39 Facts About Alla Nazimova

Alla Nazimova later moved to film, where she served many production roles, both writing and directing films under pseudonyms.

Alla Nazimova created the Garden of Alla Hotel which became a retreat for many celebrities of the time.

Alla Nazimova is credited with having originated the phrase "sewing circle" as a discreet code for lesbian or bisexual actresses.

Alla Nazimova was born Marem-Ides Leventon in Yalta, Crimea, Russian Empire.

Alla Nazimova's accepted birth year is 1879, but different sources have cited 1878 or even 1876.

Alla Nazimova's stage name Alla Nazimova was a combination of Alla and the surname of Nadezhda Nazimova, the heroine of the Russian novel Children of the Streets.

The youngest of three children born to Jewish parents Yakov Abramovich Leventon, a pharmacist, and Sarah Leivievna Gorowitz, who moved to Yalta in 1870 from Kishinev, Alla Nazimova grew up in a dysfunctional family.

Alla Nazimova joined Constantin Stanislavski's Moscow Art Theatre using the name of Alla Nazimova for the first time.

Alla Nazimova's theater career blossomed early, and by 1903, she was a major star in Moscow and Saint Petersburg.

Alla Nazimova toured Europe, including London and Berlin, with her boyfriend Pavel Orlenev, a flamboyant actor and producer.

The venture was unsuccessful, and Orlenev returned to Russia while Alla Nazimova stayed in New York.

Alla Nazimova was signed by the American producer Henry Miller and made her Broadway debut in New York City in 1906 to critical and popular success.

Alla Nazimova quickly became extremely popular and remained a major Broadway star, often starring in works by Ibsen and Chekhov.

Alla Nazimova was paid $1,000 per day, and the film was a success.

Alla Nazimova had encouraged him to try out for movies and he later became a star.

Alla Nazimova moved from New York to Hollywood, where she made a number of highly successful films for Metro that earned her considerable money.

Alla Nazimova created and worked under Nazimova Productions from 1917 to 1921.

Alla Nazimova filled many roles in film production, outside of acting.

Alla Nazimova served as a director, producer, editor, lighting designer, and received credit for costume design for the film Revelation.

Alla Nazimova wrote screenplays under the pseudonym Peter M Winters.

Alla Nazimova directed films credited to the name of her partner Charles Bryant.

From 1912 to 1925, Alla Nazimova maintained a "lavender marriage" with Charles Bryant, a British-born actor.

From 1917 to 1922, Alla Nazimova wielded considerable influence and power in Hollywood.

Alla Nazimova helped start the careers of both of Rudolph Valentino's wives, Jean Acker and Natacha Rambova.

Alla Nazimova was very impressed by Rambova's skills as an art director, and Rambova designed the innovative sets for Nazimova's film productions of Camille and Salome.

The list of those Alla Nazimova is confirmed to have been involved with romantically includes actress Eva Le Gallienne, film director Dorothy Arzner, writer Mercedes de Acosta, and Oscar Wilde's niece Dolly Wilde.

Alla Nazimova lived together with Glesca Marshall from 1929 until Alla Nazimova's death in 1945.

Edith Luckett, a stage actress and the mother of future US First Lady Nancy Reagan, was a friend of Alla Nazimova, having acted with her onstage.

Edith married Kenneth Seymour Robbins, and following the birth of their daughter Nancy in 1921, Alla Nazimova became her godmother.

Alla Nazimova continued to be friends with Edith and her second husband, neurosurgeon Loyal Davis, until her death.

Alla Nazimova was the aunt of American film producer Val Lewton.

On July 13,1945, Alla Nazimova died of a coronary thrombosis, at age 66, in the Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles.

Alla Nazimova's ashes were interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

Alla Nazimova has been depicted a number of times in film and onstage.

Alla Nazimova was featured in two 2013 silent films about Hollywood's silent movie era: Return to Babylon, in which she was played by Laura Harring, and Silent Life, based on the life of Rudolph Valentino, where she was played by Sherilyn Fenn.

The character of Alla Nazimova appears in Dominick Argento's opera Dream of Valentino, in which she played the violin.

Alla Nazimova was featured in make-up artist Kevyn Aucoin's 2004 book Face Forward, in which he made up Isabella Rossellini to resemble her, particularly as posed in a certain photograph.

In Fall 2016, PLACES, a multimedia solo show about Alla Nazimova, supported by the League of Professional Theatre Women's Heritage Program, written and performed by Romy Nordlinger debuted at Playhouse Theatre for a limited run.

Alla Nazimova appears in Medusa's Web, a novel by fantasy-fiction writer Tim Powers.