Nita Naldi, Acting - KorPlix:Korean Person Archives

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Nita Naldi
Acting

Nita Naldi
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1894-11-12,New York City, New York, USA
Gender
Female
Biography
From Wikipedia Nita Naldi (November 13, 1894 – February 17, 1961), born Mary Dooley, was an American silent film actress. She was usually cast in the role of the femme fatale/vamp, a persona first popularized by actress Theda Bara. After first entering vaudeville, Naldi debuted on Broadway in 1918 as a chorus girl at the Winter Garden in The Passing Show of 1918. Her appearance in that production led to more stage jobs. Soon she found herself in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1918 and 1919. At this time she adopted the name Nita Naldi, which was an homage to a childhood friend named Florence Rinaldi. She continued working on Broadway, and after a well received performance in The Bonehead, she was offered a stint with well-known producer William A. Brady. Brady cast her in his play Opportunity in 1920. Naldi was asked to perform in a short film with Scottish comedian Johnny Dooley (no relation). She quit the film after realizing that Dooley had romantic intentions with another woman. She was then offered a role in A Divorce of Convenience with Owen Moore. After those two films, she had small roles in several independent films before being selected for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920) with John Barrymore. The role in the film would give Naldi much prestige. During the production of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Barrymore and Naldi became friends, and remained friends for many years, with Barrymore lovingly calling her the Dumb Duse. Naldi was selected by Spanish author Vicente Blasco Ibáñez for the role of Dona Sol in the film version of his novel Blood and Sand (1922). Naldi was signed by Famous Players-Lasky for the role, and it became her first pairing with screen idol Rudolph Valentino. The film was a major success, for it gave Naldi the image of a vamp, 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, though that friendship would sour when the Valentinos divorced. Thanks to the financial reverses caused by her retirement from films, as well as the Depression, Naldi filed 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 to 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 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 reciting the 1897 poem "A Fool There Was" in full kitsch. In 1952, she had a notable role in the play In Any Language, co-starring the legendary stage actress Uta Hagen. In 1955, she coached Carol Channing how to vamp, for Channing's new musical The Vamp. Channing would be nominated for Best Actress in a Musical for that role. Naldi spent her final years in New York City, where she died of a heart attack in her apartment at the age of 66. She was buried in the family plot at Calvary Cemetery in Queens, New York. For her contribution to the film industry, Nita Naldi was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6316 Hollywood Blvd.

Filmography

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

6.714

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
1920-03-18

The Ten Commandments

6.6

The Ten Commandments
1923-11-23

8

The Common Sin
1920-07-01

Channing of the Northwest

10

Channing of the Northwest
1922-04-10

A Divorce of Convenience

7

A Divorce of Convenience
1921-01-01

The Legend of Rudolph Valentino

7

The Legend of Rudolph Valentino
1961-05-24

5.828

Blood and Sand
1922-08-05

9

Hollywood
1923-08-19

7

Lawful Larceny
1923-07-22

A Trip to Paramountown

7.75

A Trip to Paramountown
1922-07-10

The Model From Montmartre

9

The Model From Montmartre
1926-12-10

Clothes Make the Pirate

10

Clothes Make the Pirate
1926-03-15

What Price Beauty?

10

What Price Beauty?
1928-01-22

5.6

Cobra
1925-01-02

9

Anna Ascends
1922-11-20

Don't Call It Love

9

Don't Call It Love
1924-01-06

A Sainted Devil

8

A Sainted Devil
1924-11-17

10

The Last Door
1921-05-10

Die Pratermizzi

10

Die Pratermizzi
1926-10-28

The Man from Beyond

5.133

The Man from Beyond
1922-04-02

You Can't Fool Your Wife

10

You Can't Fool Your Wife
1923-04-29

The Lady Who Lied

9

The Lady Who Lied
1925-07-12

The Glimpses of the Moon

9

The Glimpses of the Moon
1923-03-25

The Mountain Eagle

5

The Mountain Eagle
1926-11-01

The Breaking Point

0

The Breaking Point
1924-05-04

8

Experience
1921-08-07

Reported Missing

8

Reported Missing
1922-04-05

The Marriage Whirl

8

The Marriage Whirl
1925-07-19

Tonight Starring Jack Paar

7.5

Tonight Starring Jack Paar
1957-07-29