Life and career

Born in Warsaw, Poland, Roberti was the daughter of a clown

Clown

Clowns are comic performers stereotypically characterized by the grotesque image of the circus clown's colored wigs, stylistic makeup, outlandish costumes, unusually large footwear, and red nose, which evolved to project their actions to large audiences. Other less grotesque styles have also...

 and as a child performed in the circus

Circus

A circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...

 as a trapeze

Trapeze

A trapeze is a short horizontal bar hung by ropes or metal straps from a support. It is an aerial apparatus commonly found in circus performances...

 artist, and as a vaudeville

Vaudeville

Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...

 singer. As the family toured Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

, Roberti's mother left her husband, settling in Shanghai, China where the younger Roberti earned money singing. They moved to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 in the late 1920s where Roberti began singing in nightclubs. She made her Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 debut in You Said It

You Said It

You Said It is a musical by Harold Arlen and Jack Yellen that uses a musical book by Yellen and Sid Silvers. The musical opened at the Chanin's 46th Street Theatre in New York City on January 19, 1931 and ran for 192 performances. The production was directed by John Harwood, choreographed by...

in 1931, and with its success became an overnight sensation. She also appeared in the short-lived Gershwin musical Pardon My English

Pardon My English

Pardon My English is a musical with a book by Herbert Fields and Morrie Ryskind, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and music by George Gershwin. Set in 1933 Dresden, the farcical plot satirizes the Prohibition era.-Production history:Producers Alex A...

in 1933.

She moved to Hollywood and during the 1930s played in a string of films. Her sexy but playful characterisations, along with the unusual accent she had acquired during her years in Europe and Asia, made her popular with audiences.

She starred in Edward F. Cline

Edward F. Cline

Edward Francis Cline was a screenwriter, actor, writer and director. He was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin and died in Hollywood.-Career:...

's movie Million Dollar Legs (1932) as "Mata Machree, The Woman No Man Can Resist", a Mata Hari

Mata Hari

Mata Hari was the stage name of Margaretha Geertruida "M'greet" Zelle , a Dutch exotic dancer, courtesan, and accused spy who was executed by firing squad in France under charges of espionage for Germany during World War I.-Early life:Margaretha Geertruida Zelle was born in Leeuwarden, Friesland,...

-based spy character who is hired to undermine the President of Klopstokia (played by W. C. Fields

W. C. Fields

William Claude Dukenfield , better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler and writer...

) in his efforts to secure money for his destitute country. Her plan is to seduce the athletes that Klopstokia is sending to the Olympic Games

Olympic Games

The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

, and thereby prevent them from medaling. Highlights of the film include Mata Machree's steamy rendition of "When I Get Hot in Klopstokia", and the dance she performs to inspire Fields's opponent in the weightlifting competition.

She found success as a comedian, and was also popular as a singer on radio. Roberti made very few recordings:

• Sweet And Hot (TCL-1461) 3-10-31 - (Brunswick private unissued recording)
• Ha Ha Ho! (TCL-1462) 3-10-31 - (Brunswick private unissued recording)
• My Cousin In Milwaukee 1/26/33 (radio broadcast)
• Take A Number From One To Ten (LA-227) 10-5-34 (Columbia 2967-D)
• College Rhythm (LA-228) 10-5-34 (Columbia 2967-D)

There is an unissued test by Eddy Duchin

Eddy Duchin

Eddy Duchin was an American popular pianist and bandleader of the 1930s and 1940s, famous for his engaging onstage personality, his elegant piano style, and his fight against leukemia.-Early career:...

 & his Central Park Casino Orchestra of "My Cousin In Milwaukee" attributed to Roberti, but collectors now believe that the vocal was done by Gertrude Neisen, doing her impersonation of Roberti:

• My Cousin In Milwaukee (B-12897-B) 1-18-33 (Brunswick unissued, issued on an Epic 2-LP set in the 1970s, credited to Roberti)

In Roberta

Roberta (1935 film)

Roberta is a 1935 musical film by RKO starring Irene Dunne, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, and Randolph Scott. It was an adaptation of a 1933 Broadway theatre musical of the same name, which in turn was based on the novel Gowns by Roberta by Alice Duer Miller...

, Ginger Rogers

Ginger Rogers

Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer, and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio, and television throughout much of the 20th century....

 played the role that Roberti had originated on Broadway, with reviewers commenting that Rogers' performance was a completely accurate imitation of Roberti's idiosyncratic speech and mannerisms.

Roberti replaced Thelma Todd

Thelma Todd

Thelma Alice Todd was an American actress. Appearing in about 120 pictures between 1926 and 1935, she is best remembered for her comedic roles in films like Marx Brothers' Monkey Business and Horse Feathers, a number of Charley Chase's short comedies, and co-starring with Buster Keaton and Jimmy...

 in a couple of films after the death of Todd, but her health was failing due to heart disease

Heart disease

Heart disease, cardiac disease or cardiopathy is an umbrella term for a variety of diseases affecting the heart. , it is the leading cause of death in the United States, England, Canada and Wales, accounting for 25.4% of the total deaths in the United States.-Types:-Coronary heart disease:Coronary...

. She began to work less frequently although two days before her death she performed a radio show with Al Jolson

Al Jolson

Al Jolson was an American singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer"....

.

According to her friend and co-star Patsy Kelly, Roberti died suddenly from a heart attack

Myocardial infarction

Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...

 while bending to tie her shoelace. She is interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California

Glendale, California

Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...

.

Filmography

• Dancers in the Dark
  Dancers in the Dark
  Dancers in the Dark is a 1932 film about a taxi dancer , a big band leader , and a gangster . The movie was written by Herman J...
  
  (1932)
• Million Dollar Legs (1932)
• The Kid from Spain (1932)
• Three-Cornered Moon
  Three-Cornered Moon
  Three-Cornered Moon is a 1933 film directed by Elliot Nugent, and written by Ray Harris and S.K. Lauren, based on play by Gertrude Tonkonogy Friedberg. The film reached No...
  
  (1933)
• Torch Singer
  Torch Singer
  Torch Singer is a 1933 film made by Paramount Pictures, directed by Alexander Hall and George Somnes, and starring Claudette Colbert, Ricardo Cortez and David Manners and Lyda Roberti.The screenplay was written by Lenore J...
  
  (1933)
• College Rhythm (1934)
• George White's 1935 Scandals
  George White's 1935 Scandals
  George White's 1935 Scandals is an American musical film, written by Jack Yellen and produced in 1935 by Fox Film Corporation . It was a follow-up to the 1934 release, George White's Scandals.-Plot:The film centers on real-life stage and screen producer George White as he gathers acts for his new...
  
  (1935)
• The Big Broadcast of 1936
  The Big Broadcast of 1936
  The Big Broadcast of 1936 is a Paramount Pictures production, directed by Norman Taurog, and is the second in the series of Big Broadcast movies...
  
  (1935)
• Nobody's Baby (1937)
• Pick a Star
  Pick a Star
  Pick a Star is a 1937 musical comedy film starring Rosina Lawrence, Jack Haley, Patsy Kelly and Mischa Auer, directed by Edward Sedgwick, produced by Hal Roach, and released through Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
  
  (1937)
• Wide Open Faces (1938)

Short Subjects

• Undersea Revue (1928)
• Hollywood Rhythm (1934)
• At Sea Ashore (1936)
• Hill-Tillies (1936)

External links