Olga Baclanova | WatchedThis
Olga Baclanova
Acting
Biography
From Wikipedia Ólga Vladímirovna Baclanova (19 August 1893 – 6 September 1974) was a Russian-born actress and operatic singer, who achieved prominence during the silent film era and was often billed under her last name only, as Baclanova, similarly to the surname-only nomenclature assigned to fellow countryman Nazimova. She was billed as the "Russian Tigress" and remains most noted by modern audiences for portraying Cleopatra in Tod Browning's horror movie Freaks (1932), which features a cast of actual carnival sideshow freaks. Baclanova first came to New York City with the 1925 touring production of the Moscow Art Theatre's Lysistrata. Though the rest of the company returned to Russia in 1926, she stayed to pursue a career in the United States. A statuesque blonde, Baclanova quickly established herself as a popular actress in American silent movies and achieved a notable success with The Docks of New York (1928), directed by Josef von Sternberg. Later that year, she also appeared in The Man Who Laughs as Duchess Josiana, the femme fatale love interest to Conrad Veidt's disfigured hero. The introduction of talking films proved difficult for Baclanova, as audiences did not respond to her heavy Russian accent. She no longer secured leading roles, and was relegated to supporting parts. Her career was in decline when she was offered the role of the cruel circus performer Cleopatra in Tod Browning's film Freaks (1932). This horror movie, which featured actual carnival freaks, was highly controversial and screened only briefly before being withdrawn. It would be 30 years before Freaks gained a cult following. The movie did not revive Baclanova's film career, which ended in 1943. Baclanova worked extensively on stage in London's West End and in New York, for about 10 years starting in the mid-1930s. In 1943 she appeared in "Claudia" at the Moore Theatre in Seattle, Washington. Baclanova was married three times and bore two sons with her first and second husbands. The birth of her second son with actor Nicholas Soussanin was front page news and covered quite extensively in the press in 1930. After her retirement she settled in Vevey, Switzerland, where she died in 1974.
Filmography Movies
Acting
The Docks of New York
A blue-collar worker on New York's depressed waterfront finds his life changed after he saves a woman attempting suicide.
The Man Who Laughs
When a proud noble refuses to kiss the hand of the despotic King James in 1690, he is cruelly executed and his son surgically disfigured.
The Man I Love
Wellman’s first all-talkie, scripted by Herman Mankiewicz, with arrogant boxer Richard Arlen romancing Mary Brian, then falling for temptress Olga Baclanova (Freaks) on the eve of the big fight.
A Dangerous Woman
The commissioner of an African outpost lives with a woman who drives the white men to their deaths with her seductive ways. The commissioner learns that his brother will be his next assistant, and the woman begins working her wiles on him....
Downstairs
In the Austrian manor of Baron and Baroness von Burgen, the relationship between the upstairs aristocracy and the downstairs staff is quite positive. The servants seem to enjoy their time together, and some even fall in love, as head butler Albert and maid Anna have done. But when lecherous new chauffeur Karl Schneider enters the house, affairs and blackmail follow, and the harmony of the home is slowly destroyed.
The Great Lover
An aspiring classical singer is romanced by both a famous opera star and his younger understudy.
Claudia
Child bride Claudia Naughton has made life difficult for her husband David because she can't stand living so far away from her mother. She's also afraid her husband doesn't find her desirable enough. To remedy both situations, she sells their farm to an opera singer so they'll have to move back to the city near her mother, and she tries to make her husband jealous by flirting with a neighbor. Eventually, Claudia has to learn to grow when she discovers that she's about to become a mother and that her own mother is gravely ill.
Cheer Up and Smile
When a popular radio singer is knocked unconscious during a robbery, a squeaky-voiced college boy fills in for him. To everyone's amazement, especially his recent girlfriend, who just broke up with him, he becomes an overnight sensation.
Forgotten Faces
A petty thief who robs the very rich at speakeasies, and gets away with it because the rich don't want the bad publicity, is finally caught and sent to Sing Sing. After good behavior, he gets an emergency permission for a return home, so that he may save his daughter from the hands of her disreputable mother. However, he must first promise not to kill his wife while he is out of prison.
The Woman Disputed
An adventuress in love with an Austrian agrees to become the mistress of a Russian officer in exchange for the release of Austrian hostages.
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