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Maria Ouspenskaïa is a Actor Russe born on 28 july 1876 at Tula (Russie)

Maria Ouspenskaïa

Maria Ouspenskaïa
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Birth name Maria Alekseyevna Ouspenskaya
Nationality Russie
Birth 28 july 1876 at Tula (Russie)
Death 3 december 1949 (at 73 years) at Los Angeles (USA)

Maria Alekseyevna Ouspenskaya (Russian: Мария Алeкceeвнa Успенская; July 29, 1876 – December 3, 1949) was a Russian actress and acting teacher. She achieved success as a stage actress as a young woman in Russia, and as an elderly woman in Hollywood films.

Biography

Maria Alekseyevna Ouspenskaïa a étudié le chant à Varsovie et le théâtre à Moscou puis devient un membre fondateur du fameux Théâtre d'art de Moscou où elle travaille avec Constantin Stanislavski.

Avec le Théâtre d'art de Moscou, Ouspenskaïa voyage à travers l'Europe, puis arrive à New York en 1922. Comme Olga Baclanova, Ouspenskaïa décide d'y rester. Elle se produit à Broadway pendant toute la décennie suivante et enseigne à l'American Laboratory Theatre. En 1929, elle fonde avec son collègue du Théâtre d'art de Moscou Richard Boleslawski, l'école d'Art dramatique de New York. Elle reçoit parmi ses étudiants à cette époque Anne Baxter adolescente.

Malgré ses courts métrages en Europe, Ouspenskaïa se tient éloignée de Hollywood jusqu'à ce que les problèmes financiers de son école la dirigent vers le cinéma. Selon le magazine Popular Song, elle ouvre aussi dans les années 1930 la « Maria Ouspenskaya School of Dance » sur Vine Street à Los Angeles. Parmi ses élèves notoires figure Marge Champion (modèle de Blanche-Neige pour Disney).

Malgré son anglais marqué par un accent yiddish, Ouspenskaïa incarne à Hollywood des personnages européens d'origines variées. Son premier rôle à Hollywood, dans Dodsworth (1936, William Wyler et Sinclair Lewis), lui vaut une première nomination aux Oscars (second rôle féminin). Elle est nommée une seconde fois en 1939 pour Elle et lui (Love Affair).

Pendant treize ans, la grande actrice (« Mme Maria Ouspenskaïa » dans certains génériques) assiste à la ronde des reines de l'écran : Ruth Chatterton, Greta Garbo, Irene Dunne, Myrna Loy, Vivien Leigh, Joan Bennett, Maureen O'Hara, María Montez, Ilona Massey, qui laissent des gages à Charles Boyer, Tyrone Power ou Robert Taylor. Elle figure dans quelques classiques : The Mortal Storm (1940) de Frank Borzage (qu'elle retrouvera en 1946) et Shanghai Gesture de Josef von Sternberg. Elle travaille aussi avec Edward Sutherland, ex mari de Louise Brooks. Elle passe de Vicki Baum à Edgar Poe, tourne des scénarios de Curt Siodmak et joue la reine des Amazones pour Kurt Neumann. Son dernier film, en 1949, est une comédie de Delmer Daves, L'Extravagant M. Philips (A Kiss in the Dark).

Best films

Waterloo Bridge (1940)
(Actress)
Love Affair (1939)
(Actress)
The Rains Came (1939)
(Actress)

Usually with

Frank Borzage
Frank Borzage
(2 films)
Egon Brecher
Egon Brecher
(4 films)
Kurt Neumann
Kurt Neumann
(2 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Maria Ouspenskaïa (21 films)

