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Vera Zorina Profile

Vera Zorina
Vera Zorina
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(Eva Brigitta Hartwig)
2 January 17 is born in Berlin, Germany, to a German father and a Norwegian mother
? spends her childhood summers in the coastal town of Kristiansund, Norway, her parents’ hometown
c. 23 debuts in Kristiansund at age six as a butterfly in a flower ballet
? attends private school in Berlin, Germany
? studies dancing under Nicholas Legat
28 under the adopted name of Brigitta, she dances in Erik Charrell's Lilac Time and in two Max Reinhardt productions, A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Tales of Hoffman
33 goes with Reinhardt to England to appear in Rodney Ackland’s Ballerina
34 changes her name to Vera Zorina and dances with Col. de Basil’s company of the Monte Carlo Ballets Russes
37 is in Rogers and Hart's On Your Toes in London
38 debuts on Broadway in I Married an Angel
24 December 38 marries choreographer George Balanchine
c.40 is a close acquaintance of Marlene Dietrich, who has an affair with German-born writer Erich Maria Remarque
is off to Hollywood to work on a movie, accompanied by her mother and her agent
41 the FBI puts her on a list of prominent Hollywood stars who are suspected as contributors to Communist Party causes
c. 42 attends Oskar Homolka’s birthday party with Remarque. Novelists Bertolt Brecht, Franz Werfel, and Lion Feuchtwanger attend, too. She enjoys a wild night with Remarque afterwards.
c. 43 is replaced by Ingrid Bergman in For Whom the Bell Tolls when producer Sam Wood thinks her short, cropped hairstyle makes her nose stand out too prominently
January 46 divorces Balanchine
46 marries Goddard Lieberson, president of Columbia Records
49? presents Honegger’s oratorio Joan of Arc at the Hollywood Bowl with actor John Lund
? her son Peter Goddard Crespian is born. He will become a composer.
? her son Jonathan is born. He will become a philosophy teacher and receive a Ph.D. from Columbia University.
53 narrates A Parable of Death by Lukas Foss at the Ojai Festival
70s is appointed director of the Norwegian Opera in Oslo
77 becomes the widow of Lieberson
86 publishes her autobiography, Zorina
89 her son Jonathan dies
90 moves to Santa Fe, New Mexico
directs Santa Fe Opera productions
91 marries harpsichordist Paul Wolfe
00 lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico
7 April 03 suffers a cerebral hemorrhage
9 April 03 dies at age 86 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, of natural causes. Her husband survives.
Sources:
They Had Faces Then by John Springer, Opposite Attraction by Julie Gilbert, www.IMDb.com
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