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

Russian-American Russian Americans are Americans of full or partial Russian ancestry. The term can apply to recent Russian immigrants to the United States, as well as to those that settled in the 19th-century Russian possessions in what is now Alaska. Russia ...

prima ballerina A ballet dancer is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. Ballet dancers ...

and actress.

Biography

Pati Behrs Eristoff was a prima ballerina and a grandniece of

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...

. She is perhaps best known as the first of

John Derek John Derek (born Derek Delevan Harris; August 12, 1926 – May 22, 1998) was an American actor, filmmaker and photographer.

's wives. She was born in Constantinople (now

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

) 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, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

after her father refused to partake in

pogroms A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe late 19th- and early 20th-century attacks on Jews i ...

. She survived

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 ...

and

Occupied France The Military Administration in France (; ) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zone in areas of northern and western France. This so-called ' was established in June 19 ...

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 po ...

and

gypsies {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , ...

from the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

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 John Derek (born Derek Delevan Harris; August 12, 1926 – May 22, 1998) was an American actor, filmmaker and photographer.

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 A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

. 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 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 American people of Russian descent 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