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Nita Naldi

January 06, 2023

Nita Naldi (born Mary Nonna Dooley;[3][4] November 13, 1894 – February 17, 1961) was an American stage performer and silent film actress. She was often cast in theatrical and screen productions as a vamp, a persona first popularized by actress Theda Bara.

Nita Naldi
Naldi, 1924
Born
Mary Nonna Dooley[1][2]

(1894-11-13)November 13, 1894
New York City, U.S.
DiedFebruary 17, 1961(1961-02-17) (aged 66)
New York City, U.S.
OccupationActress
Years active1915–1961
Spouse
J. Searle Barclay
​
​
(m. 1929; died 1945)​
Websitenitanaldi.com

Early life

Nita Naldi was born in a tenement in New York City to working class Irish parents, Julia (née Cronin) and Patrick Dooley, in 1894.[2][5] Four of her siblings died in infancy, with only her younger brother, Daniel Aloysius, surviving to adulthood.[citation needed]

Known in her youth as Nonna, she was named in honor of her great aunt, Mary Nonna Dunphy, a nun who in 1879 had founded Academy of the Holy Angels in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Later, in 1910, young Nonna herself attended the Catholic school, the same year her father “'left the family'”.[5][6] The Academy was located directly across Linwood Avenue from Willat/Fox film studio.

Her mother's death in 1915 required Nonna to care for her two younger siblings. To support them and herself she took several jobs, including work as an artist's model and a cloak model. She soon entered vaudeville with her brother Frank, and by 1918 she was performing as a chorus girl at the Winter Garden Theatre in The Passing Show of 1918.[7] Her appearance in that Broadway production led to more stage jobs, and soon Naldi found herself in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1918 and 1919. It was at this time when Nonna Dooley changed her name to "Nita Naldi," which she adapted from the name of a childhood friend, Florence Rinaldi.[citation needed] Working under her new name, Naldi continued acting on Broadway; and after her well-received performance in The Bonehead, producer William A. Brady in 1920 offered her a role in his play Opportunity.[7]

Film career

 
Naldi, 1921

Naldi was asked to perform in a short film with Johnny Dooley, a Scottish comedian who, despite his last name, was unrelated to her. She soon quit the film, however, after realizing that Dooley had romantic intentions with another woman.[citation needed] Naldi was then offered a role in A Divorce of Convenience with Owen Moore. Following those two films, she had small roles in several independent films before being cast as the exotic character Gina in Paramount Pictures's 1920 release Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde starring John Barrymore. Barrymore himself reportedly recommended her for the role after he “spotted” her dancing at the Winter Garden.[8] Her noted performance in that film subsequently afforded Naldi more career opportunities. It also established her long-term friendship with Barrymore, who affectionately nicknamed her his “Dumb Duse”.[citation needed]

 
Naldi and Valentino in Blood and Sand, 1922

Naldi was selected by Spanish author Vicente Blasco Ibáñez for the role of Doña Sol in the film version of his novel, Blood and Sand (1922). Naldi was signed by Famous Players-Lasky for the role, and it became her first pairing with screen idol Rudolph Valentino. The film was a major success, giving Naldi the image of a vamp, which would follow her for the rest of her life. Naldi and Valentino were never romantic, and she would be one of the few to befriend his wife Natacha Rambova, though that friendship would sour when the Valentinos divorced.[citation needed]

 
"Nita Naldi with a statue of a faun", by Alberto Vargas, 1923.

