1904-12-06 ( 120 years old ) in Venice, Italy
Elissa Landi (December 6, 1904 – October 21, 1948) was an Italian born actress who was popular in Hollywood films of the 1920s and 1930s. Rumoured to be a descendant of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, she was noted for her aristocratic bearing.
Born Elisabeth Marie Christine Kühnelt in Venice, Landi was raised in Austria and educated in England.
Her first ambition was to be a writer, and she wrote her first novel at the age of twenty. She would return to writing during lulls in her acting career. She joined the Oxford Repertory Company at an early age, appearing in many British and American stage successes.
During the 1920s she appeared in British, French, and German films before travelling to the United States to appear in a Broadway production of A Farewell to Arms. She was signed to a contact by Fox Film Corporation (later 20th Century Fox) in 1931.
She played the heroine in Cecil B. De Mille's The Sign of the Cross (1932), but was overshadowed by Claudette Colbert who played the flashier role of Poppea. She was paired successfully with some of the major leading men, such as David Manners, Charles Farrell, Warner Baxter, and Ronald Colman in romantic dramas such as Body and Soul (1931) before appearing in the box office hit The Count of Monte Cristo (1934) with Robert Donat.
Her contract with Fox was abruptly cancelled in 1936 as a result of her refusal to accept a particular role. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer signed her to a contract and after a couple of romantic dramas she played the cousin of Myrna Loy in the very popular After the Thin Man (1936). After only two more films she retired, in 1943.
She became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1943, and dedicated herself to writing, producing six novels and a series of poems.
She died from cancer in Kingston, New York, and was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Newburyport, Massachusetts.
Elissa Landi has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contributions to Motion Pictures, at 1615 Vine St.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Elissa Landi, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Movies
Corregidor
1943-03-29
The Thirteenth Chair
1937-05-07
Hollywood Party
1937-04-03
After the Thin Man
1936-12-25
Mad Holiday
1936-11-13
The Amateur Gentleman
1936-04-26
Crimson Dynasty
1935-12-04
Without Regret
1935-09-13
Enter Madame
1935-01-04
The Count of Monte Cristo
1934-09-06
The Great Flirtation
1934-06-15
Man of Two Worlds
1934-01-13
By Candlelight
1933-12-18
The Masquerader
1933-09-03
I Loved You Wednesday
1933-06-15
The Warrior's Husband
1933-04-28
The Sign of the Cross
1932-11-30
A Passport to Hell
1932-08-25
The Woman in Room 13
1932-05-15
Devil's Lottery
1932-03-27
The Yellow Ticket
1931-10-30
Wicked
1931-10-04
Always Goodbye
1931-05-24
Body and Soul
1931-02-22
Children of Chance
1930-11-20
The Voice of Hollywood
1930-08-30
The Price of Things
1930-07-02
Knowing Men
1930-02-01
Sin
1928-09-16
Underground
1928-07-01
Bolibar
1928-06-26
London
1927-06-20
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