Pola Negri
Pola Negri (; born Barbara Apolonia Chałupiec [apɔˈlɔɲa xaˈwupʲɛt͡s]; 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. She was also acknowledged as a sex symbol of her time. 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, Poland, 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 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. In 1987, aged 90, she died of pneumonia secondary to a brain tumor for which she refused treatment. |
Birth and Death Data: Born Lipno (town in Poland, in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship), Died August 1, 1987 (San Antonio (city in Bexar, Comal, and Medina counties in Texas, United States, that is the seat of Bexar County) )
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 December 27, 2025, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106257.
Negri, Pola. (2025). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved December 27, 2025, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106257.
"Negri, Pola." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2025. Web. 27 December 2025.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Negri, Pola, 1899-1987 - https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n90679150
Wikidata: Pola Negri - https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q230633
VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/66594789
MusicBrainz: Pola Negri - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/3a07d627-6566-4d50-8568-c5ad52df3c6f
Fast: https://id.worldcat.org/fast/273593 - https://id.worldcat.org/fast/273593
Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license
Feedback
Send the Editors a message about this record.
