is often considered one of the most famous of the pin-up artists. Numerous Vargas paintings have sold and continue to se ...

, who painted her embracing a

bust Bust commonly refers to: * A woman's breasts * Bust (sculpture), of head and shoulders * An arrest Bust may also refer to: Places * Bust, Bas-Rhin, a city in France *Lashkargah, Afghanistan, known as Bust historically Media * ''Bust'' (magazin ...

of a

satyr In Greek mythology, a satyr ( grc-gre, :wikt:σάτυρος, σάτυρος, sátyros, ), also known as a silenus or ''silenos'' ( grc-gre, :wikt:Σειληνός, σειληνός ), is a male List of nature deities, nature spirit with ears ...

. In Vargas's original “

pin-up A pin-up model (known as a pin-up girl for a female and less commonly male pin-up for a male) is a model whose mass-produced pictures see widespread appeal as part of popular culture. Pin-up models were variously glamour models, fashion models ...

” painting, Naldi is depicted topless, although copies of the portrait that were published and widely distributed in the 1920s, such as in the art and entertainment magazine '' Shadowland'', were “modified” by the addition of clothing to cover her partially visible left breast. While Valentino went on his one-man strike, which prevented him from appearing on film, Naldi took on several Famous Players-Lasky roles with growing importance, including ''

The Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ� ...

'' (1923), directed by

Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cine ...

. When Valentino returned and fixed his contract woes, she joined him for his final Famous Players-Lasky film, the now lost ''

A Sainted Devil ''A Sainted Devil'' is a 1924 American silent drama film directed by Joseph Henabery and starring Rudolph Valentino. The film was produced by Adolph Zukor and Jesse Lasky. Plot As described in a review in a film magazine, in accordance wit ...

'' (1924). Naldi left the company soon after. In 1924, the Valentinos and Naldi traveled to France in order to do research for the film ''The Hooded Falcon''. which was never made. Upon returning to California, the duo made '' Cobra''. The film was not well received, and ''Cobra'' became the last film in which Naldi and Valentino starred together. The Valentinos' marriage was ending around this time. After Valentino signed a contract with

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...

, he banned Rambova from the set. She was given her own film as a consolation. Naldi starred in Rambova's 1925 production ''What Price Beauty?'' The film suffered distribution problems, was barely noted at the time, but is noteworthy for being actress

Myrna Loy Myrna Loy (born Myrna Adele Williams; August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993) was an American film, television and stage actress. Trained as a dancer, Loy devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. ...

's first screen appearance. After finishing the

Dorothy Gish Dorothy Elizabeth Gish (March 11, 1898June 4, 1968) was an American actress of the screen and stage, as well as a director and writer. Dorothy and her older sister Lillian Gish were major movie stars of the silent era. Dorothy also had great s ...

film ''

Clothes Make the Pirate ''Clothes Make the Pirate'' is a 1925 American silent comedy film directed by Maurice Tourneur and starring Leon Errol and Dorothy Gish. The film was written by Marion Fairfax from the novel of the same name by Holman Francis Day. Synopsis Th ...

'', Naldi left for France for a short vacation, where she married J. Searle Barclay. Despite multiple rumors that she had retired, Naldi began work on several films, including

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

's second directorial effort, 1926's ''

The Mountain Eagle ''The Mountain Eagle'' is a 1926 silent drama film, and Alfred Hitchcock's second as director, following '' The Pleasure Garden''. The film, a romantic melodrama set in Kentucky, is about a widower (Bernhard Goetzke) who jealously competes wi ...

''. She is often mistakenly credited for appearing in Hitchcock's '' The Pleasure Garden''. Naldi made two films in France and one in Italy before retiring. Despite having an acceptable voice, Naldi never made a “

talkie A sound film is a motion picture A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, percep ...

”.

Later life

Due to the financial reversals caused by her retirement from films, as well as the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, Naldi filed for bankruptcy in 1932. She went back to the stage with ''Queer People'' and ''The Firebird'' in 1933. The press had been critical of her weight since 1924, but reviews of her appearances in both plays were especially harsh this time around — so harsh in fact that Naldi filed suit against one paper in 1934 for $500,000. The suit was dismissed in 1938. In 1942, Naldi was considered for ''

For Whom the Bell Tolls ''For Whom the Bell Tolls'' is a novel by Ernest Hemingway published in 1940. It tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American volunteer attached to a Republican guerrilla unit during the Spanish Civil War. As a dynamiter, he is assigned ...

