Elvira Popescu

Elvira Popescu (Romanian pronunciation: [elˈvira poˈpesku]; in French, Elvire Popesco; 10 May 1894 – 11 December 1993) was a Romanian-French stage and film actress and theatre director. During the 1930s and 1940s, she starred in a number of French comedy films.

Elvira Popescu
Elvire Popesco by Paramount
Born
Elvira Popescu

(1894-05-10)10 May 1894
Bucharest, Romania
Died11 December 1993(1993-12-11) (aged 99)
Paris, France
Resting placePère Lachaise Cemetery
NationalityRomanian, French
Alma materMusic and Drama Conservatory
Years active1910–1978
Spouse(s)Aurel Athanasescu
Ion Manolescu-Strunga
Maximilien Sébastien Foy

Life and career

Popescu was born in Bucharest, and studied drama at the Music and Drama Conservatory in her native city, under the guidance of Constantin Nottara and Aristizza Romanescu.[1] In 1911 Grigore Brezeanu was making the first Romanian films to deal with fiction. He employed Popesco as well as other leading actors like Nottara and Romanescu. The first two films were called "Fatal Love" and "Spin a Yarn". No copies are known of these films.[2] Popesco made her debut at the National Theatre Bucharest at age 16.[1] In 1912, she played herself in the movie Independența României, directed by Aristide Demetriade.

In 1919 she became artistic director of the Excelsior Theatre.[3] In 1921, Popescu started Teatrul Mic, which she managed in parallel with the Excelsior.[4] In 1923, she starred in the movie Țigăncușa de la iatac, directed by Alfred Halm.

Elvire Popesco painting by Charles Gesmar (1925)

At the urging of Louis Verneuil, the French playwright, Popescu moved in 1924 to Paris. Under Verneuil's direction, she played the leading role in Ma Cousine de Varsovie, at the Théâtre Michel (1923). She also played in Tovaritch (1933), La Machine infernale (1954), Nina (1949), and La Mamma (1957). Later on, she was director of Théâtre de Paris (1956–1965), and Théâtre Marigny (1965–1978).[5] At age 84, she played again in La Mamma.

Elvira Popescu also played in movies, such as La Présidente (Fernand Rivers, 1938), Tricoche et Cacolet (Pierre Colombier, 1938), Ils étaient neuf célibataires (Sacha Guitry, 1939), Paradis perdu (Abel Gance, 1940), Austerlitz (Abel Gance, 1960),[6] and Purple Noon (René Clément, 1960).

Personal life
Grave of Elvire Popescu at Père Lachaise Cemetery

Shortly after her debut in 1910, Popescu married comedian Aurel Athanasescu and they had a daughter named Tatiana.[7] After a few years, she divorced, and married Ion Manolescu-Strunga, Minister of Industry and Commerce[3] (who was to die in Sighet Prison in the 1950s). Her third husband was Count Maximilien Sébastien Foy (born in Paris on 17 April 1900, died in Neuilly-sur-Seine on 11 November 1967).[8]

She died in Paris at age 99, and was interred at Père Lachaise Cemetery.[6]

Honours
Villa Paul Poiret, April 2005

Legacy
  • While married to Manolescu-Strunga, she lived in a house not far from the University of Bucharest. The house, built on a 1,224 m2 (13,180 sq ft) lot, has 22 rooms, spread over 500 m2 (5,400 sq ft) of living area; it was put on the market in 2005 for about 2 million Euros.
  • From 1930 to 1985, Elvira Popescu lived in a villa in Mézy-sur-Seine, Yvelines. The villa, acquired from fashion designer Paul Poiret, and remodelled in 1932 by architect Paul Boyer, was declared a historic monument in 1984, but it has since decayed. Bought for 1.8 million French francs in 1999, it is open occasionally to the public.
  • Together with Elena Văcărescu, Anna de Noailles, and Marthe Bibesco, Elvira Popescu is considered to be the inspiration for Henri Matisse's painting, La Blouse Roumaine (1940).

Partial filmography
The cinema Sala Elvire Popescu at the Institut Français de Roumanie in Bucharest is named in Popescu's honor

Notes
  1. Mari Români
  2. Dominique Nasta (19 November 2013). Contemporary Romanian Cinema: The History of an Unexpected Miracle. Wallflower Press. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-231-16744-4.
  3. Ciobanu
  4. Ciobanu, Mari Români
  5. "Marigny - Salle Popesco"
  6. "Elvira Popescu - Enciclopedia României - prima enciclopedie online despre România". enciclopediaromaniei.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 2017-04-11.
  7. Mari Români, CinéArtistes
  8. "Families of Jules and Théodore Porgès"

References
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