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- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
The grand, highly flamboyant Russian star Alla Nazimova of Hollywood silent films lived an equally grand, flamboyant life off-camera, though her legendary status has not held up as firmly as that of a Rudolph Valentino today.
Alla Nazimova was born Miriam Edez Adelaida Leventon in 1879, in Yalta, Crimea, in the Russian Empire, to Jewish parents, Sonya Horowitz and Yakov Leventon. She was the third child in an abusive, contentious household. Most of her sad childhood was spent in foster homes or in the care of other relatives and she showed a strong penchant for outrageous behavior to cope. Nazimova also showed a great aptitude for music at a young age and began violin lessons at age seven. She changed her name to Alla Nazimova when she began appearing on stage--her father insisted on it, as "performing" was not considered respectable at the time.
She began acting lessons at age 17 and joined Konstantin Stanislavski's company of actors as a pupil of his "method style" at the Moscow Art Theatre. During that time she supported herself by being kept by rich, older men. A failed love affair led to her only marriage, to an acting student named Sergei Golovin, but they separated quickly. She grew discontented with Stanislavsky and later performed in repertory. She met the legendary Pavel Orlenev, a close friend of Anton Chekhov and Maxim Gorky, and entered into both a personal and professional relationship with him. They toured internationally throughout Europe with great success and came to New York in 1905, where Nazimova was saluted on Broadway for her definitive interpretations of Henrik Ibsen's "Hedda Gabler" and "A Doll's House." Orlenev returned to Russia but Nazimova stayed.
She made her screen debut with War Brides (1916), which was initially a 35-minute play. By 1918 she was a box-office star for Metro Pictures and completed 11 films for the studio over a three-year period. A torrid, stylish and rather outré tragedienne who played exotic, liberal women confronted by great personal anguish, she earned personal successes as a reformed prostitute in Revelation (1918), a suicide in Toys of Fate (1918) and dual roles as half-sisters during the Boxer Rebellion in The Red Lantern (1919), not to mention the title role of Camille (1921) with Rudolph Valentino. At the same time she maintained a strong Broadway theatrical career.
In accordance with her rise in the film industry, she began producing her own efforts, which were bold and experimental--and monumental failures, although they are hailed as great artistic efforts today. Her Salomé (1922) was quite scandalous and deemed a failure at the time. The monetary losses she suffered as producer were astronomical. The Hays Code, which led to severe censorship in pictures, also led to her downfall, as did her outmoded acting style. She was forced to abandon films for the theater, scoring exceptionally well in Anton Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard." She did return to films briefly in the 1940s in a variety of supporting roles, but she made these solely for the money.
Nazimova's private life has long been the subject of industry gossip. As a Hollywood cover to her well-known bisexual lifestyle, she coexisted in a "marriage" with gay actor Charles Bryant for well over a decade. Her "Garden of Allah" home was the centerpiece for many glamorous private parties. She died in 1945.- Reliable "B" character actor Rick Vallin had the rangy physique, prominent cheekbones and swarthy look ideal for rugged films. In the 1940s and '50s he was seen almost everywhere -- in mysteries, musicals, oaters and, especially, the ever-popular edge-of-your-seat cliffhangers. Born in Russia in 1919, he was the son of Nedja Yatsenko, an aspiring ballerina. He came to America while still young. By the time he was in his late teens, he was doing stock productions and had somehow elbowed his way into the radio and movie business. He later joined the Pasadena Playhouse in 1942.
After a few years of unbilled parts, he finally made some leeway in "poverty row" pictures and received his first co-star billing in the whodunnit film The Panther's Claw (1942) with Sidney Blackmer. He also showed promising leading man material in such films as Secrets of a Co-Ed (1942), Smart Guy (1943), Secrets of a Sorority Girl (1945), and Two Blondes and a Redhead (1947). He played the first of many Indians in the serial Perils of the Royal Mounted (1942) and the feature-length King of the Stallions (1942). Vallin found himself caught between a rock and a hard place, however, when it came to moving up. In the minds of studio filmmakers, he had a tight "B" movie image and found any advance to the "A" ranks an almost impossibility. Making do, he continued along on the lowbudget assembly-line, appearing in a few of the Bowery Boys capers such as Clancy Street Boys (1943) and Ghosts on the Loose (1943) and the Charlie Chan mystery Dangerous Money (1946).