During this time, Naldi posed for famous Peruvian artist Alberto Vargas, who painted her embracing a bust of a satyr.[9] In Vargas's original “pin-up” painting, Naldi is depicted topless, although copies of the portrait that were published and widely distributed in the 1920s, such as in the art and entertainment magazine Shadowland, were “modified” by the addition of clothing to cover her partially visible left breast.[10]

While Valentino went on his one-man strike, which prevented him from appearing on film, Naldi took on several Famous Players-Lasky roles with growing importance, including The Ten Commandments (1923), directed by Cecil B. DeMille. When Valentino returned and fixed his contract woes, she joined him for his final Famous Players-Lasky film, the now lost A Sainted Devil (1924). Naldi left the company soon after.[citation needed]

 
Naldi featured in the August 1924 issue of Photoplay, where she is described as “Sloe-eyed, and darkly beautiful”.[11]

In 1924, the Valentinos and Naldi traveled to France in order to do research for the film The Hooded Falcon. which was never made. Upon returning to California, the duo made Cobra. The film was not well received, and Cobra became the last film in which Naldi and Valentino starred together.[citation needed] The Valentinos' marriage was ending around this time. After Valentino signed a contract with United Artists, he banned Rambova from the set. She was given her own film as a consolation. Naldi starred in Rambova's 1925 production What Price Beauty? The film suffered distribution problems, was barely noted at the time, but is noteworthy for being actress Myrna Loy's first screen appearance.[citation needed]

After finishing the Dorothy Gish film Clothes Make the Pirate, Naldi left for France for a short vacation, where she married J. Searle Barclay. Despite multiple rumors that she had retired, Naldi began work on several films, including Alfred Hitchcock's second directorial effort, 1926's The Mountain Eagle. She is often mistakenly credited for appearing in Hitchcock's The Pleasure Garden.[citation needed]

Naldi made two films in France and one in Italy before retiring. Despite having an acceptable voice, Naldi never made a “talkie”.[citation needed]

Later life

Due to the financial reversals caused by her retirement from films, as well as the Great Depression, Naldi filed for bankruptcy in 1932. She went back to the stage with Queer People and The Firebird[7] in 1933. The press had been critical of her weight since 1924, but reviews of her appearances in both plays were especially harsh this time around — so harsh in fact that Naldi filed suit against one paper in 1934 for $500,000. The suit was dismissed in 1938.[citation needed]

In 1942, Naldi was considered for For Whom the Bell Tolls but did not receive the part. She never made another film. That same year she began appearing in a revue in New York with Mae Murray reciting the 1897 poem "A Fool There Was."

In 1952, she had a notable role in the play In Any Language,[7] co-starring the legendary stage actress Uta Hagen. In 1955, she coached Carol Channing how to vamp, for Channing's new musical The Vamp.[citation needed] Channing would be nominated for a Tony award for Best Actress in a Musical for that role.

During the 1952 presidential election, she supported Adlai Stevenson in his campaign.[12]

Also in the 1950s, Naldi appeared on the television series Omnibus.[4]

Personal life

In 1929, seven years after the success of Blood and Sand, Naldi was named as a party in the divorce proceedings between 54-year-old millionaire J. Searle Barclay from his wife of 16 years. Barclay and Naldi had met during her stage career a decade earlier and had lived together with her sister in New York since 1920. The pair married in France in August 1929. Naldi, alone, returned to the United States two years later and then filed for bankruptcy in 1934. Naldi did not speak publicly about Barclay until after his death in 1945. He died penniless.

Despite Hollywood gossip and published rumors, Naldi denied ever being romantically involved with either Valentino or Barrymore. In 1956 she was also rumored to be engaged to a Park Avenue man named Larry Hall, but no union took place. Naldi had no children.

Death

Naldi spent her final years in New York City, where she died of a heart attack in her hotel room at the Wentworth Hotel on West 46th Street[3] on February 17, 1961. She was buried in the family plot at Calvary Cemetery in Queens, New York.[13]

Recognition

For her contribution to the film industry, Nita Naldi was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6316 Hollywood Boulevard.[14]

