Vera Karalli | |
|---|---|
| Вера Каралли | |
 Karallic. 1910–1915 | |
| Born | Vera Alexeyevna Karalli (1889-07-27)27 July 1889 Moscow, Russia |
| Died | 16 November 1972(1972-11-16) (aged 83) Baden, Austria |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1914–1921 |
Vera Alexeyevna Karalli (Russian:Вера Алексеевна Каралли; 8 August [O.S. 27 July] 1889 – 16 November 1972) was a Russian ballet dancer, choreographer and silent film actress during the early years of the 20th century.[1]
Born inMoscow on 8 August 1889,[2] Karalli graduated from the Moscow Theatre School in 1906 under the direction of the prominent Russian instructorAlexander Gorsky. Karalli performed withSergei Diaghilev'sBallets Russes company in 1909, as well as 1919 and 1920.[3] She became a soloist at theBolshoi Theatre after two years and became a ballerina in 1915. Karalli was frequently paired withdanseurMikhail Mordkin.[citation needed]
In 1914, Karalli also embarked on a successful acting career, and became one of Russia's first celebrated film actresses. Her first role was in the 1914Pyotr Chardynin directed dramaTy pomnish' li? (English title:Do You Remember?) opposite the successful actorIvan Mozzhukhin. From 1914 to 1919, Vera Karalli would appear in approximately sixteen Russian silent films, including the 1915 adaptation ofLeo Tolstoy'sWar and Peace titledVoyna i mir. Her last film appearance was in a German dramatic release entitledDie Rache einer Frau (English title:A Woman's Revenge) in 1921. Often chosen as a leading lady by the notable directorYevgeni Bauer, Karalli is possibly best recalled for her performances in the Bauer directed adaptations of novelistIvan Turgenev'sPosle smerti (English:After Death) in 1915 and her role as Gizella in the 1917 melodramaUmirayushchii Lebed (The Dying Swan).[citation needed]
Karalli was a mistress ofGrand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia and was reportedly also a co-conspirator in the December 1916 murder ofGrigori Rasputin. She was allegedly one of two women present in the palace ofFelix Yussupov on the night of Rasputin's murder. The other wasMarianne Pistohlkors. Their alleged male co-conspirators never publicly identified the two women.[4]
After fleeing to the West following theOctober Revolution, Karalli made her final film appearance in the 1921Robert Wiene-directed German silent dramaDie Rache einer Frau oppositeOlga Engl andFranz Egenieff, credited as "Vera Caroly".[citation needed]
In 1920, Karalli participated in a large charity concert at theParis Opéra along with opera singer and dancerMaria Nikolaevna Kuznetsova amongst others, to raise funds to aid impoverished fellow Russianémigrés.[5]
In the 1920s, Vera Karalli taught dance inKaunas,Lithuania and from 1930 until 1935 she was the ballet mistress of the Romanian Opera in the capital city ofBucharest. From 1938 until 1941 Karalli lived inParis, France.[3] Later, she settled inVienna, Austria and taught ballet there. Karalli died inBaden, Austria on 16 November 1972.[2] She was interred at theVienna Central Cemetery.[6]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
