Elena Miramova

Elena Miramova (pronounced Yell-AH-na Mee-RAH-mova [Mackey, Joseph. The Froth Estate. Whitefish: Kessinger, 2005. 54.] ; b. 27 May 1901 - d. 8 July 1992 ["California Death Records." California Department of Health Services, Office of Health Information and Research, Vital Statistics Section. RootsWeb. 1 September 2008. ] ) was a Russian-born actress and playwright.

Beginnings and training

Elena Miramova was born in 1901 in Volgograd, Russia (called Tsaritsyn at the time), and emigrated to New York City with a brother who died when she was eleven years old. She worked at a nightgown factory to support herself until a wealthy family with an interest in theatre discovered her and helped put her through school; she graduated from the University of California ["Miss Miramova Explains." The New York Times. 11 April 1943.] and then attended the experimental Cornish School in Seattle. Her training there formed the basis of a successful theatrical career. [Wilmeth, Don B. The Cambridge Guide to American Theatre. New York: Cambridge UP, 2007. 585.]

Early performances

She married the producer Frederic Theodore Rolbein ["Jersey Act Controls Recall of Officials." The New York Times. 8 April 1932.] and traveled through Europe with him, winning acclaim with several roles she performed in England and in continental Europe.

She played Bianca in the 1931 play Anatol, which played 16 January 1931 to Feb 1931 at London's Lyceum Theatre to mixed reviews. [Atkinson, J. Brooks. "The Play." The New York Times. 17 January 1931.] Later that year, she appeared for three weeks in the play Grand Hotel at the Adelphi Theatre, after the lead Eugenie Leontovich fell ill and left the production for a short rest. ["Eugenie Leontovich to Leave Cast." The New York Times. 21 April 1931.] Despite Miramova's brief time in the role, she was spotlighted as "outstanding in a cast of clever players," and her portrayal of the Russian ballerina Grusinskaya was hailed as "a thing of sheer beauty." ["The Play of the Moment: Grand Hotel." Theatre World, October 1931, 175-186.]

Returning to New York after her husband died, she found that her strong Russian accent typecast her as a "Continental actress" in the American theatre and limited the roles she was offered; her fortunes took a downward turn, and she recalled during a later interview how she had been barred from a hotel room for non-payment while rehearsing a show. ["Miss Miramova Explains." The New York Times. 11 April 1943.]

Later roles

Despite the above concerns, she was next cast as Theodora in the comedy Theodora, the Quean (the word "quean" meaning "harlot"), which had five performances at Philadelphia's Forrest Theatre, beginning 31 January 1934. [Bordman, Gerald. American Theatre: A Chronicle of Comedy and Drama, 1930-1969. New York: Oxford UP, 1996. 94.] Her next appearance was in Scarborough, New York in the play Short Story in September 1934. ["Curtain Now Going Up." The New York Times.2 September 1934.] . The next year, she played Marianne Pentland in the drama Times Have Changed, from 25 February 1935 to March 1935. ["Elena Miramova." The Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. 1 September 2008.] She then went to Ann Arbor, Michigan for the Ann Arbor Festival in May 1937, where she played in the comedy Tovarich ["News of the Stage." The New York Times. 23 April 1937.] , and that same year, starred in Lucrezia Borgia, which opened 9 August 1937 at the Wharf Theatre in Provincetown. ["News of the Stage." The New York Times. 31 May 1937.]

By the time she appeared as Mrs. Carroll in the 1937 drama The Two Mrs. Carrolls, at Pittsburgh's Nixon Theatre, Miramova had already "pretty much taken London by storm" in past performances of the play. ["News and Gossip of the Rialto." The New York Times. 2 February 1936.] She then performed briefly in Ogunquit, Maine in the show Fata Morgana, during the week of 11 July 1938. ["Stone to Appear in 'Lightnin' Role." The New York Times. 23 May 1938.] Afterwards, she starred in the two-person show Close Quarters, which opened 6 March 1939 and ran for six shows at the John Golden Theatre in New York. ["Elena Miramova." The Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. 1 September 2008.] Finally, she appeared in the Berkeley Theatre Festival in April 1941. ["News of the Stage." The New York Times. 31 March 1941.]

Miramova the writer

Frustrated with her career difficulties and pondering the quirks of the Russian character, Miramova decided in 1940 to write her own play, with custom-tailored roles for herself and two of her fellow Russian-American actresses. ["Miss Miramova Explains." The New York Times. 11 April 1943.] In collaboration with Eugenie Leontovich, her long-time friend with whom she had shared Grand Hotel's starring role in 1931, she wrote the comedy Dark Eyes and submitted the script to producer Ben Hecht for an opinion. ["Miss Miramova Explains." The New York Times. 11 April 1943.] The play went into production in 1942, premiered in January 1943, and enjoyed a six-month run at the Belasco Theatre in New York. ["Dark Eyes To End Run." The New York Times. 23 July 1943.] . In March 1943, Warner Brothers purchased the film rights to the play. Miramova earned $250,000 in the transaction, but the planned movie was never made. ["Dark Eyes To End Run." The New York Times. 23 July 1943.] .

In addition to its theatrical success, Dark Eyes also provided a rare insight into Miramova's psyche. She played the character Tonia Karpova, and during a 1943 interview with The New York Times, she described both herself and her stage alter-ego as "not a plate of sex appeal, but kind, metaphysical, and trying very hard to keep a belief in God"; the interviewer characterized Miramova, like Tonia, as delicately feminine, intelligent, strong, and enduring. ["Miss Miramova Explains." The New York Times. 11 April 1943.]

She began work on a second play in 1944, a comedy about a mother and daughter, but this work apparently was never completed. ["News and Gossip of the Rialto." The New York Times. 2 January 1944.]

Marriage and final years

In May 1945, she married army captain Byron Carr Moore in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. ["Elena Miramova Is Wed." The New York Times. 28 May 1945.] Her theatrical career seems to have ended at this time, as no further mention of her in print sources can be found.
Elena Miramova Moore died in Ventura, California on 8 July 1992, at the age of 92. ["California Death Records." California Department of Health Services, Office of Health Information and Research, Vital Statistics Section. RootsWeb. 1 September 2008. ]

ee also

* Dark Eyes
* Eugenie Leontovich

References