Display filmography as list

Actress

A Kiss in the Dark, 1h27
Directed by Delmer Daves
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Romantic comedy
Actors David Niven, Jane Wyman, Wayne Morris, Victor Moore, Broderick Crawford, Maria Ouspenskaïa
Roles Mme. Karina
Rating60% 3.0457053.0457053.0457053.0457053.045705
Concert pianist Eric Phillips (David Niven) has been on the road touring for twenty-one years when he finally returns home. One day he is served a warrant to perform repairs on the building he owns, and learns that his financial advisor, Peter Danilo, bought the building with his money some time ago as an investment. Eric goes to visit the building and meets some of its tenants. Among them the young and beautiful photo model Polly Haines (Jane Wyman), and Eric is instantly quite smitten by her. While they speak Polly's suitor, an insurance salesman, Bruce Arnold (Wayne Morris), arrives to the building. Being afraid of damaging his piano hands, Eric is convinced to buy an insurance for himself before he starts the building repairs. Eric and the rest of the tenants agree to fix up the building together during the next few weeks. They start off by building a roof garden with a day care center, and while the rest of the tenants go at it, Eric takes the kids on a hike. When he returns from the hike, a building inspector tells him that the building repairs are insufficient. Eric blames the former owner and present manager, Horace Willoughby (Victor Moore), for the poor quality of the work, and fires him on the spot. Polly comes to Horace's defense, telling Eric that he is a helpful soul who was unfortunate and had to sell the building to manage. Filled with remorse, Eric rehires Horace as chief of the repairs.
I've Always Loved You, 1h57
Directed by Frank Borzage
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Romance
Actors Philip Dorn, Catherine McLeod, Maria Ouspenskaïa, Felix Bressart, Elizabeth Patterson, Vanessa Brown
Roles Madame Goronoff
Rating62% 3.1462553.1462553.1462553.1462553.146255
Leopold Goronoff, lors d'une audition, remarque le talent de Myra Hassman, une jeune pianiste. Il la prend sous sa coupe, et elle devient vite amoureuse de son maître en silence. Très vite, son succès se fait grandissant et porte ombrage à Goronoff. Myra épouse George Sampter, un ami d'enfance, dont elle a une fille. Cette dernière devient, elle aussi, une grande pianiste et doit jouer sous la direction de Goronoff...
Tarzan and the Amazons, 1h16
Directed by Kurt Neumann
Genres Action, Adventure, Romance
Themes Films about animals, Films about children, Le thème de l'enfant sauvage, Films based on mythology, Films about apes, L'enfance marginalisée, Tarzan films, Mise en scène d'un mammifère, Films based on Greco-Roman mythology
Actors Johnny Weissmuller, Brenda Joyce, Johnny Sheffield, Henry Stephenson, Maria Ouspenskaïa, Barton MacLane
Roles Amazon Queen
Rating62% 3.101933.101933.101933.101933.10193
Tarzan sauve une jeune Amazone des griffes d'un tigre, sous les yeux de Boy et de Cheeta. Il la ramène dans la cité perdue de son peuple, endroit qu'il est le seul à connaître. Mais Boy l'a suivi et découvre ce site merveilleux. Jane revient d'Angleterre, accompagnée d'un groupe de savants dirigé par Sir Guy Henderson. Un bracelet en or pur, perdu par l'Amazone, tombe entre leurs mains. Si Henderson n'est là que pour observer des civilisations disparues, d'autres membres de l'expédition se montrent plus cupides. Jane est chargée de convaincre Tarzan de leur montrer le chemin de la cité.
Tarzan and the Amazons, 1h16
Directed by Kurt Neumann
Genres Action, Adventure, Romance
Themes Films set in Africa, Films about children, Tarzan films
Actors Johnny Weissmuller, Brenda Joyce, Johnny Sheffield, Henry Stephenson, Maria Ouspenskaïa, Barton MacLane
Roles Amazon Queen
Rating62% 3.101933.101933.101933.101933.10193
Tarzan and Boy, on their way to meet Jane, who is returning from nursing work in England to support the war effort, rescue an "Amazon" woman from an attack by a black panther. During the attack, she drops a golden bracelet which Cheeta picks up. The Amazon woman's ankle is twisted in the incident and she cannot walk. Telling Boy to wait for him, Tarzan carries the woman through a mountain pass to the valley where her city of Palmyria is located. Boy disobeys Tarzan, follows them at a distance, and discovers the location of the city, then returns to wait for Tarzan.