Partial filmography

References and notes

  1. ^ Hill, Donna L.; Joan Myers and Christopher S. Connelly (2010-2018). “Act 1: Birth, Childhood, and Early Career”, Nita Naldi, an extensive online reference dedicated to Naldi, including her biography, career-related and “candid” images, and her filmography. Retrieved November 5, 2018.
  2. ^ a b “The Twelfth Census of the United States: 1900”, listing of Daniel Cronin residence, where Julia (née Cronin) and Patrick Dooley were living with their two children, Nonna and Daniel; Borough of Manhattan, June 1, 1900. FamilySearch, digital image of original enumeration page, archives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah. Retrieved November 5, 2018. According to this census and her entries in other state and federal records in the early 1900s, Nonna Dooley was born in March 1895.
  3. ^ a b Slide, Anthony (2010). Silent Players: A Biographical and Autobiographical Study of 100 Silent Film Actors and Actresses. University Press of Kentucky. pp. 267–268. ISBN 978-0813137452. Retrieved 27 August 2017. In this reference Naldi's birth name Nonna is mistakenly cited “Donna”.
  4. ^ a b Golden, Eve (2000). Golden Images: 41 Essays on Silent Film Stars. McFarland. pp. 109–113. ISBN 9780786483549. Retrieved 27 August 2017. Naldi's birthname in this reference is also incorrectly cited as “Donna”.
  5. ^ a b , 23 Sahara Knights: Rudolf Valentino Film Festival, Rudolf Valentino Society and Publishing, LLC. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
  6. ^ Fort Lee: Birthplace of the Motion Picture Industry. Arcadia Publishing. 2006. p. 59. ISBN 9780738545011. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  7. ^ a b c d "("Nita Naldi" search results)". Playbill Vault. Playbill. Archived from the original on August 27, 2017. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  8. ^ “Nita Naldi of Silent Films Dies; Won Fame Opposite Valentino“, obituary, The New York Times, February 18, 1961, [unspecified page]. Obituary linked through “The Hitchcock Zone” online collections. Retrieved November 5, 2018.
  9. ^ . Archived from the original on July 28, 2011. Retrieved August 5, 2011.
  10. ^ Nita Naldi by Alberto Vargas, image and information about painting. San Francisco Art Exchange, San Francisco, California. Retrieved November 5, 2018.
  11. ^ “New Pictures”, portrait of Naldi by Edward Thayer Monroe with caption, Photoplay, August 1924, page 19. Internet Archive, San Francisco, California. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
  12. ^ Motion Picture and Television Magazine, November 1952, page 33, Ideal Publishers
  13. ^ Wilson, Scott (2016-08-17). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. ISBN 9780786479924.
  14. ^ . Hollywood Walk of Fame. Archived from the original on 27 August 2017. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  15. ^ Most of the titles in this filmography are transcribed from Ephraim Katz's The Film Encyclopedia, fourth edition, revised by Fred Klein and Ronald Dean Nolen. New York, N.Y.: HarperCollins, 2001, p. 996. Retrieved November 7, 2018.

Sources

  • Dooley, Mary, Certificate and Record of Birth, No. 2662, Manhattan Borough, November 13, 1894 (registered January 1895)
  • 1900 United States Federal Census, Manhattan, New York, New York, June 1, 1900, Enumeration District 930, Sheet 2A.
  • 1910 United States Federal Census, Manhattan Ward 19, New York, New York, April 15–16, 1910, Enumeration District 1043, Sheet 3B.

External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nita Naldi.

