Viola Essen Explained

Viola Essen
Birth Name:Violeta Colchagoff
Birth Date:August 11, 1925
Birth Place:Saint Louis, Missouri
Death Date:January 16, 1970 (age 44)
Occupation:Dancer, actress
Spouse(S):5, including Gabriel Dell

Viola Essen (August 11, 1925 – January 16, 1970[1]), was an American ballet dancer. She was a student of Mikhail Mordkin, and an original member of the Ballet Theatre, precursor to the American Ballet Theatre.

Early life and education

Essen was born Violeta Colchagoff in Saint Louis, Missouri and raised in New York City and Los Angeles, the daughter of Asen Hristov Colchagoff (also known as Sam Essen) and Maria "Masha" Vasileva Essen. Her parents were born in Bulgaria; both were naturalized as United States citizens in 1923.[2] Her father was a furrier. She was a child performer, after winning a baby contest.[3] She attended the Birch Wathen School in New York, studied piano with Vladimir Drozdoff, and dance with Mikhail Mordkin.[4] [5] [6]

Career

Essen danced in Mordkin's productions of The Sleeping Beauty (1936), The Goldfish (1937), and Giselle (1937), with Lucia Chase in the lead roles.[7] [8] In 1944, she won praise as the Queen in a production of Swan Lake, when John Martin of The New York Times wrote that she "dances with a fresh and ingratiating young competence, if not with as much style as she will one day acquire."[9] On the New York stage, Essen appeared in Hollywood Pinafore (1945),[10] and Along Fifth Avenue (1949).[11] Al Hirschfeld made a caricature of Essen in the cast of Hollywood Pinafore.[12] She appeared in the ballet-themed thriller film Specter of the Rose (1946)[13] [14] and in the televised adaptation of the operetta The Desert Song (1955).

Essen danced in the first productions of the Ballet Theatre in 1940,[15] [16] and in 1955 reprised her part in Jardin aux lilas with Hugh Laing, at the company's fifteenth anniversary event, held at the Metropolitan Opera House.[17] In 1956, she ran a dance studio in New York City, and Marlon Brando once played bongos for the students.[18] In 1963, Walter Winchell reported that she was looking for work in television commercials,[19] and in 1965 he reported that she had recently experienced an armed burglary and a fire while running a florist shop in New York City.[20]

Personal life

Essen married at least five times, but all the marriages were brief. Her first husband was actor Richard Deane; they divorced in 1944.[21] Her second husband was Polish-born violinist Werner Ludwig Gebauer; they married in 1946 and divorced in 1948. Peter Cadeby was her third husband; they married in 1949.[22] [23] Her fourth husband was Herbert Crane; they married in 1953. Her fifth husband was actor Gabriel Dell; they married in 1956, and had a son, Beau.[24] She declared bankruptcy in 1949.[25] She died in 1970, in her forties.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Birth and death dates as given on IMDB and IBDB. Viola Colchagoff appears in the 1930 United States Federal Census, in her parents' household in Manhattan; she is listed as a six-year-old, which suggests that her birth year may have been slightly earlier than 1925; via Ancestry.
  2. U.S. Federal Naturalization papers for Maria Assen Vasileva Colchagoff and Assen Colchagoff, both dated February 17, 1923; via Ancestry
  3. News: 1949-04-17 . Baby Ballerina Had Baby Contest Debut . 511 . Daily News . 2023-09-19 . Newspapers.com.
  4. Book: Ewing, Alex C. . Bravura!: Lucia Chase and the American Ballet Theatre . 2009-09-27 . University Press of Florida . 978-0-8130-4203-9 . 32 . en.
  5. News: Kinard . Epsie . 1944-11-14 . First U.S. Ballet Star is Jitterbug at Heart; Viola Essen Has Star on Her Door . 5 . Shawnee News-Star . 2023-09-18 . Newspapers.com.
  6. News: Walker . Danton . 1937-04-06 . Mordkin Back as Teacher of Young Ballet . 389 . Daily News . 2023-09-19 . Newspapers.com.
  7. News: Mishnun . Virginia . 1937-04-05 . The Dance . 11 . The Brooklyn Daily Eagle . 2023-09-19 . Newspapers.com.
  8. News: 1937-09-16 . Mordkin's Ballet to Dance Here . 11 . Quad-City Times . 2023-09-19 . Newspapers.com.
  9. News: Martin . John . November 9, 1944 . Ballet is Praised for its 'Swan Lake'; International in a Refreshing, Creditable Performance With Viola Essen as the Queen . en . The New York Times . 2023-09-19 . TimesMachine.
  10. 1945-06-11 . The Theater: Half-New Musical in Manhattan . en-US . Time . 2023-09-19 . 0040-781X.
  11. Web site: Rourke . Mary . 2004-11-13 . Zachary Solov, 81; Dancer and Opera Troupe Choreographer . 2023-09-19 . Los Angeles Times . en-US.
  12. News: Hirschfeld . Al . May 27, 1945 . Cast of 'Hollywood Pinafore' . Section 2, page 1 . The New York Times . September 19, 2023 . TimesMachine.
  13. News: 24 August 1946 . Ben Hecht's 'Spectre of the Rose' . 28 . Pix . September 18, 2023 . Trove.
  14. Web site: 1946-01-01 . Specter of the Rose . 2023-09-19 . Variety . en-US.
  15. Book: Van Vechten, Carl . The dance photography of Carl Van Vechten . 1981 . New York : Schirmer Books ; London : Collier Macmillan . Internet Archive . 978-0-02-872680-9 . 12.
  16. Book: Grace Robert . The Borzoi Book of Ballets . 1946 . Internet Archive . 168, 195, 198.
  17. News: April 10, 1955 . Ballet Birthday . 78 . The New York Times . TimesMachine.
  18. News: Kilgallen . Dorothy . 1956-10-19 . Voice of Broadway . 8 . Kennebec Journal . 2023-09-20 . Newspapers.com.
  19. News: 1963-10-18 . Winchell... on Broadway . 11 . The Tribune . 2023-09-20 . Newspapers.com.
  20. News: 1966-01-05 . Walter Winchell on Broadway . 20 . Nevada State Journal . 2023-09-20 . Newspapers.com.
  21. News: 1944-11-16 . Walter Winchell in New York; Man About Town . 10 . St. Joseph Gazette . Newspapers.com. 2023-09-18.
  22. May 21, 1949 . Marriages . Billboard . 49.
  23. News: 1949-05-04 . Louella Parsons In Hollywood . 14 . Courier-Post . 2023-09-20 . Newspapers.com.
  24. News: Berg . Beatrice . 1972-06-25 . This Little Dead End Kid Made Good . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-09-20 . 0362-4331.
  25. News: February 2, 1949 . Legitimate: Viola Essen Bankruptcy Lists 35G Liabilities . 50 . Variety .

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