Olga Petrova

Olga Petrova (born Muriel Harding; 10 May 1884 – 30 November 1977) was a British-American actress, screenwriter and playwright.

Origins In adulthood, Olga Petrova insisted that she had been born in Warsaw, Poland, then part of the Russian Empire, and throughout her life she spoke with an appropriate accent, even in private.

Career Harding left home after feeling stifled by her father's strict rules. According to her memoir she became a governess, but soon moved to London for a career on the stage. She probably chose the name and persona of Madame Olga Petrova herself, though later publicity suggested that the name was chosen by a producer, to reflect the penchant at the time for elegant Russian stars such as Anna Pavlova. In any event, Petrova began to present herself as a glamorous Russian or Polish actress. She made her first notable appearance under that name at the London Pavilion in April 1911, and her success led to her being quickly signed up for the Folies-Bergere cabaret in New York.

She first performed in New York in mid-1911, and later that year took a leading role in the musical comedy The Quaker Girl on Broadway before returning to vaudeville. She insisted on, and gained, top billing on a show at the Fifth Avenue Theatre, where she was described in Variety in 1912 as "one of the cleverest, classiest, and most attractive of turns". In 1913, she met local physician John Dillon Stewart in Indianapolis, Indiana, and they married that year in Kansas City. Stewart moved his practice to New York City to be near her primary base of operations.

Petrova returned to theatre performance in 1914, and was offered a film contract, appearing first in The Tigress, directed by Alice Guy-Blaché, and then in a succession of silent films through 1917. She disliked playing weak female characters, and spending time idle when making films. The Library of Congress Silent Feature Film Database indicates three of her films survive: The Vampire (1915), Extravagance (1916) and The Waiting Soul (1918).

She was a skilled self-publicist, and as "highly eccentric". Both on stage and on screen, Petrova became noted for her insistence on portraying independent and free-thinking women with strong personalities. She said in 1918: "The only women I want to play are women who do things. I want to encourage women to do things to take their rightful place in life."

Later life and death She made several visits to Saranac Lake, New York at the height of her fame at the request of theatrical agent William Morris. In the summer of 1921, she turned the first shovel of earth for a housing project sponsored by the chamber of commerce at a lot on Lake Street donated by Walter Jenkins. The Petrova School and Petrova Avenue bear her name.

She retired to live in the south of France in the late 1920s. At the start of World War II, she returned to the U.S., and settled in Clearwater, Florida, with her second husband, Louis Willoughby. In 1942, she published her autobiography Butter with My Bread.

She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Publications The White Peacock: A Play in Three Acts (Boston: Four Seas Company, 1922) Hurricane: Four Episodes in the Story of a Life (Boston: Four Seas Company, 1924) What Do We Know?: A Drama in Three Acts (Boston: Four Seas Company, 1930) Butter with My Bread (New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1942)

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes 1912 Departure of a Grand Old Man Sofia Tolstaya Short 1914 The Tigress Stella Lost film 1915 The Heart of a Painted Woman Martha Redmond Lost film 1915 The Vampire Jeanne Lefarge 1915 The Bludgeon Incomplete film 1915 My Madonna Lucille Lost film 1916 What Will People Say? Persis Cabot Lost film 1916 The Soul Market Elaine Elton Lost film Credited as Olya Petrova 1916 Playing With Fire Jean Serian Lost film Credited as Mme. Petrova 1916 The Scarlet Woman Thora Davis Lost film Credited as Madame Petrova 1916 The Eternal Question Bianca Lost film 1916 Extravagance Norma Russell Credited as Mme. Olga Petrova 1916 The Black Butterfly Sonia Smirnov/Marie, the convent girl Lost film Credited as Mme. Petrova Also writer 1917 Bridges Burned Mary O'Brien Lost film Credited as Madame Petrova Also writer 1917 The Secret of Eve Eve, in the Garden of Eden/ Hagar, the Gypsy Woman/ Eve, the Quakeress/ Eve, the Wife of Brandon Lost film Credited as Mme. Olga Petrova 1917 The Waiting Soul Grace Vaughan Credited as Madame Olga Petrova 1917 The Soul of a Magdalen Heloise Broulette Lost film Credited as Mme. Petrova 1917 The Undying Flame The Princess / Grace Leslie Lost film Credited as Madame Olga Petrova 1917 Law of the Land Margaret Harding Lost film 1917 To the Death Bianca Sylva Lost film Credited as Mme. Olga Petrova Also writer 1917 The Silence Sellers Laura Sutphen Lost film Credited as Mme. Petrova 1917 Exile Claudia Perez Lost film Credited as Mme. Olga Petrova 1917 More Truth Than Poetry Elaine Esmond/Vera Maitland Lost film Credited as Mme. Olga Petrova Also writer 1917 Daughter of Destiny Marion Ashley Lost film Credited as Madame Olga Petrova Also writer and producer 1918 The Light Within Laurel Carlisle, M. D. Lost film Credited as Madame Olga Petrova 1918 The Life Mask Anita Courtland Lost film Credited as Madame Olga Petrova 1918 Tempered Steel Lucille Caruthers Lost film Credited as Madame Olga Petrova 1918 The Panther Woman Patience Sparhawk Lost film 1928 Kira Kiralina Kira's Mother Lost film