Anna Sten

Anna Sten (born Anna Petrovna Fesak or Fisakova; December 3, 1908 – November 12, 1993) was a Ukrainian-born Russian-American actress. She began her career in stage plays and films in the Soviet Union, then traveled to Germany, where she starred in several films. Her performances were noticed by film producer Samuel Goldwyn, who brought her to the United States with the aim of creating a screen personality to rival Greta Garbo. After a few unsuccessful films, Goldwyn released her from her contract. She continued to act occasionally until her final film appearance in 1962.

Early life and education Sten was born on December 3, 1908, in Kiev in the Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine). According to her own words, she was born on June 29, 1908. There are other sources that say she was born in 1910. Her father was a ballet master of Ukrainian Cossack descent, and her Swedish-born mother a ballerina. Some sources say her father died during the First World War and Anna worked to support her mother, while according to other sources, her father survived the war, found his daughter, and toured Russia with his circus troupe. In her own words, she adopted her mother's maiden name; according to the children of her friends, her birth name was Anna Petrovna Fisakova.

In most foreign sources, her maiden names are Stenska and Sudakevich, or a combination thereof (such as a common variant Anel [Anyushka] Stenska-Sudakevich or Annel [Anjuschka] Stenskaja Sudakewitsch), which is why Sten has been mistakenly identified with the Russian actress Anel Sudakevich, who starred in Soviet cinema at the same time and with some of the same directors as Anna Sten.

As a teenager, Anna worked for the Kievskaya Pravda newspaper and received her education at Kiev State Theater College. In Kiev, she married the artist Boris Sten (Bernstein). After she later moved to Moscow, her relation with her husband Boris was severed, who died on April 29, 1936, from peritonitis. It is unknown whether Anna's stage name was borrowed from her husband or derived from her mother's maiden name.

Career In 1926, after completing her studies at Kiev, Sten was invited by Ukrainian film director Viktor Turin to appear in his film Provokator. Her first mentor was Boris Barnet. Sten was discovered by the Russian stage director and instructor Konstantin Stanislavsky, who arranged an audition for her at the Moscow Film Academy. Sten went on to act in other plays and films, including Boris Barnet's comedy The Girl with a Hatbox (1927). She and her husband, Russian film director Fedor Ozep, traveled to Germany to appear in a film co-produced by German and Soviet studios, The Yellow Ticket (1928).

Making a smooth transition to talking pictures, Sten appeared in such German films as Salto Mortale (1931) and The Murderer Dimitri Karamazov (1931) until she came to the attention of American movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn. Goldwyn was looking for a foreign-born actress that he could develop as a rival to Greta Garbo and possible successor to Vilma Bánky, with whom Goldwyn had great success in the silent era. For two years after bringing Sten to the U.S., Goldwyn had her tutored in English and taught Hollywood screen acting methods. He poured a great deal of time and money into Nana (1934), Sten's first American film, a diluted version of Émile Zola's 19th-century novel. The film was not successful at the box office nor were her two subsequent Goldwyn films We Live Again (1934) and The Wedding Night (1935). Reluctantly, Goldwyn dissolved his contract with his "new Garbo". Sten appeared in several television series during the 1950s, including The Red Skelton Show (1956), The Walter Winchell File (1957), and Adventures in Paradise (1959).

Later life Most of Sten's later film appearances were favors to her husband. She had an uncredited bit in the Frenke-produced Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957) and a full lead in The Nun and the Sergeant (1962), her final film (also produced by Frenke).

Personal life Sten was married to film producer Eugene Frenke. Sten's daughter Anya was a student at the Monticello School, Los Angeles in the early 1930s.

Sten died November 12, 1993, in New York City at the age of 84.

Filmography + Films Year Title Role Notes 1926 Predatel Prostitute Miss Mend Typist uncredited, The Adventures of the Three Reporters 1927 The Girl with a Hatbox Natasha Moscow That Weeps and LaughsDevushka s korobkoy 1928 The Yellow Ticket Maria My Son Olga Surina The White Eagle Governor's wife Yego kar'yera Lipa student 1929 Golden Beak Varenka 1930 Bookkeeper Kremke Kremke's daughter 1931 The Murderer Dimitri KaramazovGruschenka The Brothers Karamazov Salto Mortale Marina Bombs on Monte Carlo Königin Yola I. von Pontenero Bomben auf Monte Carlo 1932 Storms of Passion Russen-Annya 1934 Nana Nana We Live Again Katusha Maslova 1935 The Wedding Night Manya Novak 1936 A Woman Alone Maria Krasnova 1939 Exile Express Nadine Nikolas 1940 The Man I Married Frieda Heinkel 1941 So Ends Our Night Lilo 1943 Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas Lubitca Mihailovitch They Came to Blow Up America Frau Reiter Three Russian Girls Natasha 1948 Let's Live a Little Michele Bennett 1955 Soldier of Fortune Madame Dupree 1956 Runaway Daughters Ruth Barton 1962 The Nun and the Sergeant Nun

+ Television Year Series Role Episode 1956 The Red Skelton Show Queen of Livonia "County Fair or Minister of Agriculture" 1957 The Walter Winchell File Frieda "The Cupcake" 1959 Adventures in Paradise Antonia "The Bamboo Curtain" 1964 Arrest and Trial Mrs. Van de Heuven "Modus Operandi"