By the late 1940s Vallin had moved considerably down the credits list. He forged a successful union with Columbia Studios where he kept active in minor roles in Johnny Weissmuller's "Jungle Jim" movies, including Jungle Jim (1948), Captive Girl (1950), Jungle Manhunt (1951), and Voodoo Tiger (1952) playing both civil and savage natives. Vallin also became a mainstay in Columbia's serials that started with The Sea Hound (1947). Usually a shady or villainous character, he showed up in several including Batman and Robin (1949), Cody of the Pony Express (1950), Son of Geronimo: Apache Avenger (1952), King of the Congo (1952), and Perils of the Wilderness (1956), one of the last multi-chaptered serials ever made. Occasionally he stood out more when cast as the hero's dullish sidekick such as in the cliffhangers Brick Bradford (1947), Blackhawk: Fearless Champion of Freedom (1952), Riding with Buffalo Bill (1954), and Adventures of Captain Africa: Mighty Jungle Avenger! (1955), but, for the most part, his leaden look and dark complexion kept him a secondary villain (henchman, outlaw) or ethnic type (Indian, Arab, Russian).
Vallin also picked up dusty work on most of the popular 50s western TV series: "Cowboy G-Men," "Annie Oakley," "Wild Bill Hickok," "The Lone Ranger" and both Gene Autry and Roy Rogers' weekly shows. Work grew scarce in the late 1950s unfortunately, and he developed a drug problem, retiring in 1967. One of his last programs was a guest role on "Daniel Boone." Vallin died a decade later in Los Angeles at age 57, and was buried in Eden Memorial Park in Chatsworth, California. - Nataliya Vdovina was born on 12 January 1969 in Belogorsk, Belogorskiy rayon, Krymskaya oblast, Ukrainian SSR, USSR [now Crimea, Russia]. She is an actress, known for The Return (2003), Probuzhdenie (2021) and Zakaz (2005).
- Producer
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Born in Russian Empire in 1904, Lewton moved with his mother and sister to Berlin in 1906, then to USA in 1909. He wrote for newspapers, magazines, novels, pornography, etc.- often using pseudonyms to disguise their origin (the name Val Lewton was one such pseudonym, used first for some novels in the 1930's, then revived later in his career to take writing credit for two movies). In 1933, he got a job with David O. Selznick where he spent many years as a story editor and jack-of-all-trades. Then in 1942, RKO hired him to head their new horror unit, where he made many famous and well-respected B-movies, for very low costs and high profits. In 1946, he "graduated" to A-movies, but increasing health problems, trouble working with big-money Hollywood, and other factors combined to force him to produce only three more movies before his death in 1951.- Ivy Bethune was born on 1 June 1918 in Sevastopol, Russia [now Crimea, Ukraine]. She was an actress, known for Back to the Future (1985), Get Smart (2008) and Will to Die (1971). She was married to Stuart Lancaster and William Charles Bethune. She died on 19 July 2019 in Woodland Hills, California, USA.
- Actress
- Writer
Miki Iveria was born on 14 June 1910 in Yalta, Republic of Crimea, Ukraine. She was an actress and writer, known for The Omen (1976), The Dark Crystal (1982) and QB VII (1974). She died on 29 March 1994 in London, England, UK.- Andrei Abrikosov was a Russian film and stage actor best known for his leading and supporting roles in the Soviet films of the 1930s - 1950s, such as the silent film And Quiet Flows the Don (1930) and the Sergei Eisenstein's Alexander Nevsky (1938).
