Mona Maris
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mona Maris (1903-1991) was an Argentine film actress who was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her given name was Mona Maria Emita Cap de Vielle. Her mother was a Spanish Basque and her father a French Basque. By the age of nineteen Mona spoke four languages. Known in her native land as the Pride of the Pampas, she arrived in Hollywood to join United Artists on December 31, 1928. Mona was brought to America by Joseph Schenck, president of United Artists. She was twenty at the time. She was educated in England, France, and Germany.
Miss Maris came to the United States from Berlin, Germany where she had been appearing in German-made motion pictures. Her popularity in South American countries was already established. Mona's ambition to become an actress originated during World War I when she was a pupil in Luders, France. She and her classmates wrote, directed, and presented little playlets to entertain soldiers billeted near the school.
After school Mona begged to go to England until her mother relented. There she found a woman was given much more freedom than in either Spain or South America. She travelled there under the indirect chaperonage of an Argentine family. Her stay was intended to last only six months but she ended up staying two years.
From England Miss Maris journeyed to Germany where she later participated in U.F.A. Productions. First a letter was received by the Argentine ambassador in Berlin, which led to Mona's meeting the President of U.F.A. She was given a screen test without any film in the camera. Miss Maris was noticed in the studio by a prominent director who offered the youth a five-year contract. Mona counseled with her grandmother, who finally allowed her to accept. Joe Schenck's offer of a Hollywood career came after she made four films in Germany.
Also during her European tenure there was a runaway marriage which was quickly terminated. Maris' film career began in the 1925 movie The Apache and continued until 1984, when she appeared in La Perichona. It was her English which interrupted and almost curtailed Mona's film career. Spanish, French, and German came easy for her, but in the early years of talkies Mona's English was almost unintelligible. So she quit. From 1931 until 1941 Miss Maris starred in nineteen of Fox's best pictures. They were Spanish-language film versions of domestic super dupers. She also appeared in seven English dialogue motion pictures for three studios.
She was married twice. One of her husbands was Clarence Brown.
Mona Maris died of lung trouble in Buenos Aires on March 23, 1991.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- Frederick, Maryland Post, Hollywood, Tuesday Morning, August 26, 1941, Page 4.
- Los Angeles Times, Argentine Film Actress Given Welcome Here, January 1, 1929, Page A1.
- Los Angeles Times, Mona Maris Gives Recipe for Foreign Actress to Get By Successfully in Hollywood, December 29, 1929, Page B11.