January 06, 2023
nita, naldi, born, mary, nonna, dooley, november, 1894, february, 1961, american, stage, performer, silent, film, actress, often, cast, theatrical, screen, productions, vamp, persona, first, popularized, actress, theda, bara, naldi, 1924bornmary, nonna, dooley. Nita Naldi born Mary Nonna Dooley 3 4 November 13 1894 February 17 1961 was an American stage performer and silent film actress She was often cast in theatrical and screen productions as a vamp a persona first popularized by actress Theda Bara Nita NaldiNaldi 1924BornMary Nonna Dooley 1 2 1894 11 13 November 13 1894New York City U S DiedFebruary 17 1961 1961 02 17 aged 66 New York City U S OccupationActressYears active1915 1961SpouseJ Searle Barclay m 1929 died 1945 wbr Websitenitanaldi wbr com Contents 1 Early life 2 Film career 3 Later life 4 Personal life 5 Death 6 Recognition 7 Partial filmography 8 References and notes 9 Sources 10 External linksEarly life EditNita Naldi was born in a tenement in New York City to working class Irish parents Julia nee Cronin and Patrick Dooley in 1894 2 5 Four of her siblings died in infancy with only her younger brother Daniel Aloysius surviving to adulthood citation needed Known in her youth as Nonna she was named in honor of her great aunt Mary Nonna Dunphy a nun who in 1879 had founded Academy of the Holy Angels in Fort Lee New Jersey Later in 1910 young Nonna herself attended the Catholic school the same year her father left the family 5 6 The Academy was located directly across Linwood Avenue from Willat Fox film studio Her mother s death in 1915 required Nonna to care for her two younger siblings To support them and herself she took several jobs including work as an artist s model and a cloak model She soon entered vaudeville with her brother Frank and by 1918 she was performing as a chorus girl at the Winter Garden Theatre in The Passing Show of 1918 7 Her appearance in that Broadway production led to more stage jobs and soon Naldi found herself in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1918 and 1919 It was at this time when Nonna Dooley changed her name to Nita Naldi which she adapted from the name of a childhood friend Florence Rinaldi citation needed Working under her new name Naldi continued acting on Broadway and after her well received performance in The Bonehead producer William A Brady in 1920 offered her a role in his play Opportunity 7 Film career Edit Naldi 1921 Naldi was asked to perform in a short film with Johnny Dooley a Scottish comedian who despite his last name was unrelated to her She soon quit the film however after realizing that Dooley had romantic intentions with another woman citation needed Naldi was then offered a role in A Divorce of Convenience with Owen Moore Following those two films she had small roles in several independent films before being cast as the exotic character Gina in Paramount Pictures s 1920 releaseDr Jekyll and Mr Hyde starring John Barrymore Barrymore himself reportedly recommended her for the role after he spotted her dancing at the Winter Garden 8 Her noted performance in that film subsequently afforded Naldi more career opportunities It also established her long term friendship with Barrymore who affectionately nicknamed her his Dumb Duse citation needed Naldi and Valentino in Blood and Sand 1922Naldi was selected by Spanish author Vicente Blasco Ibanez for the role of Dona Sol in the film version of his novel Blood and Sand 1922 Naldi was signed by Famous Players Lasky for the role and it became her first pairing with screen idol Rudolph Valentino The film was a major success giving Naldi the image of a vamp which would follow her for the rest of her life Naldi and Valentino were never romantic and she would be one of the few to befriend his wife Natacha Rambova though that friendship would sour when the Valentinos divorced citation needed Nita Naldi with a statue of a faun by Alberto Vargas 1923 During this time Naldi posed for famous Peruvian artist Alberto Vargas who painted her embracing a bust of a satyr 9 In Vargas s original pin up painting Naldi is depicted topless although copies of the portrait that were published and widely distributed in the 1920s such as in the art and entertainment magazine Shadowland were modified by the addition of clothing to cover her partially visible left breast 10 While Valentino went on his one man strike which prevented him from