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Pola Negri (December 31, 1894 – August 1,
1987 in film|1987) was a Polish film actor|actress
who achieved notoriety as a femme fatale in silent
films.


Born Barbara Apolonia Chałupiec in the
village of Janowa, Poland, Negri trained as a
dancer and performed ballet until forced by
illness to change her profession. She turned to
acting, and by the end of World War I had
established herself as a popular stage actress in
Warsaw, Poland|Warsaw and had appeared in several
films. 

Her popularity provided her with an opportunity to
move to Berlin, Germany|Berlin where she appeared
in several films for film director|director Ernst
Lubitsch.  Their films were successful throughout
the world, and in 1922 both were offered contracts
with Hollywood studios. Negri's exotic style of
glamour proved popular with audiences during the
1920s, and her association with such actors as
Charles Chaplin and Rudolph Valentino ensured she
remained in the public eye. 

Negri caused a media sensation after the death in
1926 of Valentino by announcing that they had
planned to marry, and following the train that
carried his body from New York, New York|New York
to Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles, posing for
photographers at every stop.  At his funeral she
fainted several times, and had arranged for a
large floral arrangement which spelled her name to
be placed on Valentino's coffin.  Despite the wide
publicity she attracted, many of Valentino's
friends stated that Valentino and Negri had not
intended to marry.  They dismissed her actions as
a publicity stunt.  Negri's career began to
decline.  Her style of Vamp (woman)|vamp was
beginning to go out of vogue, and the advent of
talking pictures revealed a accented voice that
the public did not warm to. 

She made only a few films after this, and worked
mainly in Europe.  In 1951, she became a
naturalized citizen of the United States. Her
final film appearance was in the 1964 Walt
Disney|Disney film The Moon-spinners. In the same
year she received an honorary award from the
German film industry, for her career work. 

Negri lived her remaining years in relative
obscurity.  She maintained her flamboyant persona
to the end of her life and was often compared to
the Gloria Swanson character Norma Desmond, from
the film Sunset Boulevard. She died in San
Antonio, Texas from a brain cancer|brain tumour
and was interred in Calvary Cemetery, East Los
Angeles. 

Pola Negri has a star on the Hollywood Walk of
Fame for her contribution to Motion Pictures at
6933 Hollywood Boulevard.
==External Links==
* imdb name|id=0624470|name=Pola Negri