Narda Onyx (20 December 1931 – 18 March 1991) was an Estonian-born naturalized American

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

and

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

Biography

At the age of eleven, Onyx escaped along with her family (her grandparents, mother, and two-year-old brother) through

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

lines and deceived her would-be

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

captors near the end of

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 ...

. The Onyx family made their way to the American occupation forces at

Bonn, Germany Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

, and sought refuge with the Swedish

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

. She and her mother worked as waitresses for the American forces. Later the family moved to Sweden, where Narda resumed her acting career. She travelled to England, where she worked for the Old Vic Company. She moved to Canada in 1951, received a US work permit in 1954, and then received a US residency permit in 1956. She appeared in dozens of supporting roles on television and in motion pictures during the 1950s and 1960s. Shows in which she appeared include ''

The Beverly Hillbillies ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from 1962 to 1971. It had an ensemble cast featuring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer Jr. as the Clampetts, a poor backwoods family ...

'', ''

Have Gun – Will Travel ''Have Gun – Will Travel'' is an American Westerns on television, Western television series that was produced and originally broadcast by CBS on both television and radio from 1957 through 1963. The television version of the series starring Ri ...

'', and ''

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' is an American spy fiction television series produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC. The series follows secret agents Napoleon Solo, played by Robert Vaughn, and Illya Kuryakin, p ...

'' In addition, she played

Gretl Braun Margarete Berta "Gretl" Berlinghoff (née Braun; ; 31 August 1915 – 10 October 1987) was one of the two sisters of Eva Braun. She was a member of the inner social circle of Adolf Hitler at the Berghof. Gretl became the sister-in-law of Hitle ...

in ''

Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

'' (1962) and Maria Frankenstein in ''

Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter ''Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter'' is a low-budget horror Western film released in 1966, in which a fictionalized version of the real-life western outlaw Jesse James encounters the fictional ''grand''daughter (the film's title notwit ...

'' (1966). In 1964, she authored a biography of

Johnny Weissmuller Johnny Weissmuller ( ; born Johann Peter Weißmüller, ; June 2, 1904 – January 20, 1984) was a Hungarian-born German American Olympic swimmer, water polo player and actor. He was known for having one of the best competitive-swimming records o ...

entitled ''Water, World & Weissmuller''. In addition to Estonian, Onyx spoke English, Swedish, Finnish, and German.

Personal life

On 20 October 1961, she became an American citizen. While in Canada she met and married George Virand, also an Estonian refuge, and they moved to Hollywood.

References

External links

* 1934 births 1991 deaths American film actresses American television actresses Estonian emigrants to the United States 20th-century American actresses {{US-tv-actor-1930s-stub