Lyda Roberti

Lyda Roberti (née Pecjak; May 20, 1906 – March 13, 1938) then part of Imperial Russia, Lyda Roberti was the daughter of a German father (a professional clown surnamed Pecjak) and a Polish mother. As a child she performed in the circus as a trapeze artist and bareback rider. She had an elder brother, Robert, also born in Poland, and a younger sister, Manya.

To escape the upheaval in Russia after the Communist revolution in 1917, the Pecjak family settled in Shanghai, China, where Lyda earned money as a dancer in the Carlton café. Eventually, she saved enough money to pay her passage to the United States, where she performed in vaudeville in both San Francisco and Los Angeles.

In 1932, she was signed to Paramount Pictures, where she appeared in Edward F. Cline's comedy film Million Dollar Legs (1932) as "Mata Machree, The Woman No Man Can Resist", a Mata Hari-type spy hired to undermine the President of Klopstokia (played by W.C. Fields) in his efforts to secure money for his destitute country.

In 1933, she performed in two more Broadway musicals: the short-lived Pardon My English and the much more successful Roberta. Throughout the 1930s, she played in a string of films. Her sexy but playful characterizations, along with the accent she had acquired during her years in Europe and Asia, made her popular with audiences. In 1936, Roberti replaced Thelma Todd in several films after Todd's death. They separated one year later but secretly reconciled in January 1937 and remained together until her death. In an interview with Leonard Maltin for Film Fan Monthly, Kelly said, "As a child, her father was in the circus, and he used to throw her on bareback, and we never knew it had affected her heart, and one day – boom!"

Roberti is interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes1928 Undersea Revue Short 1932 Dancers in the Dark Fanny Zabowolski Million Dollar Legs Mata Machree The Kid from Spain Rosalie 1933 Three-Cornered Moon Jenny Torch Singer Dora Nichols Meet the Baron College Girl Uncredited 1934 College Rhythm Mimi Hollywood Rhythm Herself Short 1935 George White's 1935 Scandals Manya The Big Broadcast of 1936 Countess Ysobel de Naigila 1936 At Sea Ashore Herself Short Hill-Tillies Herself Short 1937 Nobody's Baby Lena Marchetti Pick a Star Dagmar 1938 Wide Open Faces Kitty Fredericks (final film role)