Resource id #75
Image Source: Wikipedia

Pola Negri

Pola Negri (; born Barbara Apolonia Chalupec [apɔˈlɔɲa xaˈwupɛt͡s]; 3 January 1897 – 1 August 1987) was a Polish stage and film actress and singer. She achieved worldwide fame during the silent and golden eras of Hollywood and European film for her tragedienne and femme fatale roles and was acknowledged as a sex symbol.

Raised in the Congress Kingdom of Poland, Negri's childhood was marked by several personal hardships: After her father was sent to Siberia, she was raised by her single mother in poverty, and suffered tuberculosis as a teenager. Negri recovered, and went on to study ballet and acting in Warsaw, becoming a well-known stage actress there. In 1917, she relocated to Germany, where she began appearing in silent films for the Berlin-based UFA studio. Her film performances for UFA came to the attention of Hollywood executives at Paramount Pictures, who offered her a film contract.

Negri signed with Paramount in 1922, making her the first European actress in history to be contracted in Hollywood. She spent much of the 1920s working in the United States appearing in numerous films for Paramount, establishing herself as one of the most popular actresses in American silent film. In the 1930s, during the emergence of sound film, Negri returned to Europe, where she appeared in multiple films for Pathé Films and UFA, and also began a career as a recording artist. She made only two films after 1940, her last screen credit being in Walt Disney's The Moon-Spinners (1964).

Negri spent her later life largely outside the public sphere. She became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1951, and spent the remainder of her life living in San Antonio, Texas, where she died of pneumonia secondary to a brain tumor for which she refused treatment, in 1987, aged 90.

Birth and Death Data: Born January 3, 1897 (Lipno, Lipno County), Died August 1, 1987 (San Antonio)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1931

Roles Represented in DAHR: mezzo-soprano

Notes: Sometimes vocal range is listed as contralto.

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Gramophone 0B641 10-in. 3/12/1931 The hour of longing Pola Negri Female vocal solo, with guitar and mixed vocal ensemble vocalist, mezzo-soprano  
Gramophone 0B642 10-in. before 3/12/1931 Why are you sorry? Pola Negri Female vocal solo, with guitar and mixed vocal ensemble vocalist, mezzo-soprano  
Gramophone 0B647 10-in. 3/13/1931 Black eyes Boris Golovka ; Pola Negri ; Russian Gypsy Chorus Female vocal solo, with mixed vocal trio and 3 guitars vocalist, mezzo-soprano  
Gramophone 0B649 10-in. 3/13/1931 Farewell, my Gypsy camp Pola Negri ; Russian Gypsy Chorus Female vocal solo, with mixed vocal trio and 3 guitars vocalist, mezzo-soprano  

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Negri, Pola," accessed April 25, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106257.

Negri, Pola. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved April 25, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106257.

"Negri, Pola." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 25 April 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106257

Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license

Feedback

Send the Editors a message about this record.