Sari Maritza
{{Short description|British actress (1910–1987)}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{More citations needed |date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Sari Maritza
| image = Sari Maritza CINEGRAF magazine (cropped).jpg
| caption = Maritza in 1932
| birth_name = Dora Patricia Detring-Nathan
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1910|03|17|df=y}}
| birth_place = Tianjin, China
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1987|07||1910|03|17|df=y}}
| death_place = U.S. Virgin Islands
| occupation = Actress
| resting_place =
| years_active = 1930–1934
| spouse = Sam Katz
({{abbr|m.|married}} 1934-1938)
| children =
| relatives = Matthew Nathan (uncle)
}}
Sari Maritza (born Dora Patricia Detring-Nathan; 17 March 1910 – July 1987) was a British film actress of the early 1930s.
Early years
Born Dora Patricia Detring-Nathan{{Citation needed |date=January 2022}} in Tianjin, China, Maritza was the daughter of Major Walter Simeon Nathan.{{cite news |title=Sari Maritza Travels From Chinese Castle to Hollywood |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/93163906/sari-maritza/ |access-date=January 22, 2022 |work=The Evening Review |agency=Associated Press |date=July 8, 1932 |location=Ohio, East Liverpool |page=5|via = Newspapers.com}} British colonial administrator Matthew Nathan was her uncle.
Film
{{Unreferenced section|date=December 2021}}
Maritza entered films in 1930 and gained some notoriety for dancing a tango with Charles Chaplin at the premiere for his film City Lights in 1931.{{cite news |date=April 4, 1931 |title=Petite British Actress Wins Chaplin's Favor–And Dance |pages=12 |work=The Bee |url=https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/50273/images/NEWS-VA-TH_BE.1931_04_04_0012?treeid=&personid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=fcn2&_phstart=successSource&pId=488247308&rcstate=NEWS-VA-TH_BE.1931_04_04_0012%3A1786%2C2904%2C1881%2C2937%3B1504%2C3092%2C1579%2C3125%3B1113%2C2600%2C1183%2C2633%3B950%2C2646%2C1029%2C2679%3B1642%2C2533%2C1715%2C2566 |access-date=July 18, 2023}} Although her behaviour was described as lurid, which was silly publicity, she attracted attention and was cast in several low budget, but relatively popular British films.{{Citation needed |date=August 2024}}
She made the German-UK film Monte Carlo Madness in Germany in 1932 before traveling to Hollywood, but her few films there for Paramount Studios and RKO Radio Pictures were poorly received.{{Citation needed |date=August 2024}}
In America, she was portrayed as an exotic European vamp with emphasis placed on her mother's Austrian heritage, but Maritza had lived most of her life in Britain, and disapproved of the studio's attempts to create a more mysterious facade for her. She retired in 1934 following her marriage, and in later years, admitted that she had been eager to end her career as she did not consider herself to be a capable actress.{{Citation needed |date=August 2024}}
The Literary Digest said the name was pronounced SHA-ree MAR-ee-tsa. (Charles Earle Funk, What's the Name, Please?, Funk & Wagnalls, 1936.)
Personal life and death
On October 17, 1934, Maritza married film executive Sam Katz in Phoenix, Arizona.{{cite news |title=Sam Katz Weds Sari Maritza |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/10/28/archives/sam-katz-weds-sari-maritza.html |access-date=January 22, 2022 |work=The New York Times |agency=Associated Press |date=October 28, 1934 |page=30|url-access=subscription}} They divorced in 1938. She died at age 77 in the U.S. Virgin Islands in July 1987.[https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/maritza-sari-1910-1987 Maritza, Sari (1910–1987)]. Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 5 Aug 2024.
Filmography
- Greek Street (UK, 1930) as Anna
- Bed and Breakfast (UK, 1930) as Anne Entwhistle
- No Lady (UK, 1931) as Greta Gherkinski
- The Water Gipsies (UK, 1932) as Lily Bell
- Monte Carlo Madness (Germany/UK, 1932) as Queen Yola
- Forgotten Commandments (Paramount, 1932) as Anya Sorina
- Evenings for Sale (Paramount, 1932) (with Herbert Marshall, Charlie Ruggles, and Mary Boland) as Lela Fischer
- A Lady's Profession (Paramount, 1933) as Cecily Withers
- International House (Paramount, 1933) (with W. C. Fields, Bela Lugosi, George Burns, and Gracie Allen) as Carol Fortescue
- The Right to Romance (RKO, 1933) (with Ann Harding, Robert Young, and Nils Asther) as Lee Joyce
- Her Secret (1933) as Waffles
- Crimson Romance (Mascot, 1934) as Alida Hoffman (final film role)
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{commons category}}
- {{IMDb name|0548141}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maritza, Sari}}
Category:English film actresses
Category:20th-century English actresses
Category:Actresses from Tianjin