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NITA (NEE-tuh) Nita
Naldi: American silent film actress Related
crosswordese: NALDI
We were all as blind as bats. Theda Bara couldn't see a foot ahead of her and poor Rudy (Valentino) groped his way through many a love scene and I really mean groped. They all used big reflectors to get extra light from the sun - that's how we acquired that interesting Oriental look. We didn't have any censors in those days, but we did have our own bosoms and our own eyelashes... And we never took ourselves seriously. ~ Nita Naldi
Nita Naldi (April 1, 1897 – February 17, 1961) was an American silent film actress. One of the most successful actresses in Hollywood during the "Roaring Twenties", she was often cast in the role of the "femme fatale"/"vamp", a persona first popularized by actress Theda Bara.
Discovered in 1919 by actor John Barrymore, Nita soon took Hollywood by storm. With her sultry, exotic looks, she was immediately snapped up for a Paramount Pictures contract.
She appeared in her first film Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in 1920 at Barrymore's request. Initially, Nita was often cast in the role of the vamp; a sort of paean to earlier Hollywood star and rival Theda Bara. It was an on-screen persona that Naldi would capitalize on during her years in the film industry.
Her most memorable role came when she was teamed with Italian screen idol Rudolph Valentino in the enormous 1922 hit Blood and Sand. The pairing of the overtly seductive duo was so appealing to the public that Naldi was Valentino's co-star in two more films: 1924's A Sainted Devil, and Cobra in 1925. Naldi traveled to Europe in 1924 and spent part of her trip in Paris being fitted for costumes for The Hooded Falcon another film in which she was to co-star with Valentino. The film never started production and all that survive are posed costume stills of Valentino. No shots of Naldi in costume are known to exist. Naldi was often referred to by the press as the "Female Valentino". Naldi would become close friends with Valentino and Rambova. Later, she would star in What Price Beauty? (1925), a film that Valentino's wife Natacha Rambova had written and produced (financed by S. George Ullman who was the Valentino's manager). While the film would be given a delayed, limited release, it is noteworthy for being actress Myrna Loy's first screen appearance.
At her career's peak, Naldi appeared in the colossal 1923 epic film The Ten Commandments, directed by Cecil B. DeMille. Nita Naldi appeared in one of legendary film director Alfred Hitchcock's first directorial efforts, 1926's The Mountain Eagle. She is often credited, mistakenly, as appearing in Hitchcock's The Pleasure Garden.
Naldi would spend the mid-1920s appearing opposite such popular actors as of the era as: Leatrice Joy, Conrad Nagel, Maurice Costello, Rod La Rocque, Dorothy Gish, Norma Shearer and Bebe Daniels. She would make her last appearance onscreen in the 1929 Austrian film Pratermizzi opposite Czech actress Anny Ondra.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Nita Naldi".
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