18 Facts About Miliza Korjus

Miliza Elizabeth Korjus was a Polish-Estonian lyric coloratura soprano opera singer who appeared in classical American and Mexican sound films during the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Miliza Korjus was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1938 for her performance in The Great Waltz.

Miliza Korjus was born in Warsaw, Poland, the daughter of Anna and Artur Miliza Korjus, an Estonian lieutenant colonel in the Imperial Russian Army and later chief of staff to the war minister of independent Estonia.

Miliza Korjus was the fifth of six children; she had a brother and four sisters.

Miliza Korjus was born in Warsaw during her father's military posting there.

Miliza Korjus continued her concert career as a soprano, touring the Baltic countries and Germany, and was eventually engaged by the Berlin State Opera in 1933.

Miliza Korjus arrived with her husband and daughter in the US in March 1936.

Miliza Korjus studied singing with Estelle Liebling in New York City.

Miliza Korjus was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the role.

Miliza Korjus was scheduled to star in a film version of the novel Sandor Rozsa in 1940, but an automobile accident caused her leg to be crushed, and although she avoided amputation, she required extensive recuperation, causing the film to be canceled.

In 1944, Miliza Korjus returned to the United States, where she performed at Carnegie Hall.

Miliza Korjus toured the country for several more years, eventually settling in Los Angeles, California.

Miliza Korjus later founded Venus Records to release many of her earlier recordings.

In 1929, Miliza Korjus married Kuno Foelsch, a physicist, in Estonia.

Miliza Korjus died of heart failure in 1980 at Culver City, California.

Miliza Korjus was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Miliza Korjus was survived by her two sons, Ernest was born on 1943 and and Richard was born on 1946 and and her daughter Melissa Foelsch.

Miliza Korjus's daughter was born in Estonia in 1932, and served, for more than forty years, as a career officer of the US foreign service.