Zaruhi Elmassian (October 12, 1906 – February 6, 1990), known professionally as Zari Elmassian and later as Zaruhi Elmassian Vartian, was an American singer, best known for her voice work on Hollywood musicals in the 1930s, including ''The Wizard of Oz''.

Early life

Zaruhi Elmassian was born in

Lynn, Massachusetts Lynn is the eighth-largest municipality in Massachusetts and the largest city in Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line at Suffolk Downs, Lynn is part of Greater Boston's urban inner core. Settled by E ...

, the daughter of John Elmassian and Satenig Aloojian Elmassian. Her parents were both born in Armenia. The family had moved to

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, makin ...

, by the time her younger sister Alice was born. She attended

Fresno State College California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

, the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

, the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman. It offers Bachelor of Music (B.M ...

, and the

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music Music school, conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The ...

Career

Elmassian sang on a radio program in 1929, and with the

San Francisco Opera San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California. History Gaetano Merola (1923–1953) Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 when he ...

from 1930 to 1932, in productions of '' Hänsel und Gretel'', ''

Manon ''Manon'' () is an ''opéra comique'' in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel '' L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut'' by the Abbé Prévost. It was first ...

'', ''Tannhäuser'', and ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...

''. She later sang with the

Los Angeles Opera The Los Angeles Opera is an American opera company in Los Angeles, California. It is the fourth-largest opera company in the United States. The company's home base is the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, part of the Los Angeles Music Center. Leadersh ...

, and was a busy concert singer and church soloist in California, through the 1930s and 1940s. Elmassian provided vocal performances for Hollywood musicals, usually uncredited, including '' It's Great to Be Alive'' (1933), '' Naughty Marietta'' (1935), ''

Orchids to You ''Orchids to You'' is a 1935 American drama film directed by William A. Seiter and starring John Boles (actor), John Boles, Jean Muir (actress), Jean Muir and Charles Butterworth (actor), Charles Butterworth.Solomon p.379 The screenplay concerns ...

'' (1935), ''

Here's to Romance ''Here's to Romance'' is a 1935 American musical comedy film directed by Alfred E. Green and starring Nino Martini, Genevieve Tobin and Anita Louise.Solomon p. 359 Synopsis The wife of a music teacher, who has been angered by her husband's phi ...

'' (1935), ''

The Great Ziegfeld ''The Great Ziegfeld'' is a 1936 American musical drama film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and produced by Hunt Stromberg. It stars William Powell as the theatrical impresario Florenz "Flo" Ziegfeld Jr., Luise Rainer as Anna Held, and Myrna L ...

'' (1936), ''

Charlie Chan at the Opera ''Charlie Chan at the Opera'' is considered by many to be the best Warner Oland Charlie Chan film, probably due to the presence of Boris Karloff as the principal suspect, as well as faux operatic music composed by Oscar Levant. This is the 13th fi ...

'' (1936), '' Maytime'' (1937), '' Sweethearts'' (1938), '' The Girl of the Golden West'' (1938), ''The Wizard of Oz'' (1939), and ''

Broadway Serenade ''Broadway Serenade'' (also known as ''Serenade'') is a 1939 musical drama film distributed by MGM, produced and directed by Robert Z. Leonard. The screenplay was written by Charles Lederer, based on a story by Lew Lipton, John Taintor Foote an ...

'' (1939). She was also the musical director at St. James Armenian Apostolic Church in Los Angeles, and a member of the Dominant Music Club, a women's club for professional musicians. With her husband, she starred in an Armenian-language musical melodrama, ''Anoush'' (1945), based on the work of Hovhannes Toumanyan, and the opera ''

Anoush ''Anoush'' (also Anush, hy, Անուշ) is a five-act opera composed by Armen Tigranian, based on the 1892 poem of the same name by Hovhannes Tumanyan. Originally composed in 1912, it was first performed in Alexandropol, but it had to wait until ...

'' by Armen Dickranian. They also released a record called ''Armenian Songs'', and she can be heard on another album, ''Oscar Levant Plays Levant & Gershwin.'' In 1933, she was in headlines when she was questioned about the murder of dentist Leon Siever, apparently a fan of Elmassian's work at the Los Angeles Opera. Siever was founder and director of the Artists' Endowment, which gave Elmassian a scholarship in 1930.

Personal life

Elmassian married film editor Setrag Vartian in 1942, in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. She was widowed when Vartian died in 1986, and she died in 1990, in Los Angeles, aged 83 years. The Vartians' joint gravesite is in

Inglewood Park Cemetery Inglewood Park Cemetery, 720 East Florence Avenue in Inglewood, California, was founded in 1905. A number of notable people, including entertainment and sports personalities, have been interred or entombed there. History The proposed est ...

References

External links

*
Zari Elmassian
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

*
A 1939 photograph labeled "Radio singer Zaruhi Elmassian"
in the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

collections {{DEFAULTSORT:Elmassian, Zari 1906 births 1990 deaths 20th-century American women opera singers Armenian-American culture in California American voice actresses American choral conductors Actors from Lynn, Massachusetts American people of Armenian descent 20th-century Armenian women singers Armenian actresses Burials at Inglewood Park Cemetery University of Southern California alumni Eastman School of Music alumni 20th-century American actresses