Olga Grey (born Anushka Zacsek or Anna Zacsek, November 10, 1896 – April 25, 1973) was an American

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, sometimes billed with the alternate spelling of her last name, Olga Gray. She was born in

New York city New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to Hungarian immigrants. Her father wanted her to become a violinist, so she studied music while harboring dreams of being an actress. She appeared in some amateur productions before joining a Little Theatre in Los Angeles. Her success there paved the way for her work in films. By her late teens, she was pursuing an acting career in Hollywood. She began working as an extra. Her first film appearance was in the 1915 film ''His Lesson'', in which she had the lead role. She would have twelve film roles that year, including a role (as the actress

Laura Keene Laura Keene (20 July 1826 – 4 November 1873) was a British stage actress and theatre manager. In her twenty-year career, she became known as the first powerful female manager in New York. She is most famous for being the lead actress in ...

) in the now classic and controversial film ''

The Birth of a Nation ''The Birth of a Nation'', originally called ''The Clansman'', is a 1915 American silent epic drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. The screenplay is adapted from Thomas Dixon Jr.'s 1905 novel and play ''The Cla ...

'', starring

Lillian Gish Lillian Diana Gish (October 14, 1893February 27, 1993) was an American actress, director, and screenwriter. Her film-acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912, in silent film shorts, to 1987. Gish was called the "First Lady of American Cinema", ...

Mae Marsh Mae Marsh (born Mary Wayne Marsh; November 9, 1894U.S. Census records for 1900, El Paso, Texas, Sheet No. 6 – February 13, 1968) was an American film actress with a career spanning over 50 years. Early life Mae Marsh was born Mary Wayne M ...

, and directed by D. W. Griffith. In 1916 she appeared in seven films, including the role of "Lady Agnes" in ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

''. She would have another eleven roles between 1917 and 1920, with a steady decline of quality roles. In 1920 she married film actor Arnold Gregg (real name: Arnold Ray Samberg). She later became an attorney under her original name, Anna Zacsek, passing the California bar in 1932. In 1942 she was one of the defense attorneys in the " Sleepy Lagoon" trials, defending gang members Henry Leyvas, Victor Segobia, and Edward Grandpré. She was the only woman attorney in the courtroom for these trials.Catherine Sue Ramirez, ''The Woman in the Zoot Suit: Gender, Nationalism, and the Cultural Politics of Memory'' (Duke University Press 2008): 99-100. Anna Zacsek was residing in

Los Angeles 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' ...

at the time of her death on April 25, 1973, aged 76.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grey, Olga 1896 births 1973 deaths American film actresses American silent film actresses Actresses from Budapest People from Greater Los Angeles 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American lawyers