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Maria Ouspenskaya (July 29, 1876 - December 3,
1949 in film|1949) was a Russia|Russian born
actress who achieved success as an stage
actor|actress as a young woman in Russia, and as
an elderly woman in Hollywood films.

Born in Tula, Russia, Ouspenskaya studied singing
in Warsaw, Poland|Warsaw and acting in Moscow and
performed extensively in Russian theater.  A
member of the Moscow Art Theatre, she was directed
by Konstantin Stanislavski, and for the remainder
of her life advocated and taught his method
acting|method.  The Moscow Art Theatre travelled
widely throughout Europe and when it arrived in
New York, New York|New York in 1922 she decided to
remain.  She performed regularly on Broadway
theater|Broadway over the next decade, and in 1929
she founded the School of Dramatic Art in New
York.  One of Ouspenskaya's students at the school
during this period was the then unknown teenager,
Anne Baxter.

Although she had appeared in a few Russian silent
films many years earlier, Ouspenskaya had avoided
making a career in film, until the financial
hardship of her school forced her to consider the
possibilities of film to help her build her
finances.  Her first Hollywood role, in Dodsworth
(1936) brought her a nomination for an Academy
Award for Best Supporting Actress.  She received a
second nomination in 1939 for her role in Love
Affair.   Her other successes included The Rains
Came (1939), Waterloo Bridge (film)|Waterloo
Bridge (1940), The Mortal Storm (1940), and Kings
Row (1942).  Despite her two Academy Award
nominations her later films were inferior
productions such as Frankenstein Meets the Wolf
Man (1943) and Tarzan and the Amazons (1945). 

Ouspenskaya died from a stroke several days after
receiving severe burns in a house fire, which she
had caused by falling asleep while smoking a
cigarette.

== External links ==
*imdb name|id=0653642|name=Maria Ouspenskaya