“I consider my work great as I am a great artist”. These are the famous words of Polish actress and singer Pola Negri (Apolonia Chałupiec), who achieved worldwide fame in the first half of the XXth century.

Throughout her youth, Negri has been confronted with numerous hardships. Her father was deported to Siberia which resulted in her being raised by her single mother in poverty. She even suffered from tuberculosis in her teenage years. After her recovery, she studied ballet and acting in Warsaw where she quickly became a renowned stage actress.

In 1917, she moved to Germany, where she started appearing in silent movies produced by the UFA studio. She was soon noticed by Hollywood executives from the prestigious Paramount Pictures, who offered her a contract.

In 1922, Pola Negri decided to sign with the American company, becoming the first European actress ever to be contracted in Hollywood. Throughout the 1920’s, she appeared in several American movies, establishing herself as an international star and even as what will be later called a sex symbol. 

The Polish actress returned to Poland in the 1930s where she performed in numerous movies produced by Pathé Films and UFA. She also started a career as a recording artist. 

After the outbreak of World War II, her career slowed down significantly. She became a US citizen in 1951. She could be seen for the last time in Walt Disney’s “Moon-Spinners” which was released in 1964. She spent the last years of her life in San Antonio (Texas) where she died in 1987 at the age of 90. 

Pola Negri is remembered as an extremely talented and hard-working artist. Apart from her stage performances, she became famous for breaking the hearts of many men. Her extravagant style (wearing expensive jewellery, walking around with a tiger on a leash,…) matched her eccentric personality. Pola Negri was no “humblebrag”. 

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen

Photo: IPN