Baclanova, Olga (1899–1974)

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Baclanova, Olga (1899–1974)

Russian actress. Pronunciation: Bah-CLAHN-ova. Born in Moscow, Russia, on August 19, 1899; died on September 6, 1974, in Vevey, Switzerland; studied at the Cherniavsky Institute and the Moscow Art Theater; married a man named Zoppi (divorced); married Nicholas Soussanin; married Richard Davis (a film exhibitor and distributor); children: (second marriage) Nicholas Soussanin, Jr. (also known as Nicholas Saunders).

Filmography:

Symphony of Love and Death (Russia, 1914); Wanderer Beyond the Grave (Russia, 1915); He Who Gets Slapped (Russia, 1916); The Flowers Are Late (Russia, 1917); The Dove (U.S., 1928); Street of Sin (U.S., 1928); Forgotten Faces (U.S., 1928); Docks of New York (U.S., 1928); Three Sinners (U.S., 1928); The Man Who Laughs (U.S., 1928); Avalanche (U.S., 1928); A Dangerous Woman (U.S., 1929); The Wolf of Wall Street (U.S., 1929); The Man I Love (U.S., 1929); Are You There? (U.S., 1930); Cheer Up and Smile (U.S., 1930); The Great Lover (U.S., 1931); Freaks (also known as Nature's Mistakes, Forbidden Love, The Monster Show, U.S., 1932); Billion Dollar Scandal (U.S., 1933); Claudia (U.S., 1943).

At age 16, Olga Baclanova made her stage debut at the famed Moscow Art Theater and was soon appearing in leading roles as one of the company's top draws. While on a 1923 tour in America with Lysistrata, she decided to stay and snagged a minor role opposite Norma Talmadge in the film The Dove. Baclanova moved on to more significant, though unsympathetic, parts in two Josef von Sternberg films: The Docks of New York (as Lou) and Street of Sin, both opposite Emil Jannings. Her most prominent leading role, however, was as the cruel and conniving trapeze artist Cleopatra opposite Wallace Ford in Tod Browning's cult classic Freaks. When the film was released, it was greeted with such repulsion by critics that it lost over $164,000 in a matter of weeks and was withdrawn by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was also banned in England

for over 30 years (though MGM continued to release it under a number of aliases). "Baclanova's memorable performance was shockingly realistic," writes Charles Stumpf. "At long last she had proven her dramatic ability. Her stardom should have been assured. But she returned to Paramount for one final long forgotten flop—The Billion Dollar Scandal." In the 1930s, Baclanova appeared on Broadway with Bela Lugosi in Murder at the Vanities, a "whodunit with music"; she also hosted her own radio program. The actress continued to work in theater, on tour and in stock, then returned to Broadway as Madame Daruscha in Claudia, repeating the role in the film version. Following her retirement, she lived with her third husband in a villa in Vevey, Switzerland.