View source for Eugenie Leontovich

{{short description|Russian-American dramatist}}

{{Use American English|date=July 2020}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name       = Eugenie Leontovich
| image      = File:Eugenie Leontovich Tovarich 1939.jpg
| caption    = Leontovich as Tatiana in ''Tovarich''
| occupation = Actress, dramatist, acting teacher 
| birthname  = Evgenia Konstantinovna Leontovich
| birth_date = March 21 or April 3, 1900 (other sources indicate 1893, 1894, or 1898)<ref name="yob1893">[http://interactive.ancestrylibrary.com/7488/NYT715_3184-0499/4026654173?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestrylibrary.com%2f%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fdb%3dnypl%26h%3d4026654173%26indiv%3dtry%26o_vc%3dRecord%3aOtherRecord%26rhSource%3d2499&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnRecord 1922 travel manifest giving Leontovich's age as 29, which would indicate an 1893 year of birth], interactive.ancestrylibrary.com; accessed October 20, 2015.{{subscription required}}</ref><ref>[https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/leontovich-eugenie-1894-1993 This source gives 1894 as her year of birth, but also gives April 2, 1993 as her date of death], encyclopedia.com; accessed January 7, 2019.</ref><ref name="yob1898">[http://interactive.ancestrylibrary.com/7488/NYT715_4963-0393/2013711955?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestrylibrary.com%2f%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fgss%3dangs-g%26new%3d1%26rank%3d1%26gsfn%3dEugenia%2b%26gsfn_x%3d0%26gsln%3dRatoff%26gsln_x%3d0%26MSAV%3d0%26catbucket%3drstp%26uidh%3d57k%26pcat%3dROOT_CATEGORY%26h%3d2013711955%26recoff%3d8%2b9%26db%3dnypl%26indiv%3d1%26ml_rpos%3d5&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnRecord This source gives 1898 as Leontovich's year of birth], ancestry.com; accessed October 20, 2015.{{subscription required}}</ref>
| birth_place = [[Podolsk]], [[Moscow Oblast]], [[Russian Empire]]
| death_date  = April 3, 1993<!-- leave blank due to discrepancies re DOB/YOB -->
| death_place = [[New York, New York]], U.S.
| yearsactive = 1922-1962
| spouse      = Paul A. Sokolov (1916-1922) (divorced)<br>[[Gregory Ratoff]] (1923-1949) (divorced)<ref name="nytimes">{{cite news|last=Collins|first=Glenn|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/04/03/obituaries/eugenie-leontovich-93-actress-playwright-and-teacher-is-dead.html|title=Eugenie Leontovich, 93, Actress, Playwright and Teacher, Is Dead|website=[[The New York Times]]|date=1993-04-03|accessdate=2017-05-03}}</ref>
}}