appearing on film Naldi took on several Famous Players Lasky roles with growing importance including The Ten Commandments 1923 directed by Cecil B DeMille When Valentino returned and fixed his contract woes she joined him for his final Famous Players Lasky film the now lost A Sainted Devil 1924 Naldi left the company soon after citation needed Naldi featured in the August 1924 issue of Photoplay where she is described as Sloe eyed and darkly beautiful 11 In 1924 the Valentinos and Naldi traveled to France in order to do research for the film The Hooded Falcon which was never made Upon returning to California the duo made Cobra The film was not well received and Cobra became the last film in which Naldi and Valentino starred together citation needed The Valentinos marriage was ending around this time After Valentino signed a contract with United Artists he banned Rambova from the set She was given her own film as a consolation Naldi starred in Rambova s 1925 production What Price Beauty The film suffered distribution problems was barely noted at the time but is noteworthy for being actress Myrna Loy s first screen appearance citation needed After finishing the Dorothy Gish film Clothes Make the Pirate Naldi left for France for a short vacation where she married J Searle Barclay Despite multiple rumors that she had retired Naldi began work on several films including Alfred Hitchcock s second directorial effort 1926 s The Mountain Eagle She is often mistakenly credited for appearing in Hitchcock s The Pleasure Garden citation needed Naldi made two films in France and one in Italy before retiring Despite having an acceptable voice Naldi never made a talkie citation needed Later life EditDue to the financial reversals caused by her retirement from films as well as the Great Depression Naldi filed for bankruptcy in 1932 She went back to the stage with Queer People and The Firebird 7 in 1933 The press had been critical of her weight since 1924 but reviews of her appearances in both plays were especially harsh this time around so harsh in fact that Naldi filed suit against one paper in 1934 for 500 000 The suit was dismissed in 1938 citation needed In 1942 Naldi was considered for For Whom the Bell Tolls but did not receive the part She never made another film That same year she began appearing in a revue in New York with Mae Murray reciting the 1897 poem A Fool There Was In 1952 she had a notable role in the play In Any Language 7 co starring the legendary stage actress Uta Hagen In 1955 she coached Carol Channing how to vamp for Channing s new musical The Vamp citation needed Channing would be nominated for a Tony award for Best Actress in a Musical for that role During the 1952 presidential election she supported Adlai Stevenson in his campaign 12 Also in the 1950s Naldi appeared on the television series Omnibus 4 Personal life EditIn 1929 seven years after the success of Blood and Sand Naldi was named as a party in the divorce proceedings between 54 year old millionaire J Searle Barclay from his wife of 16 years Barclay and Naldi had met during her stage career a decade earlier and had lived together with her sister in New York since 1920 The pair married in France in August 1929 Naldi alone returned to the United States two years later and then filed for bankruptcy in 1934 Naldi did not speak publicly about Barclay until after his death in 1945 He died penniless Despite Hollywood gossip and published rumors Naldi denied ever being romantically involved with either Valentino or Barrymore In 1956 she was also rumored to be engaged to a Park Avenue man named Larry Hall but no union took place Naldi had no children Death EditNaldi spent her final years in New York City where she died of a heart attack in her hotel room at the Wentworth Hotel on West 46th Street 3 on February 17 1961 She was buried in the family plot at Calvary Cemetery in Queens New York 13 Recognition EditFor her contribution to the film industry Nita Naldi was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6316 Hollywood Boulevard 14 Partial filmography EditDr Jekyll and Mr Hyde 15 1920 Miss Gina The Common Sin 1920 Warren s Mistress For Your Daughter s Sake 1920 Life 1920 Grace Andrews Everyman s Price 1921 The Last Door 1921 The Widow A Divorce of Convenience 1921 Tula Moliana Experience 1921 Temptation The Man from Beyond 1922 Marie Le Grande Reported Missing 1922 Nita Channing of the