He was born Andrei Lvovich Abrikosov on November 14, 1906, in Simferopol, Crimean province, Russian Empire (now Simferopol, Crimea, Ukraine). His father, Lew Abrikosov, was an agricultural technician, and his mother was a homemaker. Young Abrikosov left his parents' home as a teenager, and wandered all over Russia for several years, until he finally came to Moscow in 1925, at the age of 18. His first job was a metal worker at a Moscow industry, albeit he had a dream to become an actor, as he was fascinated by the silent movies.
In the summer of 1925 Abrikosov entered the acting studio of Aleksandra Khokhlova, but soon moved to the acting class of Z.S. Sokolova, the sister of Konstantin Stanislavski. In 1926 Abrikosov joined the troupe of the Maly Theatre, but directors did not give him any roles to play for the next five years. However, in 1930 he was cast by directors Olga Preobrazhenskaya and Ivan Pravov as the main lead in the silent movie _Tikhiy Don (1931)_ (aka.. The Cossacks of the Don, or 'And Quiet Flows the Don') which was the first film adaptation of the eponymous novel by Mikhail Sholokhov. The film became popular in Russia and internationally, and Abrikosov became and instant celebrity.
Andrei Abrikosov co-starred opposite Nikolay Cherkasov in the classic film Alexander Nevsky (1938) by director Sergei Eisenstein, and played supporting roles in both parts of 'Ivan the Terrible'. He was awarded the State Stalin's Prize (1941) and was designated People's Actor of Russia (1952) and People's Actor of the USSR (1968). During the 1930s he was a member of the troupe with the Moscow Chamber Theatre under directorship of Aleksandr Tairov. From 1938 to 1973 Abrikosov was a permanent member of the troupe at the Vakhtangov Theatre, and from 1953-1959 he was artistic director of the Vakhtangov Theatre in Moscow.
During the peak of their acting career, in the 1950s and 1960s, Andrei Abrikosov performed together with his son, Grigori Abrikosov. They enjoyed much success, which brought the attendant pressure, and both developed addiction to alcohol. Both father and son Abrikosovs were notorious in Moscow for their frequent stage appearances after and between their routine drinks, and acting under the influence. However, their performances were usually so good that both were able to get away with alcohol abuse at work. Some performances by the father and son Abrikosovs under the influence were described in famous jokes about their ability to improvise on stage when they were drunk and completely forgot their lines, so they borrowed random phrases from several other plays and were able to get away with it brilliantly, often leaving the public amazed with their improvisations.
Andrei Abrikosov died on October 21, 1973, and was laid to rest in Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow, Russia. - Actor
- Soundtrack
Anthony Fedorov was born on 4 May 1985 in Yalta, Crimean Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, USSR [now Crimea, Ukraine]. He is an actor, known for American Idol (2002), Ben Elohim and Katya (2011). He has been married to Jennifer Paz since 25 December 2012. They have one child.- Additional Crew
Denis Budanov was born on 28 August 1983 in Dzhankoi, Crimea. He is known for Pamfir (2022) and The History of the First Film Festival in Podilia (2021).- Roman Filippov was born on 24 January 1936 in Simferopol, Crimean ASSR, Russian SFSR, USSR [now Crimea, Ukraine]. He was an actor, known for Gentlemen of Fortune (1971), The Diamond Arm (1969) and Peter the Great (1986). He died on 18 February 1992 in Moscow, Russia.
- Actress
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Nadezhda Dorofeeva was born on 21 April 1990 in Simferopol, Krymskaya oblast, Ukrainian SSR, USSR [now Crimea, Russia]. She is an actress, known for Me. You. He. She. (2018), Ritm (2020) and Vremya i Steklo: Imya 505 (2015). She has been married to Vladimir Dantes since 8 July 2015.- Pavlo Li was born on 10 July 1988 in Yevpatoria, Crimea, Ukraine. He was an actor, known for Egregor (2021), #Selfieparty (2016) and Unforgotten Shadows (2013). He died on 6 March 2022 in Irpin, Ukraine.