'''Eugenie Leontovich''' (born '''Evgenia Konstantinovna Leontovich'''; {{langx|ru|Евге́ния Константи́новна Леонто́вич}}, [[Romanization of Russian|tr.]] {{transl|ru|Evgéniya Konstantínovna Leontóvich}}; March 21 or April 3, ca. 1900 {{Efn|Leontovich cited the latter date on her U.S. naturalization paperwork; the discrepancy may be between the O.S. (Julian) and N.S. (Gregorian) calendars) in either 1900, which most sources cite and which Leontovich herself claimed, or earlier, i.e. 1893, according to a border crossing manifest from September 23, 1922, which gives her age as 29, indicating 1893 as her year of birth, or 1894 or 1898, according to different travel manifests.|name=a|group=gamma}}<ref name="yob1898"/><ref name="Chicago">"Eugenie Leontovich, 93; actress, writer, director", ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'', April 4, 1993, pg. 6.</ref><ref name="New">"Eugenie Leontovich, 93, Actress, Playwright and Teacher, Is Dead". Glenn Collins, ''[[The New York Times]]'', pg. 11, April 3, 1993; accessed October 20, 2015.</ref><ref>According to her Petition for Naturalization as a United States citizen, effective September 5, 1929, she was born April 3, 1900 at Kamenes, [[Podolsk]], although the discrepancy may be between the O.S. (Julian) and N.S. (Gregorian) calendars.{{subscription required}}</ref><ref>[http://interactive.ancestrylibrary.com/2499/31301_167999-00221/3738521?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestrylibrary.com%2f%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fgss%3dangs-c%26new%3d1%26rank%3d1%26msT%3d1%26gsfn%3dEugenie%2b%26gsfn_x%3d0%26gsln%3dLeontovich%26gsln_x%3d0%26MSAV%3d0%26uidh%3d57k%26pcat%3d40%26h%3d3738521%26recoff%3d7%2b8%2b20%2b21%26db%3dNYNaturalizations%26indiv%3d1%26ml_rpos%3d3&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnRecord Petition for Naturalization], ancestry.com; accessed October 20, 2015.{{subscription required}}</ref><ref>[http://interactive.ancestrylibrary.com/2499/31301_167999-00221/3738521?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestrylibrary.com%2f%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3findiv%3d1%26db%3dNYNaturalizations%26h%3d3738521&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnRecord Profile], interactive.ancestrylibrary.com; accessed October 20, 2015.{{subscription required}}</ref> – April 3, 1993) was a [[Russia]]n-[[United States|American]] actress with a distinguished career in [[theatre]], [[film]] and [[television]], as well as a dramatist and acting teacher.

In an obituary, she was described as "[o]ne of the most colourful figures of the 20th-century theatre, a successful actress, producer, playwright and teacher."<ref name="Exile">Harris, Dale. "Exile on Broadway; Obituary: Eugenie Leontovich", ''[[The Guardian]]'', p. 13 (London). April 14, 1993</ref> She was nominated for a [[Tony Award]] for [[Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play|Best Lead Actress in a Play]] for [[William Saroyan]]'s ''[[The Cave Dwellers]]''.<ref name="nytimes"/>

==Early life==
Born in Podolsk, she studied at Moscow's Imperial School of Dramatic Art, and then under [[Meyerhold]] at the [[Moscow Art Theatre]], which she subsequently joined. The daughter of Konstantin Leontovich, an officer in the Russian Imperial Army, she suffered greatly during the Revolution. Her three brothers (who were Army officers like their father) were murdered by the [[Bolsheviks]]. In 1922, she "found her way to New York City and set about mastering the English language". That year, she joined a touring company of the musical ''Blossom Time'' in 1922 and traveled throughout much of the U.S. Her success led to Broadway stardom.<ref name="Exile"/>

==Career==
[[File:Leontovich-Grand-Hotel-1930.jpg|thumb|left|Eugenie Leontovich as Grusinskaia, the dancer, in the original Broadway production of ''Grand Hotel'' (1930)]]
After touring the country in ''Blossom Time'', she was cast as Grusinskaia in the Broadway adaptation of [[Vicki Baum]]'s novel ''[[Grand Hotel (novel)|Grand Hotel]]''. An enormous success, the play, which opened in 1930, was later filmed with [[Greta Garbo]] in the part created by Leontovich.<ref name="Exile"/> After ''[[Grand Hotel (1932 film)|Grand Hotel]]'', Leontovich was given the role of Lily Garland (aka Mildred Plotka) in ''[[Twentieth Century (play)|Twentieth Century]]'', a comedy by [[Ben Hecht]] and [[Charles MacArthur]]. She played the role from December 29, 1932, until May 20, 1933.<ref name="ibdb"/>

She also played the Archduchess Tatiana in ''Tovarich'', a comedy about a pair of Russian aristocrats who survive in Paris by going into domestic service. It was in this play that she made a highly successful London debut at the [[Lyric Theatre (London)|Lyric Theatre]] in 1935, with [[Cedric Hardwicke]] as her co-star. During World War II, she appeared on Broadway in ''Dark Eyes'', a comedy she wrote with [[Elena Miramova]] about three Russian exiles in New York. The play was produced in London after the war with Eugenia Delarova and [[Irina Baronova]].<ref name="Exile"/> 

