Miriam Battista ( born Miriam Battista ; July 14, 1912 [2] - December 22, 1980) is an American actress best known for her roles as a child star in silent films . Having played on Broadway at the age of four, at the same time she began acting in films. The most famous role was in the 1920 film Humoresque , in which she played a little girl on crutches. Growing up, she starred in films in the Italian language of the 1930s and still participated in Broadway productions. Together with her second husband, she wrote, sang, composed music and appeared on television talk shows.
| Miriam Battista | |
|---|---|
| English Miriam Battista | |
 Miriam Battista in 1925 | |
| Date of Birth | |
| Place of Birth | |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
| Citizenship |  USA |
| Profession | actress , writer |
| Career | 1916-1948 |
| IMDb | |
Content
Early life and career
Miriam Caramella Josephine Battista was born in 1912 in New York , in the family of Rafael Battista and Cleonis "Clara" Rufolo; both are Italian immigrants [2] . She began performing at the age of 4 in the Broadway production of Kiss for Cinderella , where the main role was played by Mod Adams , and Battista played the role of the youngest among refugee orphans [3] . This was followed by other roles on Broadway: small roles in the productions of Daddy Long Legs [4] with Henry Miller in 1917, the Doll House with Alla Nazimova in 1918, [3] and Daddy with the Genie Eagles in 1919.
At the same time, she began acting in silent films. Appeared, but was not indicated in the credits in the movie Brilliant Love (1916) along with Virginia Pearson [5] , after which Battista was photographed, and her short biography was published in the article “Little Stars” by the movie magazine Moving Picture Stories [2] . She received her first significant role and mentioned in the credits in the 1918 film by Nazimova, Eye for an Eye [6] . In it, she played the daughter of an Arab sheikh, the younger sister of the sultry heroine of Nazimova herself. This was followed by an invitation from director Frank Borzeigi to the role of the lame girl Minnie Ginsberg in the film Humoresque (1920) [3] . Writer Elinor Glyn was so impressed with the Battista game that she wrote a script for a young star that was not realized. She called her “the greatest screen actress.” [7] Reporters began describing Miriam two years younger than her true age, claiming she was born in 1914 [3] [7] [8] .
In December 1922, Motion Picture Magazine dedicated his article to Battista, calling it Woman of the World. In it, journalist Gladys Hall noted the early femininity of Battista, her preference for jadeite jewelry over dolls and the manifesting features of a fatal woman (“vamp women”) [8] . In 1924, her photo appeared on the cover of the British magazine Picture Show , on which she sits astride an inverted barrel next to the heading "They really play in Pictures" and the caption "Miriam Battista enjoys the game" [9] .
After her success in Humoresque , Battista starred in nine silent films, often in roles where she had to cry on camera (this skill was later useful to her) [10] . To promote her films, she performed in public, in vaudeville, and also played the role of Juliet in the production of Romeo and Juliet, along with another young actor - Charles Eaton [11] . With the death of her mother in 1924, her career was suspended.
Adult Career
In 1931, Battista starred in films in Italian, including Santa Lucia Luntana and Così è la vita . She also returned to the Broadway stage, appearing in the same 1931 performance Code of Honor [12] . Among other Broadway performances over the next decade, she starred in Siegfield's musical Hot-Cha! with Bert Lahr and Humphrey Bogart in the production of Our wife , and also had success in the film No More Ladies . Basically, Miriam was unlucky with the Broadway shows she chose, which were usually enough for just a few shows. Nevertheless, she often took part in summer entreprises and tours of famous Broadway productions, such as Woman .
In 1934, Miriam married dancer Paul Pierce. A year later, they divorced [13] . In 1938, she began an affair with the writer Russell Maloney [14] . Battista was recognized as a writer when The New Yorker published her short story, “No Sugar Please,” in her April 20, 1940 issue [15] . In 1945, a daughter, Amelia, was born from Maloney. Battista helped Maloney translate the Bat operetta into English for the Philadelphia Opera Company (1943). They also appeared together on the television talk show The Maloneys , aired on the DuMont Television Network (1947-1948). They wrote the text and script for the musical Sleepy Hollow (based on the story of Irving Washington , “ The Legend of Sleepy Hollow ”). $ 230,000 was spent on its production, but only 12 performances were staged (from June 3 to 12, 1948) [16] .