Northwest 1922 Cicily Varden Blood and Sand 1922 Dona Sol The Snitching Hour 1922 The Countess Anna Ascends 1922 Countess Rostolff For Your Daughter s Sake 1922 reissue of Common Sin The Glimpses of the Moon 1923 Ursula Gillow You Can t Fool Your Wife 1923 Ardrita Saneck Lawful Larceny 1923 Vivian Hepburn Hollywood 1923 Herself The Ten Commandments 1923 Sally Lung a Eurasian Don t Call It Love 1923 Rita Coventry The Breaking Point 1924 Beverly Carlysle A Sainted Devil 1924 Carlotta The Lady Who Lied 1925 Fifi The Marriage Whirl 1925 Toinette Clothes Make the Pirate 1925 Madame De La Tour Cobra 1925 Elise Van Zile What Price Beauty 1925 Herself The Miracle of Life 1926 Helen The Unfair Sex 1926 Blanchita D Acosta The Mountain Eagle 1926 Beatrice The Model From Montmartre 1926 Princesse de Chabrant Die Pratermizzi 1927 Valette Tanzerin mit de LarveReferences and notes Edit Hill Donna L Joan Myers and Christopher S Connelly 2010 2018 Act 1 Birth Childhood and Early Career Nita Naldi an extensive online reference dedicated to Naldi including her biography career related and candid images and her filmography Retrieved November 5 2018 a b The Twelfth Census of the United States 1900 listing of Daniel Cronin residence where Julia nee Cronin and Patrick Dooley were living with their two children Nonna and Daniel Borough of Manhattan June 1 1900 FamilySearch digital image of original enumeration page archives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints Salt Lake City Utah Retrieved November 5 2018 According to this census and her entries in other state and federal records in the early 1900s Nonna Dooley was born in March 1895 a b Slide Anthony 2010 Silent Players A Biographical and Autobiographical Study of 100 Silent Film Actors and Actresses University Press of Kentucky pp 267 268 ISBN 978 0813137452 Retrieved 27 August 2017 In this reference Naldi s birth name Nonna is mistakenly cited Donna a b Golden Eve 2000 Golden Images 41 Essays on Silent Film Stars McFarland pp 109 113 ISBN 9780786483549 Retrieved 27 August 2017 Naldi s birthname in this reference is also incorrectly cited as Donna a b Nina Naldi 23 Sahara Knights Rudolf Valentino Film Festival Rudolf Valentino Society and Publishing LLC Retrieved November 6 2018 Fort Lee Birthplace of the Motion Picture Industry Arcadia Publishing 2006 p 59 ISBN 9780738545011 Retrieved August 27 2017 a b c d Nita Naldi search results Playbill Vault Playbill Archived from the original on August 27 2017 Retrieved August 27 2017 Nita Naldi of Silent Films Dies Won Fame Opposite Valentino obituary The New York Times February 18 1961 unspecified page Obituary linked through The Hitchcock Zone online collections Retrieved November 5 2018 Vargas Collection Archived from the original on July 28 2011 Retrieved August 5 2011 Nita Naldi by Alberto Vargas image and information about painting San Francisco Art Exchange San Francisco California Retrieved November 5 2018 New Pictures portrait of Naldi by Edward Thayer Monroe with caption Photoplay August 1924 page 19 Internet Archive San Francisco California Retrieved November 2 2018 Motion Picture and Television Magazine November 1952 page 33 Ideal Publishers Wilson Scott 2016 08 17 Resting Places The Burial Sites of More Than 14 000 Famous Persons 3d ed ISBN 9780786479924 Nita Naldi Hollywood Walk of Fame Archived from the original on 27 August 2017 Retrieved 27 August 2017 Most of the titles in this filmography are transcribed from Ephraim Katz s The Film Encyclopedia fourth edition revised by Fred Klein and Ronald Dean Nolen New York N Y HarperCollins 2001 p 996 Retrieved November 7 2018 Sources EditDooley Mary Certificate and Record of Birth No 2662 Manhattan Borough November 13 1894 registered January 1895 1900 United States Federal Census Manhattan New York New York June 1 1900 Enumeration District 930 Sheet 2A 1910 United States Federal Census Manhattan Ward 19 New York New York April 15 16 1910 Enumeration District 1043 Sheet 3B External links Edit Biography portal Film portal Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nita Naldi Nita Naldi Silent Vamp Nita Naldi at IMDb Nita Naldi at the Internet Broadway Database Nita Naldi at Find a Grave Photographs and bibliography Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Nita Naldi amp oldid 1122256940, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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