- Music Department
- Composer
- Director
Prolific composer, arranger, conductor, pianist, lecturer and musical director Jack Shaindlin won a musical scholarship as a boy in his native Russia for his piano skills. He began his career as a pianist accompanist in Chicago, Illinois film theaters after his mother Rachel and brother Leo came to the United States following the death of the family patriarch. At age 22, he began working for Universal Pictures, later becoming associated with Columbia, RKO and Louis De Rochemont. During World War II, Jack was the music director for the Office of War Information, and he received special recognition from President Harry S Truman for his musical score on the wartime documentary film "Tanks".
Jack Shaindlin founded Triumph Publications, Inc. based on 60th Street near Eighth Avenue in New York City; it published and recorded stock production music for broadcast and commercial purposes. He began a career in film direction, producing short subjects, mainly documentaries and travelogues. He was associated with the Ford Foundation's television series, and conducted the Symphony of the Air. Nearing retirement in the early 1970s, he accepted a position as musical consultant for Madison Square Garden in New York.- Director
- Actor
- Producer
Nikita Valeyev is a Russian musical performer, rapper and songwriter. Founder of the musical association "Novella Haunted". Since the end of 2018, he has been engaged in sound production, is a member of the Believe Music label under a subsidiary company (Cordoba Music Group).
Nikita Valeyev, the most unexpected performer of the Believe Music label, manages to combine a musician, an artist, a sound producer and the founder of the Novella Haunted music association.
Through active music blogging and selling beats under the author's pseudonym "ValeyevBeats", the musician expresses his determination and desire to move on.- Nicholas Soussanin was born on 3 January 1889 in Yalta, Taurida Governorate, Russian Empire [now Crimea, Ukraine]. He was an actor and writer, known for Daughter of the Dragon (1931), Betrayal (1929) and The Last Command (1928). He was married to Olga Baclanova and Suzanna Stroemer (first). He died on 27 April 1975 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Camera and Electrical Department
Anna Kuchma was born on 14 February 1981 in Yalta, Crimean Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, USSR [now Crimea, Ukraine]. She is an actress, known for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), Non-Stop (2014) and The Intern (2015).- Jerzy Pietraszkiewicz was born on 9 August 1917 in Yalta, Taurida Governorate, Russia [now Crimea, Ukraine]. He was an actor, known for Television Theater (1953), Uczta Baltazara (1954) and Kariera (1955). He died on 2 August 2005 in Skolimów, Konstancin-Jeziorna, Mazowieckie, Poland.
- Writer
- Director
- Cinematographer
In 2013, he received a bachelor's degree from the Institute of Screen Arts, having majored in film and television directing. In 2014, he received a master's degree from Kyiv National Theater, Film and Television University as a television director. He has been a member of the Ukrainian Film Academy since 2017.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Julian Cain was born on 26 July 1984 in Crimean Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, USSR [now Crimea, Ukraine]. He is an actor and writer, known for Whiteout (2009), Made for TV (2011) and General Hospital (1963).- Elza Lezhdey was born on 19 February 1933 in Sevastopol, Crimean ASSR, Russian SFSR, USSR [now Crimea, Ukraine]. She was an actress, known for Sledstvie vedut znatoki (1971), Ballad of a Soldier (1959) and Poludennyy vor (1985). She was married to Vsevolod Safonov and Vladimir Naumov. She died on 13 June 2001 in Moscow, Russia.
- Vadim Medvededv was born Vladimir Aleksandrovich Medvedev on April 28, 1929, in Yalta, Crimea province, Ukraine, USSR (now Ukraine). In 1949, he graduated from the Acting Studio of Moscow Chamber Theatre under directorship of Aleksandr Tairov.
From 1952-1966 he was a permanent member of the troupe of Pushkin Drama Theatre in St. Petersburg (Leningrad). There his stage partners were such remarkable actors as Nikolay Cherkasov, Nikolai Simonov, Vasiliy Merkurev, Konstantin Skorobogatov, Yuriy Tolubeev, Aleksandr Borisov, Bruno Frejndlikh, Vladimir Chestnokov, Vladimir Erenberg, Konstantin Adashevsky, Leonid Vivyen, Olga Lebzak, Nina Mamaeva, Lidiya Shtykan, Nina Urgant, Valentina Panina, and other notable Russian actors. In 1954, he made his film debut in A Big Family (1954) by director Iosif Kheifits.