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, 1h14
Directed by Roy William Neill
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Fantasy, Horror
Themes Films about animals, Films about computing, Films about magic and magicians, Films based on science fiction novels, Wolves in film, Frankenstein films, Werewolves in film, Cyberpunk films, Mise en scène d'un mammifère
Actors Lon Chaney, Jr., Ilona Massey, Patric Knowles, Lionel Atwill, Bela Lugosi, Maria Ouspenskaïa
Roles Maleva the Gypsy
Rating63% 3.1981753.1981753.1981753.1981753.198175
After the events of The Wolf Man and Ghost of Frankenstein, a duo of graverobbers break into the Talbot family crypt to rob the grave of Larry Talbot (the "Wolf Man" (Lon Chaney, Jr.)), of valuables buried with him, on the night of a full moon. During the grave robbery, the graverobbers remove the Wolfsbane buried with him and he is awakened from death by the full moon shining down on his uncovered body, and kills one of them. Seeking a cure for the curse that causes him to transform into a werewolf with every full moon, Talbot leaves Britain and goes to the remains of Frankenstein's castle, as he hopes to find there the notes of Dr. Ludwig Frankenstein so he might learn how to permanently end his own life through scientific means.
The Shanghai Gesture, 1h39
Directed by Josef von Sternberg
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller
Themes Théâtre, Films based on plays
Actors Gene Tierney, Walter Huston, Victor Mature, Ona Munson, Albert Bassermann, Phyllis Brooks
Roles The Amah
Rating65% 3.294913.294913.294913.294913.29491
Gigolo "Doctor" Omar (Victor Mature) bribes the Shanghai police not to jail the broke American showgirl Dixie Pomeroy (Phyllis Brooks); he invites her to seek a job at the casino owned by Dragon-lady "Mother" Gin Sling (Ona Munson), his boss.
Kings Row
Kings Row (1942)
, 2h7
Directed by Sam Wood
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Romance
Themes Medical-themed films, Films about psychiatry, Films about disabilities
Actors Ann Sheridan, Robert Cummings, Betty Field, Ronald Reagan, Charles Coburn, Claude Rains
Roles Madame von Eln
Rating74% 3.7466553.7466553.7466553.7466553.746655
The film commences in 1890 in the small town of Kings Row, focusing on five children. They are Parris Mitchell, who lives with his grandmother; Cassandra Tower, daughter of Dr. Alexander Tower; the wealthy orphan Drake McHugh; Louise Gordon, daughter of the sadistic town physician Dr. Henry Gordon, who has been known to perform operations without anesthetic; and the tomboy Randy Monaghan, whose father is a railroad worker.
The Wolf Man, 1h10
Directed by George Waggner
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Fantastic, Horror
Themes Films about animals, Films about magic and magicians, Wolves in film, Werewolves in film, Mise en scène d'un mammifère
Actors Lon Chaney, Jr., Claude Rains, Warren William, Ralph Bellamy, Patric Knowles, Bela Lugosi
Roles Maleva
Rating71% 3.597923.597923.597923.597923.59792
Sometime in the early twentieth century, after learning of the death of his brother, Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney, Jr.) returns to his ancestral home in Llanwelly, Wales to reconcile with his estranged father, Sir John Talbot (Claude Rains). While there, Larry becomes romantically interested in a local girl named Gwen Conliffe (Evelyn Ankers), who runs an antique shop. As a pretext to converse with her, he purchases a silver-headed walking stick decorated with a wolf. Gwen tells him that it represents a werewolf (which she defines as a man who changes into a wolf "at certain times of the year.")
Dance, Girl, Dance, 1h30
Directed by Dorothy Arzner, Robert Wise, James Anderson
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Musical, Romance
Themes Dance films
Actors Maureen O'Hara, Louis Hayward, Lucille Ball, Virginia Field, Ralph Bellamy, Maria Ouspenskaïa
Roles Madame Basilova
Rating67% 3.394783.394783.394783.394783.39478
Good friends Judy and Bubbles are both dancers. Bubbles uses her good looks and being a sex siren to get jobs, and becomes successful in burlesque, while Judy is an elegant ballerina who struggles to make a living as a dancer. A rivalry develops when they both fall in love with a divorced playboy.
