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Ludmilla Tcherina Profile

Ludmilla Tcherina
Ludmilla Tcherina
Photo of Ludmilla Tcherina
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(Monika Avenirova Tchemerzine)
10 October 24 / 25 is born in Paris, France, the daughter of Stephane Finette, a Frenchwoman, and a former Russian general, Avenir Tchemerzine, who escaped from St. Petersburg
c. 28 begins dancing at the age of 3
c. 30 gets the part of an in imp in The Midsummer Night’s Dream at the age of 6
40 flees Paris with her family when the Nazis arrive
42 joins Monte Carlo Ballet, and artistic director Serge Lifar renames her Ludmilla Tcherina
? is prima ballerina for the Monte Carlo Ballet
c. 45 takes part in the first season of Les Ballets des Champs-Elysees
46 joins Lifar at The Noveau Ballet de Monte Carlo
46 marries French dancer Edmond Audran
July 51 becomes the widow of Audran, who dies at a road accident
December 51 columnist Erskine Johnson tells that she, "the ooh-la-la in Tales of Hoffman," is secretly in London to master the English language for a career as a dramatic actress
January 52 her romance with Robert Taylor is reported a "Fourth of July sparkler"
March 52 Johnson knows that "It's Orson Welles vs. Robert Taylor in the fight for French ballet dazzler, Ludmilla Tcherina's heart..."
Mid-March 52 Winchell tells that "the Robert Taylor and Orson Welles 'feud' is over Ludmilla Tcherina. Taylor's crush is the one she prefers..."
Late March 52 columnist Walter Winchell knows: "Ballerina Ludmilla Tcherina is It with Robert Taylor, and now has a blazing boulder on that tattle-tale finger to verify the speculation here..."
Johnson writes: "Robert Taylor and Ludmilla Tcherina have a lets-talk-it-over date in London when he completes Eagle on his Cap at MGM. They were introduced to each other on Bob's last night in London months ago. When Bob flew back to see her, Ludmilla took a raincheck on romance talk, explaining that she was still in mourning for her late husband - killed in an auto accident."
End March 52 she and Taylor are reported having set a Paris rendezvous
says about Taylor: "There is a great friendship between Bob and me and he is so very kind to me. I am still in mourning for my husband. It is only nine months that I lost him."
April 52 columnist Harrison Carroll writes: "No wonder Bob Taylor and Ludmilla Tcherina didn't discuss romance. I called the ballerina at her hotel and she speaks very little English. Bob's French is equally limited."
Late April 52 columnist Dorothy Kilgallen reports: "Robert Taylor's sudden decision to concentrate on Linda Darnell has the Cinemaland gossips confused. Everyone thought he was daffy about ballerina Ludmilla Tcherina..."
? the Hollywood press tags her "the gal who broke up with Robert Taylor before he broke up with Ursula Thiess"
May 52 is reported due back in Hollywood "but not to see Robert Taylor. She'll star in a film musical..."
28 May 53 marries wealthy industrialist Raymond Roi. Roi persuades her to return to the stage.
July 53 will make her debut as Mary Magdalene in The Galileans for Universal-International
23 November 53 columnist Louella Parsons knows: "The 'Lost' Ludmilla Tcherina planes in via TWA tomorrow morning from Paris. U-I's SOS signal finally caught up with her."
January 54 is seen dining at the Universal-International commissary with her husband, Raymond Roi. "They'll soon be saying contemporary goodbyes. He has to return to France..."
12 January 54 is guest of honor at a Los Angeles reception. Pola Negri and M. Raoul Bertrand, French consul-general, are among the attendees.
February 54 tells the press that during the period of mourning for her late husband she met recently divorced Robert Taylor in Europe. They merely consoled each other, she explains, and were "only good friends. Everybody in Hollywood is so interested in the fact we know each other," she shrugs.
March 54 attends the premiere of The Glenn Miller Story with producer Ross Hunter
Early March 54 leaves Hollywood for Paris after finishing Sign of the Pagan. Columnist Louella Parsons knows: "In less than two weeks she'll star in The Daughter of Mata Hari to be made in Paris and Italy. While Tcherina was here, her husband, Raymond Roi, made three visits to see her. He has taken over the European rights for Cinerama and is extremely wealthy."
November 54 attends a party with Grace Kelly and fellow actors of Sign of the Pagan, Rita Gam and Jeff Chandler
57 has a success in Lifar’s Matyrdom of St. Sebastian at the Paris Opera
59 forms her own company
July 59 Winchell advises not to invite her and "Zizi Jeanmaire to the same shooting gallery. Paree's new big feud..."
60 is the first Western dancer to appear at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow
June 64 is set to star in a movie about Eva Peron, to be filmed in South America and Hollywood
December 64 attends a premiere at a Paris nightclub wearing a pair of white-fringed lace pants designed by Jacques Heim
November 65 attends the opening of the Paris International Ballet Festival in aid of charities supported by the Knights of Malta. Dame Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev star; Maria Callas is in the audience.
August 66 the press spots her in a sarong beach side at the French Riviera
November 66 is reported working on "a tragiballet about the life and death of Marilyn Monroe. She hopes to have the premiere in Paris this winter..."
April 70 she and Salvadore Dali are pictured on opening night at a new show at the Moulin Rouge in Paris
80 becomes Officier of the Legion d’Honneur
91 designs and creates “Europe a Coeur,” a monumental sculpture that becomes the official symbol of the European Union
94 creates the “Europa Operanda” a monumental sculpture in bronze symbolizing the European spirit of creation and construction
21 March 04 dies at the age of 79 after a long illness at her luxurious home in Paris, France. Her husband survives her.
Sources:
"Ludmilla Tcherina 1924-2004" by Hugues Marc Antoine Bartoli in Classic Images, Burlington Times-News, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, The Daily Register, Mansfield News-Journal, Syracuse Herald-Journal, Dixon Evening Telegraph, Nevada State Journal, Albuquerque Journal, The Monessen Daily Independent, The Lowell Sun, The Lethbridge Herald, Long Beach Press-Telegram, The Daily Courier, The Coshocton Tribune, Pacific Stars & Stripes, Western Kansas Press, Oakland Tribune, Picturegoer, Screenland
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Filmography
The Powell & Pressburger Pages