From 1966-1988 Vadim Medvedev was a permanent member of the legendary troupe of Bolshoi Drama Theatre (BDT) in St. Petersburg (Leningrad) under directorship of Georgi Tovstonogov. Medvedev worked with Tovstonogov for 22 years. During that time Medvedev worked with an outstanding ensemble of actors at BDT. There his stage partners were such stars as Oleg Basilashvili, Tatyana Doronina, Alisa Freyndlikh, Lyudmila Makarova, Svetlana Kryuchkova, Zinaida Sharko, Valentina Kovel, Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy, Sergey Yurskiy, Kirill Lavrov, Oleg Borisov, Vladislav Strzhelchik, Yefim Kopelyan, Evgeniy Lebedev, Vsevolod Kuznetsov, Pavel Luspekayev, Nikolay Trofimov, Georgiy Shtil, Leonid Nevedomsky, Yuriy Demich, Roman Gromadskiy, Gennadiy Bogachyov, Andrey Tolubeev, and many other remarkable Russian actors.
Vadim Medvedev was honored with the title of People's Artist of the Russia. He received numerous awards and decorations for his works on stage and in film. His filmography includes over 30 roles, he also played over 80 roles on stage. Vadim Medvedev died on March 2, 1988, and was laid to rest in Bolsheokhtinskoe Cemetery in St. Petersburg (Leningrad), Russia. - Igor Cassini was born Igor Aleksandrovich Loiewski on September 15, 1915, in Russia. Igor Cassini and his elder brother, Oleg Cassini, were the sons of Russian diplomat Alexander Loiewski and his wife, Countess Marguerite Cassini, a Russian-Italian aristocrat. His maternal grandfather, Arthur Paul Nicholas, Marquis de Capuzzuchi di Bologna, Count de Cassini, worked for the Russian Tsar Nicholas II as a diplomat in China and the United States.
Igor Cassini spent his early childhood between Russia and Kopenhagen, Denmark, where his father was a diplomat with the Russian Embassy. His family were landed aristocracy in Russia until 1917, when the communists seized their ancestral estate. At that time his father adopted his wife's Italian name of Cassini, and the family fled to Florence, Italy. There Igor Cassini and his brother helped his mother, who worked as a fashion designer of hats at the salon of Countess Fabricotti. He also traveled with his mother and elder brother to Paris twice a year, where he studied French and became fascinated with the new French fashions and lifestyle. In the 1920s-1930s Igor Cassini studied art and literature in Florence.
In 1936, fleeing from the dictatorship of Benito Mussolini, Igor Cassini moved to the United States together with his parents and elder brother. He made a career as a journalist for the Hearst newspaper chain. In 1940 he married Austine McDonnell, also a Hearst journalist and a tireless storyteller, also known as Bootsie. At the time of their marriage Igor Cassini and Bootsie both worked for the Washington Times-Herald. They had no children, and she divorced him in 1947, to become the third wife of William Randolph Hearst.
Igor Cassini ascended to the height of his influence during the 1950s, when he was a syndicated gossip columnist for the Hearst newspaper chain reaching 20 million readers. Cassini's popular 'Cholly Knickerbocker' gossip column was in fact a product of a group effort, after he hired a Texan journalist Liz Smith as a ghostwriter, who worked for him during the 1950s and early 1960s. He also was a television personality in the 1950s and 1960s and hosted 'The Igor Cassini Show' in 1953 and 1954, as well as his other television program, 'Igor Cassini Million Dollar Showcase'. Cassini was credited for coining the term "Jet set" to describe the global movements of the rich and aimless globe-hopping travelers.
He was married five times. His second wife was Elizabeth Waters, a fashion model, they had one daughter, Marina. His third wife was Charlene Stafford Wrightsman, the younger daughter of Charles B. Wrightsman, an oil mogul whose art collection fills several rooms at the Metropolitan Museum. She and Cassini had one son, Alexander. His fourth wife was Nadia Cassini, an actress and model known as Gianna Lou Muller. His fifth wife was Brenda Mitchell, with whom he had two sons, Nicholas, a professional golfer, and Dmitri and actor and skier.
