Celia Lovsky

Celia Lovsky (born Cäcilia Josefina Lvovsky, February 21, 1897 – October 12, 1979) was an Austrian-American actress. She was born in Vienna,Celia Lovsky biodata on Petition for Naturalization as Cacilia Josefina Lowenstein
ancestry.com; accessed October 7, 2015. daughter of Břetislav Lvovsky (1857–1910), a minor Czech opera composer. She studied theater, dance, and languages at the Austrian Royal Academy of Arts and Music. She is best known to fans of ''Star Trek'' as the original T'Pau, and to fans of ''The Twilight Zone'' as the aged daughter of an eternally youthful Hollywood actress.

Life and career

Lovsky married journalist Heinrich Vinzenz Nowak in 1919. By 1925, they were apparently estranged and she was romantically involved with playwright Arthur Schnitzler. She later moved to Berlin, where she acted in the surrealist plays ''Dream Theater'' and ''Dream Play'' by Karl Kraus. There, in 1929, she met Peter Lorre, who had seen her in a production of Shakespeare's ''Othello'' near Vienna. The couple traveled to Paris, London, and the United States. Lovsky was instrumental in bringing Lorre to the attention of Fritz Lang, leading eventually to Lorre's appearance in the film '' M'' (1931) directed by Lang. They lived together for five years before their marriage, and stayed married until 1945, remaining close friends for the rest of Lorre's life.

After the couple settled in Santa Monica, California, Lorre had not wished Lovsky to work, believing he should be the breadwinner and she should remain at home. For the rest of Lorre's life, she was his publicist, manager, secretary, financial planner, nurse and confidant. However, after their divorce, she started taking roles in American movies and television. She made a name for herself playing slightly exotic roles such as the deaf-mute mother of Lon Chaney in '' Man of a Thousand Faces'' (1957) with James Cagney and as Apache Princess Saba in the 1955 film ''Foxfire'' starring Jane Russell and Jeff Chandler.

As she grew older, she was given dignified dowager roles, such as a Spanish matriarch in an episode of ''Bonanza'' titled "The Spanish Grant" (1960) and '' Have Gun Will Travel'' titled "The Man Who Wouldn't Talk" (1958) (with ''Charles Bronson''), Romany matriarchs, elderly Native American women such as in the ''Wagon Train'' episode "A Man Called Horse", expatriate Russian princesses, and a brief but memorable role as the widowed mother of Reinhard Schwimmer, one of the victims in the film ''The St. Valentine's Day Massacre'' (1967). Her final movie appearance was of the "Exchange Leader" in ''Soylent Green'' (1973). She delivers the final confirmation to Edward G. Robinson's character Sol about Soylent Green's true ingredient.

She is particularly well-known for two of her television appearances: the '' Twilight Zone'' episode " Queen of the Nile" (1964), in which she played the elderly daughter of a never-aging actress (played by Ann Blyth); and she was the original T'Pau, the Vulcan diplomat, judge, and philosopher who presides at Mr. Spock's wedding in the ''Star Trek'' episode "Amok Time" (1967).

Partial filmography

* 1930 ''Twice Married'' as Fraulein Koch
* 1930 ''Der Hampelmann'' as Unknown
* 1947 ''The Foxes of Harrow'' as Minna Ludenbach (uncredited)
* 1948 '' Letter from an Unknown Woman'' as Flower Vendor (uncredited)
* 1948 '' Sealed Verdict'' as Emma Steigmann
* 1948 ''The Snake Pit'' as Inmate Gertrude (uncredited)
* 1949 '' Flaming Fury'' as Bertha Polacheck
* 1949 '' Chicago Deadline'' as Mrs. Schleffler (uncredited)
* 1950 '' Captain Carey, U.S.A.'' as Countess Francesca de Cresci
* 1950 '' Bright Leaf'' as Dressmaker (uncredited)
* 1950 ''The Killer That Stalked New York'' as Mrs. Kowalski (uncredited)
* 1951 '' The Scarf'' as Mrs. Barrington (uncredited)
* 1951 '' Night Into Morning'' as Mrs. Niemoller
* 1951 ''The People Against O'Hara'' as Mrs. Korvac (uncredited)
* 1952 ''Because You're Mine'' as Mrs. Rossano
* 1953 '' The Story of Three Loves'' as The Governess On Ship (segment "The Jealous Lover / Mademoiselle") (uncredited)
* 1953 '' The Blue Gardenia'' May, The Flower Woman (uncredited)
* 1953 '' Champ for a Day'' as Gladys Macrowitz (uncredited)
* 1953 ''The Big Heat'' as Lagana's Mother In Portrait (uncredited)
* 1954 '' Rhapsody'' as Frau Sigerlist
* 1954 '' Make Haste to Live'' as Mother
* 1954 '' Three Coins in the Fountain'' as Baroness (uncredited)
* 1954 ''The Last Time I Saw Paris'' as Mama
* 1955 '' New York Confidential'' as Mama Lupo
* 1955 ''Foxfire'' as Princess Saba
* 1955 '' Duel on the Mississippi'' as Celeste Tulane
* 1955 '' Texas Lady'' as Mrs. Gantz (uncredited)
* 1956 '' While the City Sleeps'' as Miss Dodd
* 1956 '' The Opposite Sex'' as Lutsi (uncredited)
* 1956 '' Death of a Scoundrel'' as Mrs. Sabourin, Clementi's Mother
* 1956 ''Rumble on the Docks'' as Anna Smigelski
* 1957 '' The Garment Jungle'' as Tulio's Mother
* 1957 '' Trooper Hook'' as Señora Sandoval
* 1957 '' Man of a Thousand Faces'' as Mrs. Chaney
* 1958 ''Crash Landing'' as Mrs. Ortega
* 1958 '' Twilight for the Gods'' as Ida Morris
* 1958 '' Have Gun Will Travel'' ("The Man Who Wouldn't Talk") as Aunt Anna
* 1958-1960 ''Playhouse 90'' as First Woman / Madam Guibert / Elsa Lindnow / Mrs. Schwimmer
* 1959 '' I Mobster'' as Mme. Arle
* 1959 ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' ("The Kind Waitress") as Mrs. Mannerheim
* 1959 ''The Gene Krupa Story'' as Mother
* 1962 ''Hitler'' as Frau Angelika Raubal
* 1962 ''The Alfred Hitchcock Hour'' ("The Black Curtain") as Mrs. Fisher, Apartment Complex Manager
* 1963 '' The New Phil Silvers Show'' ("Little Old Gluemaker, Me") as Frieda
* 1964 ''The Twilight Zone'' (" Queen of the Nile" as Viola Draper
* 1965 '' 36 Hours'' as Elsa
* 1965 ''The Greatest Story Ever Told'' as Woman Behind Railings (uncredited)
* 1965 '' Harlow'' as Marie Ouspenskaya
* 1967 ''The St. Valentine's Day Massacre'' as Josephine Schwimmer
* 1968 '' The Power'' as Mrs. Hallson
* 1970 ''Airport'' as Mrs. Williams, Passenger (uncredited)
* 1973 ''Soylent Green'' as The Exchange Leader

References

Bibliography

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External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lovsky, Celia
1897 births
1979 deaths
20th-century American actresses
20th-century Austrian actresses
Actresses from Berlin
Actresses from Vienna
Austrian stage actresses
American film actresses
American television actresses
Austrian emigrants to the United States
People with acquired American citizenship