All About Alla Nazimova: Age, Relationship, Parents, Salary

Short Info

Died	July 13, 1945, Los Angeles, California, United States
Spouse	Charles Bryant, Sergei Golovin
Fact	(1912-1925) Partner was Charles Bryant.
Payments	Earned $60,000 from War Brides (1916)

Alla Nazimova was born in Yalta, Crimea on June 3, 1879. Her parents were Jewish and her father was a tobacco merchant. Nazimova was the youngest of four children. She had two brothers, Mikhail and Leonid, and a sister, Olga.

1919: Photo of Anna Mae Wong by Alla Nazimova's Pool. https://t.co/z4hFxl7QpS pic.twitter.com/fc5UILQVud
— Alla Nazimova (@AllaNazimova) April 14, 2018

Nazimova was educated at the Imperial Lyceum for Young Noblewomen in St. Petersburg. She began her acting career while still a student, appearing in small roles at the Mariinsky Theatre.

In 1898, Nazimova made her film debut in The Queen of Spades. She quickly became one of the most popular actresses in Russia. In 1905, she starred in the film War and Peace. The film was a huge success and made her an international star.

In 1915, Nazimova moved to the United States. She signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and appeared in several films, including Camille (1921) and Salome (1923).

In the 1920s, Nazimova became one of the most successful and highest-paid actresses in Hollywood. She starred in a number of successful films, including The Scarlet Empress (1932) and Our Daily Bread (1934).

Los Angeles Playbill for production of Ibsen’s “Ghosts” starring Alla Nazimova at the Biltmore Theatre, 1936: … http://t.co/yYgildrasp
— Alla Nazimova (@AllaNazimova) February 12, 2014

However, by the early 1930s, Nazimova’s career began to decline. She made a number of unsuccessful films and her personal life was plagued by scandal. In 1938, she returned to the stage in the play The Cherry Orchard. The play was a success and revived her career.

Nazimova continued to work in film and theatre until her death in 1945. She was one of the most popular actresses of her time and was highly respected by her peers.

Net worth: $5 million (at the time of her death in 1945)

Salary: $3,000 per week (in the 1920s)

Significant earnings: $250,000 for Salome (1923)

General Info

Full Name	Alla Nazimova
Died	July 13, 1945, Los Angeles, California, United States
Height	1.6 m
Profession	Actor, Pin-up model, Film producer, Screenwriter
Education	Moscow Art Theatre

Family

Spouse	Charles Bryant, Sergei Golovin
Parents	Yakov Leventon, Sonya Horowitz

Accomplishments

Movies

Salomé, Camille, The Red Lantern, Blood and Sand, Eye for Eye, Since You Went Away, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, A Doll's House, In Our Time, Escape, Revelation, Billions, Zaza, Madame Peacock, The Brat, Stronger Than Death, Out of the Fog, The Heart of a Child, My Son

Social profile links

IMDB	http://imdb.com/name/nm0623417

Salary

Title	Salary
Revelation (1918)	$13,000 a week
War Brides (1916)	$60,000

Quotes

#	Quote
1	[In 1929] I wish I could burn every inch of my films. I'm ashamed of them.
2	[on motion pictures in a 1916 interview] The pioneer days are now past. This is proved, not in the great mass of moving pictures we see, but the flashes of genius which show what can be done when true artists devote themselves sincerely to creative work. On the speaking stage there have always been more bad plays than good ones, but no one ever argued from this that the drama was a failure. We must always judge an art by its best examples, not by its worst, not even its second best . . . At the present the proportion of fine motion pictures to the total number produced is smaller than the proportion of masterpieces in other art, but if we pause to consider the youth of this field of endeavor, we find our criticisms answered. We must be patient.
3	[Upon meeting the then unknown Rudolph Valentino for the first time] How dare you bring that gigolo to my table? How dare you introduce that pimp to Nazimova?

