
Lyda Roberti
Biography
Lyda's father was German clown Roberti, her mother a Polish trick rider. As a child performer, she toured Europe and Asia with the Circus in which she was born, leaving it (and her reportedly abusive father) in Shanghai, China. In this truly international city, Lyda became a child cafe entertainer and learned the fractured English that became her trademark. Around 1927, she emigrated to California, finding work in vaudeville, where she was "discovered" in 1930 by Broadway producer Lou Holtz and became an overnight star in his 1931 show 'You Said It'. Lyda's unforgettable stage and screen character was a sexy blonde whose charming accent and uninhibited man-chasing were played for hilarious laughs. From 1932-35 she made 8 comedy and musical films mainly at Paramount, with Fields, Cantor, and other great comedians; her unique singing style was also popular on the radio and records. Her health declining from premature heart disease, she briefly replaced the late Thelma Todd in Hal Roach comedy shorts with Patsy Kelly and appeared in 3 features for MGM and Columbia, then retired from film work a few months before her fatal heart attack at age 31. Date of Birth 20 May 1906, Warsaw, Poland, Russian Empire [now Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland] Date of Death 12 March 1938, Los Angeles, California, USA (heart attack)
Filmografi
Pick a Star1937 · Dagmar
Dancers in the Dark1932 · Fanny Zabowolski
The Kid from Spain1932 · Rosalie
George White's 1935 Scandals1935 · Manya
The Big Broadcast of 19361935 · Countess Ysobel de Naigila
College Rhythm1934 · Mimi
Million Dollar Legs1932 · Mata Machree
Meet the Baron1933 · College Girl (uncredited)
Torch Singer1933 · Dora Nichols
Wide Open Faces1938 · Kitty Fredericks
The Roof Garden Revue1929 · Herself
Three Cornered Moon1933 · Jenny
Nobody's Baby1937 · Lena Marchetti
At Sea Ashore1936 · Lyda Roberti
Hill-Tillies1936 · Lyda Roberti
Jack Oakie
Loretta Andrews
Jane Wyman
June Lang
Lynn Bari
Mary Gordon
Carol Hughes
Anne Nagel
Stan Laurel
Robert Emmett O'Connor
Ethel Merman
James Finlayson