Death
Battista's second husband died in 1948. [17] Three months later, she married her friend and radio host Lloyd Rosamond. In 1960, she and his daughter moved to Los Angeles , California , where he died in 1964. [18] Miriam Battista herself returned to New York, where she died at the Jewish Memorial Hospital in Manhattan from emphysema on December 22, 1980 at the age of 68 years [13] .
Speeches
- 1916 - A Kiss for Cinderella (production)
- 1916 - Brilliant Love (film)
- 1917 - Daddy Long Legs (film)
- 1918 - Doll House (production)
- 1918 - Freedom (production) [12]
- 1918 - An Eye for an Eye (film) [6]
- 1919 - Daddies (production)
- 1919 - Dad (production)
- 1919 - Red Dawn (production)
- 1920 - Humoresque (film)
- 1921 - Service door (film)
- 1922 - Good guide (film)
- 1922 - The Blonde Vampire (film)
- 1922 - Boomerang Bill (film)
- 1922 - The Curse of the Drink (film)
- 1922 - The Man Who Played God (film) [7]
- 1922 - Smilin 'Through (film)
- 1923 - The Custard Cup (film)
- 1923 - Stubborn Heart (film)
- 1924 - Romeo and Juliet (production)
- 1931 - Santa Lucia Luntana (film)
- 1931 - Così è la vita (film)
- 1931 - Code of Honor (production)
- 1932 - Hot-Cha! (staging)
- 1933 - Saint Wench (production)
- 1933 - Our Wife (production)
- 1933 - An Unwanted Lady (production)
- 1934 - No More Women (production)
- 1934 - Enlighten your daughter (film)
- 1934 - Fools Rush In (production)
- 1935 - Tapestry in Gray (production)
- 1936 - Summer Wives (production)
- 1936 - Prelude to Exile (production)
- 1939 - They knew what they wanted (production)
- 1948 - Sleepy void (indicated as playwright and libretrist) [16]
- 1947-1948 - The Maloneys (television)
Notes
- ↑ Internet Broadway Database - 2000.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Little Stars (unopened) // Moving Picture Stories. - 1916 .-- 28 July ( v. 8 ). - S. 26-27 . Hosted at SilentEra.com.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Miriam Battista . Silent Ladies & Gents . Date accessed July 3, 2013. Excerpted from Charles Donald Fox's 1925 book Famous Film Folk , pg. 164.
- ↑ Daddy Long Legs . Internet Broadway Database . Date of treatment July 8, 2013.
- ↑ Blazing Love . Catalog of Feature Films . American Film Institute. Date of treatment July 8, 2013.
- ↑ 1 2 Miriam Battista profile . Catalog of Feature Films . American Film Institute. Date of treatment July 3, 2013.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Patterson, Ada. Eight years old and in the phone book (unopened) // Photoplay Magazine. - 1922. - July ( v. 22 ). - S. 27, 106, 113 .
- ↑ 1 2 Hall, Gladys. Woman of the World (Eng.) // Motion Picture Magazine : magazine. - New York: Brewster Publications, 1922. - December. - P. 40-41, 89 .
- ↑ cover (unopened) // Picture Show. - 1924. - January. (inaccessible link)
- ↑ She Must Cry to Music (July 16, 1922), P. 52. Date of treatment July 3, 2013.
- ↑ ROBERT EDGAR LONG Presents (English) // Variety : magazine. - 1924. - 16 April. Subscription required.
- ↑ 1 2 Miriam Battista - Broadway Cast & Staff | IBDB
- ↑ 1 2 Miriam Battista, Actress In the Theater and Films (December 27, 1980).
- ↑ Miriam Battista Married (English) // Variety : magazine. - 1938. - 11 November. Subscription required.
- ↑ Battista, Miriam. No Sugar Please // The New Yorker : magazine. - Condé Nast , 1940 .-- April 20. - P. 40 .
- ↑ 1 2 Sleepy Hollow . Internet Broadway Database . Date of treatment July 3, 2013.
- ↑ Russell Maloney, Humorist (September 5, 1948).
- ↑ Lloyd Rosamond, 54, associate producer (unopened) // Broadcasting. - 1964. - 31 August. - S. 77 .
Links
- Miriam Battista on the Internet Broadway Database