Yurka, Blanche (1887–1974)

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Yurka, Blanche (1887–1974)

American actress and writer. Name variations: Blanche Jurka. Born on June 19, 1887, in Czechoslovakia; died on June 6, 1974, in New York City; daughter of Anton Jurka and Karolina (Novak) Jurka; attended Wadleigh High School (1901–03), Metropolitan Opera School (1903–05), Institute of Musical Art (now Juilliard School of Music, 1905–07); married Ian Keith (an actor), in September 1922 (divorced 1928).

Selected theater:

The Warrens of Virginia (1907); Daybreak (1917); Hamlet (1922); The Wild Duck (1925); Hedda Gabler (1929); Lady from the Sea (1929); Electra (1932); Romeo and Juliet (1935); The Madwoman of Chaillot (1969).

Selected filmography:

A Tale of Two Cities (1935); Queen of the Mob (1940); City for Conquest (1940); Escape (1940); Ellery Queen and the Murder Ring (1941); Lady for a Night (1942); Pacific Rendezvous (1942); A Night to Remember (1942); Keeper of the Flame (1942); Tonight We Raid Calais (1943); Hitler's Madman (1943); The Song of Bernadette (1943); The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1944); The Cry of the Werewolf (1944); One Body Too Many (1944); The Southerner (1945); 13 Rue Madeleine (1947); The Last Flame (1947); The Furies (1950); At Sword's Point (1952); Taxi! (1953); Thunder in the Sun (1959); Dinner at Eight (1966).

Selected writings:

Dear Audience: A Guide to Greater Enjoyment of Theatre (1959); Three Scandinavian Plays (editor, 1962); Three Classic Greek Plays (editor, 1964); Bohemian Girl: Blanche Yurka's Theatrical Life (1970).

Blanche Yurka was born in Czechoslovakia in 1887; her parents migrated to the United States from Bohemia, which was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, when Blanche was an infant. They settled first in a large Czech community in Chicago before moving to St. Paul, Minnesota, where she spent her early years. In 1900, after her father lost his job teaching Czech at Jefferson School, the family moved to New York, where Blanche took singing lessons and entered Wadleigh High School. An

indifferent student, Blanche was captivated by the study of music and wanted to become an opera singer, making her first appearance on stage in an amateur musical production of Bohemian Girl. She then studied at the Metropolitan Opera School from 1903 to 1905, appearing on the Metropolitan stage as the Grail-bearer in the 1903 production of Parsifal. However, the school dismissed her after she injured her voice in an amateur production of Il Trovatore. Although Blanche also attended the Institute of Musical Art, which later became the Juilliard School of Music, from 1905 to 1907, they dismissed her for the same reason. The injury to her voice had ruined any prospect of an operatic career, so Yurka (who had changed her name from "Jurka") turned to the theater.

Her acting career spanned more than 60 years and ranged from Broadway productions to the new craft of film acting. She toured for years with stock companies and touring companies, and finally achieved some recognition with Daybreak in 1917. In 1922, she played Queen Gertrude to John Barrymore's Hamlet for 125 performances on Broadway. At this time, Yurka was married briefly to actor Ian Keith; however, their union reportedly ended because of "professional insecurity." Yurka's admitted tendency to place her career ahead of her personal life could not have helped. According to Richard Lamparski, unlike most performers, she claimed to enjoy being on the road.

Yurka became one of the most well-known stage actresses of the day. Tall and imposing, with a strong personality, she was known for playing strong-willed women. She won particular acclaim for her interpretation of classical drama, acting in many scholarly dramas. Her Broadway appearances included two of Ibsen's plays, Hedda Gabler and Lady from the Sea, performances that critics claimed had spurred Ibsen's contemporary popularity.

Beginning in the 1930s, Yurka turned to cinema and eventually appeared in more than 20 films. Lamparski indicates, however, that in later years she would discuss only her role as Madame Defarge in A Tale of Two Cities. Although she appeared in films that were less noteworthy than others, her credits include the highly acclaimed The Song of Bernadette (1943), the story of Bernadette of Lourdes , and The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1944). Yurka combined her stage and screen careers, producing one-woman shows with scenes from classical dramas, and entertaining the troops during World War II. She also toured Europe with various theater groups. Yurka's last movie was Dinner at Eight (1966), in which she was cast as a minor figure, and her last stage appearance was the title role of The Madwoman of Chaillot in 1969. She continued to appear at readings for colleges and women's groups.

Yurka also devoted her efforts to writing. In 1933, she co-adapted "Spring in Autumn" from the Spanish, and in 1959 she wrote Dear Audience: A Guide to Greater Enjoyment of Theatre, an introduction to the theater that acting students still appreciate. She later edited and introduced two collections of plays (Three Scandinavian Plays and Three Classic Greek Plays). In 1970, she wrote her autobiography, Bohemian Girl: Blanche Yurka's Theatrical Life. She died in 1974 at age 86 in New York City, leaving several works in progress: another acting textbook, an autobiography by her cat Mourka, an edition of a Sarah Bernhardt short story, and two works of fiction, "Happy Ending" and "Sisters."