'' but did not receive the part. She never made another film. That same year she began appearing in a revue in New York with

Mae Murray Mae Murray (born Marie Adrienne Koenig; May 10, 1885 – March 23, 1965) was an American actress, dancer, film producer, and screenwriter. Murray rose to fame during the silent film era and was known as "The Girl with the Bee-Stung Lips" and "Th ...

reciting the 1897 poem "A Fool There Was." In 1952, she had a notable role in the play ''In Any Language'', co-starring the legendary stage actress

Uta Hagen Uta Thyra Hagen (12 June 1919 – 14 January 2004) was a German-American actress and theatre practitioner. She originated the role of Martha in the 1962 Broadway premiere of ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' by Edward Albee, who called her "a p ...

. In 1955, she coached

Carol Channing Carol Elaine Channing (January 31, 1921 – January 15, 2019) was an American actress, singer, dancer and comedian who starred in Broadway and film musicals. Her characters usually had a fervent expressiveness and an easily identifiable voice, ...

how to vamp, for Channing's new musical ''The Vamp''. Channing would be nominated for a Tony award for Best Actress in a Musical for that role. During the 1952 presidential election, she supported Adlai Stevenson in his campaign. Also in the 1950s, Naldi appeared on the television series '' Omnibus''.

Personal life

In 1929, seven years after the success of '' Blood and Sand'', Naldi was named as a party in the divorce proceedings between 54-year-old millionaire J. Searle Barclay from his wife of 16 years. Barclay and Naldi had met during her stage career a decade earlier and had lived together with her sister in New York since 1920. The pair married in France in August 1929. Naldi, alone, returned to the United States two years later and then filed for bankruptcy in 1934. Naldi did not speak publicly about Barclay until after his death in 1945. He died penniless. Despite Hollywood gossip and published rumors, Naldi denied ever being romantically involved with either Valentino or Barrymore. In 1956 she was also rumored to be engaged to a Park Avenue man named Larry Hall, but no union took place. Naldi had no children.

Death

Naldi spent her final years in New York City, where she died of 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 ...

in her hotel room at the Wentworth Hotel on West 46th Street on February 17, 1961. She was buried in the family plot at Calvary Cemetery in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, New York.

Recognition

For her contribution to the film industry, Nita Naldi was honored 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 ...

at 6316 Hollywood Boulevard.

Partial filmography

* '' Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde''Most of the titles in this filmography are transcribed from Ephraim Katz's ''The Film Encyclopedia'', fourth edition, revised by Fred Klein and Ronald Dean Nolen. New York, N.Y.: HarperCollins, 2001, p. 996. Retrieved November 7, 2018. (1920) - Miss Gina * ''The Common Sin'' (1920) - Warren's Mistress * ''For Your Daughter's Sake'' (1920) * ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...

'' (1920) - Grace Andrews *'' Everyman's Price'' (1921) * '' The Last Door'' (1921) - The Widow * ''

A Divorce of Convenience ''A Divorce of Convenience'' is a 1921 American silent comedy film directed by Robert Ellis and starring Owen Moore, Katherine Perry and Nita Naldi.Munden p.191 Cast * Owen Moore as Jim Blake * Katherine Perry as Helen Wakefield * George Less ...

'' (1921) - Tula Moliana * ''

Experience Experience refers to conscious events in general, more specifically to perceptions, or to the practical knowledge and familiarity that is produced by these conscious processes. Understood as a conscious event in the widest sense, experience involv ...

'' (1921) - Temptation * ''

The Man from Beyond ''The Man from Beyond'' is a 1922 American silent mystery film starring Harry Houdini as a man found frozen in arctic ice who is brought back to life. Plot As described in a film magazine, scientist Dr. Gregory Sinclair (Connelly) and his fe ...

