Elvira Popescu (10 May 1894 – 11 December 1993) was a Romanian-French stage and film actress and theatre director. During the 1930s and 1940s, she starred in a number of French comedy films.
Born in Bucharest, Popescu studied drama at the Music and Drama Conservatory in her native city, under the guidance of Constantin Nottara and Aristizza Romanescu. In 1911 Grigore Brezeanu was making the first Romanian films to deal with fiction. He employed Popesco as well as other leading actors like Nottara and Romanescu. The first two films were called "Fatal Love" and "Spin a Yarn". No copies are known of these films. Popesco made her debut at the National Theatre Bucharest at age 16. In 1912, she played herself in the movie Independența României, directed by Aristide Demetriade.
In 1919 she became artistic director of the Excelsior Theatre. In 1921, Popescu started Teatrul Mic, which she managed in parallel with the Excelsior. In 1923, she starred in the movie Ţigăncuşa de la iatac, directed by Alfred Halm.
At the urging of Louis Verneuil, the French playwright, Popescu moved in 1924 to Paris. Under Verneuil's direction, she played the leading role in Ma Cousine de Varsovie, at the Théâtre Michel (1923). She also played in Tovaritch (1933), La Machine infernale (1954), Nina (1949), and La Mamma (1957). Later on, she was director of Théâtre de Paris (1956–1965), and Théâtre Marigny (1965–1978).[5] At age 84, she played again in La Mamma.
Elvira Popescu also played in movies, such as La Présidente (Fernand Rivers, 1938), Tricoche et Cacolet (Pierre Colombier, 1938), Ils étaient neuf célibataires (Sacha Guitry, 1939), Paradis perdu (Abel Gance, 1940), Austerlitz (Abel Gance, 1960),[6] and Purple Noon (René Clément, 1960).
Shortly after her debut in 1910, Popescu married comedian Aurel Athanasescu and they had a daughter named Tatiana. After a few years, she divorced, and married Ion Manolescu-Strunga, Minister of Industry and Commerce (who was to die in Sighet prison in the 1950s). Her third husband was Count Maximilien Sébastien Foy (born in Paris on 17 April 1900, died in Neuilly-sur-Seine on 11 November 1967).
She died in Paris at age 99, and was interred at Père Lachaise Cemetery.
Source: Article "Elvira Popescu" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
2018
1972
as Karma, la voyante
1966
as Rosaria
1960
as Lætitia Bonaparte
1960
as Mrs. Popova
1956
as self
1943
as Arabella
1942
as Mona Lorenza
1942
as Frédérica
1942
as Sofia de Vinci
1942
1941
1941
as Madame Fanny
1940
as Erika, l'aventurière
1939
as Francine Margerie
1939
as Sonia Vorochine
1939
as Comtesse Stacia Batchefskaïa
1939
as Princess Dorothée
1939
as Mme Rameau, épouse d'un industriel et maîtresse d'Alfrédo
1939
as Mariska
1938
as Lisette Cousinet
1938
as The Queen of Silistrie
1938
as Bernardine Van der Pouf
1938
as Vérotcha
1937
as Nadia Mortal
1937
as La duchesse de Maulévrier
1937
as La comtesse Irène Waldapowska
1937
as Madame Anna
1937
as Mona Thalia
1936
as Thérèse Marnix
1936
1935
as Dora Nelson / Suzanne Verdier
1934
as Hélène Larsonnier
1932
as Edwige
1931
as Sonia Varilovna
1931
as Dora Clarkson
1923
as Maria Tortusanu - Vasil's fiancée