Magda L. Kardashian ( Harout, April 22, 1926 – September 9, 2021) was an American film, television and stage actress.

Life and career

Harout was born in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

on April 22, 1926, to Armenian-born stage actor Yeghishe Harout, and his wife Gohar. Her father was also the proprietor of the Ivar Theatre, which opened on the

Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It runs through the Hollywood, East Hollywood, Little Armenia, Thai Town, and Los Feliz districts. Its western terminus is at Sunset Plaza Drive in the Hollyw ...

in 1951. During the 1940s, Harout was a pageant queen, and in 1943 she sold

war bonds War bonds (sometimes referred to as victory bonds, particularly in propaganda) are debt securities issued by a government to finance military operations and other expenditure in times of war without raising taxes to an unpopular level. They are ...

to support U.S. troops during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. On May 29, 1947, she married Robert Thomas Kardashian (1920–1998), an

Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

veteran, at the First Congregation Church in Los Angeles. They later honeymooned in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. Her stage credits included ''Nine Armenians'' (1997) by Leslie Ayvazia and ''The Kiss at City Hall'' (2000). She received a number of awards for her appearances on stage, including from

LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. The paper covers music, arts, film, theater, culture, and other local news in the Los Angeles area. ''LA Weekly'' was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin (among others), ...

, Drama-Logue and the LA Drama Critics Circle. In 1999, Harout played the role of Aunt Alma in the independent comedy film '' A Wake in Providence''. Producer and writer Vincent Pagano cast Harout promptly after meeting her, stating that "Magda opened her mouth, and we immediately fell in love with her voice.". Harout spoke

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

and French, and dyed her hair lighter in order not to be typecast in stereotypical ethnic roles. She also appeared in a number of

television commercials A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

. Harout died in Woodland Hills, California on September 9, 2021, at the age of 95.

Partial filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* 1926 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Los Angeles American people of Armenian descent Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery {{US-theat-actor-1920s-stub