Olga Petrova was an American

United States

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

 actress, screenwriter and playwright. Born as Muriel Harding in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, she moved to the United States

United States

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

 and became a star of 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...

 using the stage name

Stage name

A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...

 Olga Petrova. Petrova starred in a number of films for Solax Studios

Solax Studios

Solax Studios was an American motion picture studio founded in 1910 by executives from the Gaumont Film Company of France. Alice Guy-Blaché, her husband Herbert, and a third partner, George A. Magie established The Solax Company. Alice Guy-Blaché was artistic director and the director for many of...

 and was Metro Pictures

Metro Pictures

Metro Pictures Corporation was an American motion picture production company founded in late 1915 by Richard A. Rowland . Louis B. Mayer who worked for Metro Pictures Corporation early on. It is not to be confused with MGM which is a much later franchise concerning itself, Goldwyn and Louis B....

 first diva, usually given the role of a femme fatale

Femme fatale

A femme fatale is a mysterious and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. She is an archetype of literature and art...

. During her seven years in film, Petrova appeared in more than two dozen films and wrote the script for several others. Most of her films are now lost

Lost film

A lost film is a feature film or short film that is no longer known to exist in studio archives, private collections or public archives such as the Library of Congress, where at least one copy of all American films are deposited and catalogued for copyright reasons...

.

Petrova left the film industry in 1918 but continued to act in 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...

 productions. During the 1920s, she wrote three plays and toured the country with a theater troupe. In 1942, she published her autobiography, Butter With My Bread. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Olga Petrova died in 1977 in Clearwater, Florida

Clearwater, Florida

Clearwater is a city located in Pinellas County, Florida, US, nearly due west of Tampa and northwest of St. Petersburg. In the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and in the east lies Tampa Bay. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 108,787. It is the county seat of...

, aged 93. She had no children.

Filmography

• Departure of a Grand Old Man (1912)
• The Tigress (1914)
• The Heart of a Painted Woman (1915)
• The Vampire (1915)
• The Bludgeon (1915)
• My Madonna (1915)
• What Will People Say? (1916)
• The Soul Market (1916)
• Playing with Fire (1916)
• The Scarlet Woman (1916)
• The Eternal Question (1916)
• Extravagance (1916)
• The Black Butterfly (1916)
• Bridges Burned (1917)
• The Secret of Eve (1917)
• The Waiting Soul (1917)
• The Soul of Magdalen (1917)
• The Undying Flame (1917)
• Law of the Land
  The Law of the Land (film)
  The Law of the Land is a 1917 silent film starring stage actress turned screen vamp Olga Petrova. It was directed by Maurice Tourneur and produced by Jesse Lasky. The story is based on the 1914 play The Law of the Land by George Broadhurst and starred Julia Dean in Petrova's role. Some scenes of...
  
  (1917)
• To the Death
  To the Death (film)
  To the Death is a 1917 silent American drama film directed by Burton L. King. The film is considered to be lost.- Cast :* Olga Petrova as Bianca Sylva To the Death is a 1917 silent American drama film directed by Burton L. King. The film is considered to be lost.- Cast :* Olga Petrova as Bianca...
  
  (1917)
• The Silence Sellers (1917)
• Exile (1917)
• More Truth Than Poetry (1917)
• Daughter of Destiny (1917)
• The Light Within (1918)
• The Life Mask (1918)
• Tempered Seed (1918)
• The Panther Woman (1918)
• Kira Kiralina (1928)

External links

• Olga Petrova picture gallery NY Public Billy Rose Collection