Ludmilla Pitoëff

Ludmilla Iakovlevna Pitoeva (, née Smanova; 25 December 1896 – 15 September 1951), known as Ludmilla Pitoëff, was a Russian-French stage actress whose career was mainly in the theatres of Paris. She also appeared in London and New York, as well as in some films. She was the wife of actor-director Georges Pitoëff, and the mother of actor Sacha Pitoëff.

Early life Pitoëff was born in Tiflis in the Russian Empire (now Tbilisi, Georgia) on 25 December 1896 as Ludmila Iakovlevna Smanova. Her Russian father was an official for the Tsarist government. After finishing her studies, Smanova and her mother moved to Paris in April 1914, where she unsuccessfully auditioned for the Conservatoire national supérieur d'art dramatique. Shortly thereafter, she met her future husband Georges Pitoëff, a fellow expatriate from Tiflis. The two married in July 1915.

Career Pitoëff made her stage debut in Geneva in 1915, where her husband was director of a small theatre. The Pitoëffs returned to Paris in 1919. She appeared at venues in Paris including the Théâtre des Arts, the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier, and the Théâtre des Mathurins. Among her stage appearances were (On the Threshold of the Kingdom, 1924), (The Power of Darkness, which she adapted from Tolstoy, 1924), (a translation of Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan, 1925), (Like This or Like That), and Hamlet, (1926). and then as Marguerite Gautier in La Dame aux camélias.

Personal life The Pitoëffs had seven children, two of whom, Svetlana and Sacha, continued the family's theatrical tradition.

Death Having been in poor health for some time, but continuing to work, Pitoëff died in Paris on 15 September 1951, aged 54. She was buried alongside her husband in the cemetery at Genthod in Geneva.

Notes, references and sources