Russian actress Lydia Johnson (1896-1969) made a few films in Russia, just before the revolution started. She fled to Turkey and finally settled in Italy, where she worked in vaudeville but later, she also played small parts in sound films.
Italian postcard by G. Vettori, Bologna, no. 301.
Italian postcard by G. Vettori, Bologna, no. 327.
Italian postcard by G. Vettori, Bologna, no. 383.
Lydia (sometimes: Lidia) Johnson was born as Lydia Abramovic in Rostov, Russian Empire (now Rostow-on-Don, Russia) in 1896.
At the age of 10, she joined the Moscow ballet, but later she abandonned classic dance for the vaudeville. She married a British dancer, named Albert Johnson, whom she later divorced but she kept his last name.
She made some films like Doch Anny Kareninoi/Anna Karenina's Daughter (Aleksandr Arkatov, 1916) and Litso Subdy/The Face of Fate (V. Demert, 1917).
Because of the revolution, she fled to Turkey, Germany, and France, and finally settled in Naples, Italy.
From Naples, she did tours as a vaudeville actress all over Italy and even went to the US. In the 1920s, she became a renowned jazz artist, performing with the biggest jazz bands and spreading the vogue all over the nation.
In 1924 she launched the popular song, 'Scettico blues'. In 1929 she launched the song 'Ti voglio bene (I love you)' at the Eldorado in Naples.
Italian postcard by Casa Editrice Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 27. Photo: Macari.
Italian postcard by Casa Editrice Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 28. Photo: Macari. Collection: Didier Hanson.
Italian postcard by Casa Editrice Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 29. Photo: Macari.
In 1929, Lydia Johnson founded a stage company in Egypt. In the meanwhile, she continued with vaudeville and revues in Italy. Although she was mainly a vaudeville actress, she played a lot of bit parts in the Italian sound cinema
She first appeared in Nonna Felicità/Grandmother Happiness (Mario Mattoli, 1938) with Armando Falconi, and Le due madri/The Two Mothers (Amleto Palermi, 1938) with Vittorio de Sica.
Johnson followed this by e.g. Palermi's L'allegro fantasma/The merry ghost (Amleto Palermi, 1941) with Totò. All in all, she acted in 12 films between 1938 and 1943.
She continued to play small parts after the war in Italian and Italo-British or Italo-French co-productions, such as Jean Renoir's French Cancan (1954), and Guardia, guardia scelta, brigadiere e maresciallo/Guard, Special Guard, Brigadier and Marshal (Mauro Bolognini, 1956) with Alberto Sordi.
Her last film part Johnson had in the comedy A qualcuna piace calvo (Mario Amendola, 1960), starring Magali Noël as a woman madly in love with a bald film star (Antonio Cifariello). The film's title was a pun on A qualcuno piace calvo, the Italian title of Billy Wilder's Some like it hot (1959).
Johnson was the mother of Neapolitan vaudeville actress Lucy D'Albert (originally Elena Johnson). Lydia Johnson died in 1969 in Naples. She was 73.
Italian postcard by G. Vettori, Bologna, no. 410.
Italian postcard by G. Vettori, Bologna. Caption: When a woman menaces, she has the lights of a wild animal in her eyes.
Italian postcard by G. Vettori, Bologna. Caption: A woman's voice sometimes has a sound of anger and sorrow like a growling wounded wild animal.
Italian postcard by G. Vettori, Bologna, no. 539. Photo: Vettori, Bologna.
Source: Wikipedia (Italian), and IMDb.
This post was last updated on 10 August 2020.
Italian postcard by G. Vettori, Bologna, no. 301.
Italian postcard by G. Vettori, Bologna, no. 327.
Italian postcard by G. Vettori, Bologna, no. 383.
Spreading Jazz in Italy
Lydia (sometimes: Lidia) Johnson was born as Lydia Abramovic in Rostov, Russian Empire (now Rostow-on-Don, Russia) in 1896.
At the age of 10, she joined the Moscow ballet, but later she abandonned classic dance for the vaudeville. She married a British dancer, named Albert Johnson, whom she later divorced but she kept his last name.
She made some films like Doch Anny Kareninoi/Anna Karenina's Daughter (Aleksandr Arkatov, 1916) and Litso Subdy/The Face of Fate (V. Demert, 1917).
Because of the revolution, she fled to Turkey, Germany, and France, and finally settled in Naples, Italy.
From Naples, she did tours as a vaudeville actress all over Italy and even went to the US. In the 1920s, she became a renowned jazz artist, performing with the biggest jazz bands and spreading the vogue all over the nation.
In 1924 she launched the popular song, 'Scettico blues'. In 1929 she launched the song 'Ti voglio bene (I love you)' at the Eldorado in Naples.
Italian postcard by Casa Editrice Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 27. Photo: Macari.
Italian postcard by Casa Editrice Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 28. Photo: Macari. Collection: Didier Hanson.
Italian postcard by Casa Editrice Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 29. Photo: Macari.
A stage company in Egypt
In 1929, Lydia Johnson founded a stage company in Egypt. In the meanwhile, she continued with vaudeville and revues in Italy. Although she was mainly a vaudeville actress, she played a lot of bit parts in the Italian sound cinema
She first appeared in Nonna Felicità/Grandmother Happiness (Mario Mattoli, 1938) with Armando Falconi, and Le due madri/The Two Mothers (Amleto Palermi, 1938) with Vittorio de Sica.
Johnson followed this by e.g. Palermi's L'allegro fantasma/The merry ghost (Amleto Palermi, 1941) with Totò. All in all, she acted in 12 films between 1938 and 1943.
She continued to play small parts after the war in Italian and Italo-British or Italo-French co-productions, such as Jean Renoir's French Cancan (1954), and Guardia, guardia scelta, brigadiere e maresciallo/Guard, Special Guard, Brigadier and Marshal (Mauro Bolognini, 1956) with Alberto Sordi.
Her last film part Johnson had in the comedy A qualcuna piace calvo (Mario Amendola, 1960), starring Magali Noël as a woman madly in love with a bald film star (Antonio Cifariello). The film's title was a pun on A qualcuno piace calvo, the Italian title of Billy Wilder's Some like it hot (1959).
Johnson was the mother of Neapolitan vaudeville actress Lucy D'Albert (originally Elena Johnson). Lydia Johnson died in 1969 in Naples. She was 73.
Italian postcard by G. Vettori, Bologna, no. 410.
Italian postcard by G. Vettori, Bologna. Caption: When a woman menaces, she has the lights of a wild animal in her eyes.
Italian postcard by G. Vettori, Bologna. Caption: A woman's voice sometimes has a sound of anger and sorrow like a growling wounded wild animal.
Italian postcard by G. Vettori, Bologna, no. 539. Photo: Vettori, Bologna.
Source: Wikipedia (Italian), and IMDb.
This post was last updated on 10 August 2020.
2 comments:
Blogger singdesertgirl said...
These are photos of my Grandmother..My mother, Joyce Culley, ran away from home at the age of 16 and came to America... . Only recently have I been able to see my Grandmother's face and hear her voice on the internet.
Thank you for posting these photos...they mean a lot to me.
Sincerely,
Nancy
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