Pati Behrs Eristoff (February 13, 1922 – July 4, 2004) was a

Russian American Russian Americans ( rus, русские американцы, r=russkiye amerikantsy, p= ˈruskʲɪje ɐmʲɪrʲɪˈkant͡sɨ) are Americans of full or partial Russian ancestry. The term can apply to recent Russian immigrants to the United Stat ...

prima ballerina A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on ye ...

and actress.

Biography

Pati Behrs Eristoff was a prima ballerina and a grandniece of

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

. She is perhaps best known as the first of John Derek's wives. She was born in Turkey to Russian émigré parents. Her family fled to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

after her father refused to partake in pogroms. She survived

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and

Occupied France The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...

by dancing in Parisian nightclubs, while at the same time doing all she could to hide

Russian Jews The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...

and

gypsies The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

from the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

s. Receiving a Hollywood contract after the war, she emigrated to the United States. Behrs had a brief first marriage to George 'Gogi' Tchitchinadze (1917–1970), a host at the Bel-Air Hotel.Carroll, Harrison (October 19, 1948)
Behind the Scenes in Hollywood
''The Daily Clintonian'' In December 1947 she met John Derek in an acting class, and they married on October 9, 1948. The couple had two children: son Russell Derek (1950–1999) and daughter Sean Catherine Derek (born 1953), who became a screenwriter. Behrs and Derek separated in September 1955 and divorced in April 1956. In 1975, she married pediatrician Dr. Lucius Lindley (1919–1986), who predeceased her. She became a grandmother in 1969, and a great-grandmother in 1996. She died on July 4, 2004, aged 82.

Philosophical and/or political views

An animal-rights advocate, she presente
Actors and Others
with her 1926

Steinway Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway (), is a German-American piano company, founded in 1853 in Manhattan by German piano builder Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (later known as Henry E. Steinway). The company's growth led to the opening of a ...

baby grand piano. Her daughter, Sean, requested it be sold to help as many animals in need as possible.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Behrs, Pati 2004 deaths 1922 births 20th-century American actresses Actresses from California American ballerinas American film actresses Turkish emigrants to France French emigrants to the United States Leo Tolstoy Dancers from Paris Prima ballerinas 20th-century American ballet dancers

Biography

Philosophical and/or political views

Filmography

See also

References

External links