Facts

#	Fact
1	Studied dramatics at the Conservatory at Odessa in 1892.
2	She made $100,000 touring in "War Brides" and an additional $60,000 for the film version.
3	1919's "The Brat" was the first time Nazimova played an American character either on stage or screen.
4	Liked to play dual-roles such as in "The Red Lantern.".
5	Broadway's 39th Street Playhouse was originally known as The Nazimova Theater.
6	First student of Konstantin Stanislavski to star on the American stage and screen.
7	She was taught English in six months by actress Caroline Harris, mother of silent screen star Richard Barthelmess.
8	She was godmother to First Lady Nancy Reagan (aka Nancy Reagan) and aunt to producer Val Lewton.
9	She became an American citizen in 1927.
10	With her film career flourishing, she bought an imposing California Spanish home at 8080 Sunset Blvd., building a pool and landscaping the property's 3-1/2 acres. Named The Garden of Allah, the place became a popular place for the Hollywood elite. Eventually she lost the property, and when it became a residential hotel she took a small room in the house that had once been her home.
11	(1912-1925) Partner was Charles Bryant.
12	Lived on the corner of Sunset Blvd. and North Crescent Heights Blvd. in what is now West Hollywood.
13	Considered the supreme interpreter of Henrik Ibsen of her day.
14	Breast-cancer survivor.
15	Born to a Jewish family in Yalta, Ukraine.
16	Stage actress and screenwriter.
17	Interred at Forest Lawn (Glendale), Glendale, California, USA, in the Whispering Pines section.
18	Known during her heyday simply as "Nazimova."

Pictures

Movies

Actress

Title	Year	Status	Character
Since You Went Away	1944		Zofia Koslowska (as Nazimova)
In Our Time	1944		Zofia Orwid (as Nazimova)
The Bridge of San Luis Rey	1944		Doña Maria - The Marquesa (as Nazimova)
Blood and Sand	1941		Senora Augustias (as Nazimova)
Escape	1940		Emmy Ritter (as Nazimova)
My Son	1925		Ana Silva
The Redeeming Sin	1925		Joan (as Nazimova)
Madonna of the Streets	1924		Mary Carlson / Mary Ainsleigh (as Nazimova)
Salomé	1922		Salome - Stepdaughter of Herod (as Nazimova)
A Doll's House	1922		Nora Helmer
Camille	1921		Marguerite Gautier (as Nazimova)
Billions	1920		Princess Triloff (as Nazimova)
Madame Peacock	1920		Jane Goring / Gloria Cromwell (as Nazimova)
The Heart of a Child	1920		Sally Snape (as Nazimova)
Stronger Than Death	1920		Sigrid Fersen
The Brat	1919		The Brat
The Red Lantern	1919		Mahlee & Blanche Sackville
Out of the Fog	1919		Faith & Eve
Eye for Eye	1918		Hassouna (as Nazimova)
A Woman of France	1918	Short
Toys of Fate	1918		Zorah / Hagah
Revelation	1918		Joline (as Nazimova)
War Brides	1916		Joan

Producer

Title	Year	Status
Salomé	1922	producer
A Doll's House	1922	producer
Madame Peacock	1920	producer - as Nazimova
The Heart of a Child	1920	producer - as Nazimova
Stronger Than Death	1920	producer
The Brat	1919	producer
Eye for Eye	1918	producer

Writer

Title	Year	Status
A Doll's House	1922	as Peter M. Winter
Billions	1920	titles - as Nazimova
Madame Peacock	1920	adaptation - as Nazimova
The Brat	1919	writer

Director

Title	Year	Status	Character
Salomé	1922	uncredited
Eye for Eye	1918	co-director - as Nazimova

Editor

Title	Year	Status	Character
Billions	1920	as Nazimova

Miscellaneous

Title	Year	Status	Character
Zaza	1938	production consultant

Self

Title	Year	Status	Character
Screen Snapshots, Series 3, No. 15	1922	Documentary short	Herself
Screen Snapshots, Series 1, No. 14	1920	Documentary short	Herself
Screen Snapshots, Series 1, No. 1	1920	Documentary short	Herself

Archive Footage

Title	Year	Status	Character
Alla Nazimova and Rudolph Valentino	2000	TV Short documentary	Herself
Before Stonewall	1984	Documentary	Salome (uncredited)
Hollywood	1980	TV Mini-Series documentary	Herself
The Legend of Rudolph Valentino	1961	Video documentary	Herself
The Miracle of Sound	1940	Documentary short	Herself (as Nazimova)