The Mortal Storm, 1h40
Directed by Frank Borzage
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Themes Documentary films about war, Documentary films about historical events, Political films, Documentary films about World War II
Actors Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Robert Young, Frank Morgan, Robert Stack, Bonita Granville
Roles Mrs. Breitner
Rating76% 3.8443453.8443453.8443453.8443453.844345
In 1933, Freya Roth (Margaret Sullavan) is a young German girl engaged to a Nazi party member (Robert Young). When she realizes the true nature of his political views she breaks the engagement and turns her attention to anti-Nazi Martin Breitner (James Stewart). Her father, Professor Roth (Frank Morgan), does not abide by the attitude of the new order towards scientific fact.
Waterloo Bridge, 1h48
Directed by Mervyn LeRoy
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War, Romance
Themes Films about sexuality, Théâtre, Erotic films, Films about prostitution, Political films, Films based on plays, Erotic thriller films
Actors Robert Taylor, Vivien Leigh, Lucile Watson, Virginia Field, Maria Ouspenskaïa, C. Aubrey Smith
Roles Madame Olga Kirowa
Rating76% 3.847753.847753.847753.847753.84775
After Britain's declaration of World War II, Roy Cronin (Robert Taylor), an army colonel, is being driven to London's Waterloo Station en route to France, and briefly alights on Waterloo Bridge to reminisce about events which occurred during the First World War when he met Myra Lester (Vivien Leigh) whom he had planned to marry. While Roy gazes at a good luck charm, a billiken that she had given him, the story unfolds.
Beyond Tomorrow, 1h24
Directed by Lee Garmes, A. Edward Sutherland
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Science fiction, Fantastic, Fantasy, Romance
Themes Christmas films, Ghost films
Actors Harry Carey, C. Aubrey Smith, Charles Winninger, Maria Ouspenskaïa, Rod La Rocque, Helen Vinson
Roles Madame Tanya
Rating64% 3.2469653.2469653.2469653.2469653.246965
Engineers George Melton (Harry Carey) and Allan Chadwick (C. Aubrey Smith) work furiously to complete a design on time, even though it is Christmas Eve. Michael O'Brien (Charles Winninger), the third partner in the firm, arrives with presents for all and kindly lets their employees leave. The three old men then go home to the mansion they share with Madame Tanya (Maria Ouspenskaya), an elderly countess dispossessed by the Russian Revolution, for a dinner with prestigious guests.
Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet, 1h43
Directed by William Dieterle, Irving Rapper
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Biography, Historical
Themes Medical-themed films
Actors Edward G. Robinson, Ruth Gordon, Otto Kruger, Donald Crisp, Albert Bassermann, Maria Ouspenskaïa
Roles Franziska Speyer
Rating73% 3.687773.687773.687773.687773.68777
Paul Ehrlich (Edward G. Robinson) is a physician working in a German hospital. He is dismissed for his constant disregard for hospital rules, which are bound by bureaucratic red tape. The reason for his conflict is his steadily rising interest in research for selective color staining, the marking of cells and microorganisms, using certain dyes and marking agents, which, as he describes in the film, have a certain 'affinity' to that which is to be stained and nothing else. Emil von Behring (Otto Kruger), whom Dr. Ehrlich meets and befriends, while experimenting with his staining techniques, is impressed with Dr. Ehrlich's staining methods and refers to it as 'specific staining,' adding that this is one of the greatest achievements in science, especially for diagnostic purposes, based on optical microscopy. After attending a medical presentation of one Dr. Robert Koch (Albert Basserman) showing that tuberculosis is a bacterial disease, Ehrlich is able to obtain a sample of the isolated bacterium. After an intense time of research and experimentation in his own lab, paired with a portion of luck, he is able to develop a staining process for this bacterium. This result is honored by Koch and medical circles as a highly valuable contribution to diagnostics.