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He Pi
15505 ROSCOE BLVD.
at San Diego Freeway
SEPULVEDA 787-3800
8 HOLLYWOOD STUDIO
zenith of her career runing the gamut from “Bella Donna”? to “‘A Woman from Moscow” filmed in 1928. She was Hollywood’s first foreign import, contributing to the glamour and excitement of the Roaring 20’s with her temperamental outburst, highly publicized romances with Charlie Chaplin and Valentino (which was to have a most tragic ending), her opulent style of living in her huge White Colonial mansion in Beverly Hills with its tennis courts, swimming pool, Italian gardens and a staff of six to keep everything running smoothly, and the elaborate space in the newspapers given to her feud with another star at the same _ studio. However, of this, Miss Negri says, “‘It was a feud invented by some misguided genius in the publicity department.”
By 1928, Pola was married to Serge Mdivani and expecting a child so she retired to her Chateau in France only to lose her much wanted baby (before its birth) due to shock. During a tremendous thunderstorm a tree not 30 yards from where she was standing was struck by lightning and went up in a burst of flame. After a long recuperation and much _ personal unhappiness Pola embarked for London where she once more became an active figure on both the stage and screen. In 1931 she returned to the USA to do her first talkie, “A Woman Commands” for RKO-Pathe, which was followed by a long and arduous personal appearance tour. When the tour ended, thoughtful Marion Davies extended an invitation to Pola for a much needed rest at San Simeon the fantastic estate of William Randolph Hearst midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
In 1935 Pola returned to Germany where she made “Mazurka” and several other films.
In 1941 she again returned to the USA and a year later made a film for United Artists, ‘“‘Hi Diddle Diddle” which was a huge box office success and introduced the mellow moods of Pola Negri to that of comedy and a puckish spirit. She reveled in it.
In 1959 Pola together with a very dear friend, Margaret West, a native Texan who had introduced country and western music on network radio,
‘moved to San Antonio. Again
heartbreak was to strike an already anguished Pola. After losing her beloved mother at the age of 93 in 1963, she again lost a close friend when Margaret West passed away after
a series of heart attacks.
Many weeks later telegrams and telephone calls started coming in from Hollywood asking if she would come to the coast for a conference regarding her doing ‘‘The Moonspinners” for Walt Disney. So Pola steeled herself as she felt it would help to keep busy and came to Hollywood for the pre-production meetings although the filming itself was to be done in London, The shooting schedule lasted six weeks and then Miss Negri returned immediately to San Antonio. Although she could have continued her career as the offers were pouring in from all sides — and she still possessed that supreme magic that set her apart from all her contemporaries — she decided her retirement would be final, which it has.
Pola still resides in San Antonio in a grandiose apartment with her constant companion and _ beloved white poodle, Zizi. She lives quietly but is most active as a board member of the San Antonio .Symphony Orchestra and in many other important civic projects. In August 1964 Miss Negri received the highest award the German Government can bestow upon an actress, the Gerhardt Hauptmann Gold Plaque for her contribution to German films in which she starred during the 30’s. In June 1968 at San Antonio’s World’s Fair, HemisFair, the citizenry honored Miss Negri with a special festival of films sponsored by St. Mary’s University and presented her with a citation lauding her extraordinary devotion to the Arts, enriching American culture and for being a dynamic artist and charming citizen.
To all of this, both past and present, this magnificent actress says — “The past was wonderful; it was youth and exhilaration. I would not have missed it for worlds. The present is tranquil; it is age and a little wisdom. I am grateful to have survived long enough to have experienced it.”
And so — to this Supreme Artist, a woman of integrity with many great and outstanding accomplishments, a living legend who still remains a strikingly vivid, handsome star we can only add our sincerest wish for her happiness, contentment and inner peace. She is certainly most deserving. ***