Cassini was a co-director of the fashion company House of Cassini, founded by his brother, fashion designer Oleg Cassini. He also worked as a publicist and an editor. Igor Cassini died on January 5, 2002, in New York. - Valeriy Stepanov was born on 28 September 1983 in Feodosia, Crimea, Ukrainian SSR, USSR. He is an actor, known for Streets of Broken Lights (1998), Nevskiy (2016) and Uslovnyy ment (2019).
- Cinematographer
- Director
- Writer
Anatoli Golovnya was born on 2 February 1900 in Simferopol, Taurida Governorate, Russian Empire [now Crimea, Ukraine]. He was a cinematographer and director, known for Admiral Nakhimov (1947), Zhukovsky (1950) and Velikie budni (1931). He died on 25 June 1982 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].- Alexander Nicholayevitch Romanoff (Achmed Abdullah) was the author of numerous adventure and mystery stories, usually set in strange and exotic locations.
His father, Grand Duke Nicholas Romanoff, was a cousin of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his mother, Princess Nourmahal Durani, was the daughter of the Amir of Afghanistan. Alexander, along with his brother Yar and sister Gothia, were born at the Romanoff Palace in Yalta, the future site of the historic Second World War conference among Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin. After pressure from the Afghan and Russian royal houses forced their parents to divorce, Alexander--along with his sister--went to live with their uncle in Afghanistan; Yar, the oldest, stayed with his father in Russia. Alexander was adopted by his uncle, who changed his name to Achmed Abdullah Nadir Khan el-Durani el Iddrissyeh and raised him in the Muslim faith. Yar became an officer in the Russian army and was killed in 1914 at the Battle of Tannenberg. Gothia was said to have married an Indian rajah. In 1936, after years of being torn between the Russian Orthodox Church he was baptized in and the Muslim faith he was raised in, Abdullah became a Roman Catholic.
He went to schools in Afghanistan, India, France and finally England, where he attended Eton and Oxford. Upon graduation he became a British citizen and joined the British army, where he served with merit in China, Tibet, Russia, Eastern Europe, France, India and Africa. Because of his ability to blend in with different cultures, he was often called upon by British Intelligence to work as a spy. Not long after Abdullah retired from the British army with the rank of captain, he joined the Turkish army and fought with distinction in the First Balkan War (1912-1913). By the time Abdullah decided to pursue a writing career his life experiences had gained him a plethora of material to draw upon for decades to come.
Abdullah began writing in earnest after coming to the US sometime after 1914. Soon stories like "The Blue Eyed Manchu", "The Red Stain", "The Soul Catcher" and "Bucking the Tiger" were appearing in newspapers and magazines across the country. By the early 1920s he was writing for both the stage and the screen. In 1928 he published a collection of ballads and poems from Central Asia entitled "Lute and Scimitar". His autobiography, "The Cat Had Nine Lives" (1933), reads like one of his romantic adventure stories. In 1937 he wrote with John Kenney, a cookbook entitled, "For Men Only". Abdullah's first Broadway play, "The Honourable Mr. Wong" (1932), was adapted from his story "The Hatchetman" and was written with the help of David Belasco around the time he became a permanent resident of the US. Though many of his stories and plays were very popular with the public, he will probably always be best remembered for the classic films The Thief of Bagdad (1924) and The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935).
Abdullah must have cut quite an imposing figure when seen out in public, with his military posture, impeccable suit, hat tilted just so, gray spats and monocled eye. In 1945 he passed away on his birthday at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York after an illness of several months. He was survived by his third wife, Rosemary Dutton, whom he married in 1940, a year after his second wife of 20 years, literary agent Jean Wick, had passed away. His first wife, Irene Augusta Bainbridge, was still married to him when he filled out his Word War One draft registration card in 1918.