'' (1922) - Marie Le Grande * '' Reported Missing'' (1922) - Nita * '' Channing of the Northwest'' (1922) - Cicily Varden * '' Blood and Sand'' (1922) - Doña Sol * ''

The Snitching Hour ''The Snitching Hour'' is a 1922 American silent comedy film directed by Alan Crosland and starring Arthur Housman, Gladys Leslie, and Nita Naldi.Monaco p. 139 Cast * Arthur Housman as Bunny * Gladys Leslie as Lois Dickerson * Frank Currier a ...

'' (1922) - The 'Countess' * ''

Anna Ascends ''Anna Ascends'' is a 1922 American silent romantic drama film directed by Victor Fleming, and based on the 1920 play of the same title by Harry Chapman Ford. Alice Brady reprises her starring role from the Broadway play. The film is largely ...

'' (1922) - Countess Rostolff * ''For Your Daughter's Sake'' (1922, reissue of ''Common Sin'') * '' The Glimpses of the Moon'' (1923) - Ursula Gillow * ''

You Can't Fool Your Wife ''You Can't Fool Your Wife'' is a 1940 American comedy film directed by Ray McCarey and written by Jerome Cady. The film stars Lucille Ball, James Ellison, Robert Coote, Virginia Vale, Emma Dunn and Elaine Shepard. The film was released on May 2 ...

'' (1923) - Ardrita Saneck * '' Lawful Larceny'' (1923) - Vivian Hepburn * ''

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

'' (1923) - Herself * ''

'' (1923) - Sally Lung - a Eurasian * ''

Don't Call It Love "Don't Call It Love" is a song first released by American singer Kim Carnes on her 1981 album ''Mistaken Identity''. The following year it was covered by Captain and Tennille and Dusty Springfield from their albums '' More Than Dancing'' and ''Whi ...

'' (1923) - Rita Coventry * '' The Breaking Point'' (1924) - Beverly Carlysle * ''

'' (1924) - Carlotta * '' The Lady Who Lied'' (1925) - Fifi * ''

The Marriage Whirl ''The Marriage Whirl'' is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Alfred Santell and written by Bradley King. It is based on the 1922 play ''The National Anthem'' by J. Hartley Manners. The film stars Corinne Griffith, Kenneth Harlan, Ha ...

'' (1925) - Toinette * ''

'' (1925) - Madame De La Tour * '' Cobra'' (1925) - Elise Van Zile * '' What Price Beauty?'' (1925) - Herself * ''

The Miracle of Life "The Miracle of Life" is a documentary film about the human reproductive process. The film won multiple awards including a Peabody and an Emmy when it was broadcast as part of the American TV series ''Nova (American TV series), Nova''. Photographe ...

'' (1926) - Helen * ''

The Unfair Sex ''The Unfair Sex'' is a 1926 American silent drama film directed by Henri Diamant-Berger and starring Hope Hampton, Holbrook Blinn and Nita Naldi.Munden p.846 Cast * Hope Hampton as Shirley Chamberlain * Holbrook Blinn as Don Calvert * Nita ...

'' (1926) - Blanchita D'Acosta * ''

'' (1926) - Beatrice * '' The Model From Montmartre'' (1926) - Princesse de Chabrant * ''

Die Pratermizzi Die Pratermizzi (literally, "Mizzi of the Prater") is an Austrian silent drama film directed by Gustav Ucicky in 1926, released in January 1927, and starring Anny Ondra, Igo Sym and Nita Naldi. The film was long believed lost until its rediscov ...

'' (1927) - Valette - Tänzerin mit de Larve

References and notes

Sources

* Dooley, Mary, Certificate and Record of Birth, No. 2662, Manhattan Borough, November 13, 1894 (registered January 1895) * 1900 United States Federal Census, Manhattan, New York, New York, June 1, 1900, Enumeration District 930, Sheet 2A. * 1910 United States Federal Census, Manhattan Ward 19, New York, New York, April 15–16, 1910, Enumeration District 1043, Sheet 3B.

External links

Nita Naldi, Silent Vamp
* * *
Photographs and bibliography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naldi, Nita 1894 births 1961 deaths American film actresses American people of Irish descent American silent film actresses American television actresses American stage actresses Burials at Calvary Cemetery (Queens) Actresses from New York City Ziegfeld girls 20th-century American actresses American Roman Catholics New York (state) Democrats