In 1936, she played [[Shakespeare]]'s Cleopatra at the [[Noël Coward Theatre|New Theatre]], returning to London in 1947 as a female Russian general in a farce which she co-wrote, ''Caviar to the General'', which temporarily displaced [[Phyllis Dixey]] at the [[Whitehall]]. A year later, she moved to Los Angeles, where for the next five years she had her own theatre, The Stage, where she both produced and performed.<ref name="Exile"/>

In 1954, she created the role of the Dowager Empress in the play ''Anastasia'' on Broadway. (The role was played by [[Helen Hayes]] in [[Anastasia (1956 film)|the film version]].) In 1972, she adapted ''[[Anna Karenina]]'' for off-Broadway, calling it ''Anna K.'' and appearing in it with success.<ref name="Exile"/> Leontovich made a handful of films. For most of her long professional life, she was identified with the stage. For seven years in the 1960s, she was artist in residence at the [[Goodman Theater]] in Chicago. She taught acting in California and New York City.<ref name="nytimes"/>

==Personal==
Leontovich, whose students addressed her and referred to her as "Madame", lived in a Manhattan apartment surrounded by family pictures and icons. Both of her marriages ended in divorce, and she had no children. She became a naturalized United States citizen on September 5, 1929. According to her official biography, her first husband, Paul Sokolov, was purportedly a Russian noble. Her second husband was actor, producer, and director [[Gregory Ratoff]], whom she married on January 19, 1923; they lived in California until their divorce, {{When|date=October 2015}} and she moved to New York.<ref name="Chicago"/>

==Broadway plays==
Leontovich made her Broadway debut in 1922 in ''Revue Russe'', appearing with [[Gregory Ratoff]], whom she married the following year. She appeared on Broadway in ''Bitter Oleander'' (1935), ''[[Dark Eyes (play)|Dark Eyes]]'' (1943) which she co-wrote, and ''Obsession'' (1946). Her most notable role as the [[Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark)|Dowager Empress]] in ''Anastasia'' (1954).<ref name="ibdb">{{cite web|url=http://ibdb.com/Person/View/9804|title=Eugenie Leontovich profile|website=IBDb.com|accessdate=October 20, 2015}}</ref>

==Filmography==
She appeared in a handful of films: ''[[Four Sons (1940 film)|Four Sons]]'' (1940), ''[[The Men in Her Life]]'' (1941),  ''[[Anything Can Happen]]'' (1952), ''[[The World in His Arms]]'' (1952), ''[[The Rains of Ranchipur]]'' (1955) and ''[[Homicidal]]'' (1961). She also appeared in two episodes of the television series ''[[Naked City (TV series)|Naked City]]'', once opposite [[Viveca Lindfors]], her former ''Anastasia'' co-star and a personal friend. Despite being more than two decades Lindfors's senior, Leontovich predeceased her by only two years.<ref name="imdb">{{IMDb name|0503122}}</ref>

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
|1940|| ''[[Four Sons (1940 film)|Four Sons]]'' || Frau Bern ||
|-
|1941|| ''[[The Men in Her Life]]'' || Marie || 
|-
|1952|| ''[[Anything Can Happen]]'' || Anna Godiedze ||
|-
|1952|| ''[[The World in His Arms]]'' || Anna Selanova ||
|-
|1955|| ''[[The Rains of Ranchipur]]'' || Maharani ||
|-
|1961|| ''[[Homicidal]]'' || Helga Swenson ||
|}

==Citations==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline|Eugenie Leontovich}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leontovich, Eugenie}}
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:1993 deaths]]
[[Category:American film actresses]]
[[Category:American stage actresses]]
[[Category:American television actresses]]
[[Category:Actresses from the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:White Russian emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Deaths from pneumonia in New York City]]
[[Category:American women dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century American actresses]]
[[Category:20th-century American dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century American women writers]]
[[Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States]]
[[Category:20th-century Russian actresses]]
[[Category:20th-century Russian women educators]]
[[Category:20th-century Russian educators]]