Pola Negri
Pola Negri, born Barbara Apolonia Chałupiec on January 3, 1897, was a Polish
stage and film actress and singer. Raised by her single mother after her
father's exile to Siberia, Negri overcame tuberculosis as a teenager and began
studying acting in Warsaw. Her breakthrough came with her first film role in
Niewolnica zmysłów (1914). In 1922, she signed with Paramount Pictures, becoming
the first Continental actress contracted in Hollywood. Negri spent much of the
1920s appearing in numerous films for Paramount. She died of pneumonia in 1987
at the age of 90.
