No Polish actor or actress has had such a worldwide career as Pola Negri, who was born in a small Polish town. Among her admirers were Adolf Hitler and Albert Einstein. She was recommended to American audiences by Charlie Chaplin.

Pola Negri (actually Apolonia Chałupiec) was born in Lipin (now the northern part of Poland) on 3 January 1897. At the time, this village was part of the Russian Partition as a result of the annexation of Polish lands by the Russian Empire.  Apolonia grew up in a mixed-nationality family: her father, Jerzy Chalupec, came from Slovakia and her mother, Eleonora (née Kiełczewska), was Polish.

During Apolonia’s childhood, a tragic event occurred. According to one version, her father was imprisoned by the Russian authorities and exiled deep into the Russian Empire – to Siberia. The Russians used such a practice against Polish patriots who fought for Poland’s independence under the Russian partition. Another version states that Jerzy abandoned his family.

Her first acting steps

The single mother left with little Apolonia for Warsaw, where she was employed as a domestic helper and ran a shop. Eleonora noticed that her daughter had a predisposition for acting. She supported her in this and sent her to ballet and theatre classes. In 1911, Apolonia was admitted to an acting school, and a year later she made her stage debut at Warsaw’s Little Theatre in “Maidens’ Vows”. By then, she had already adopted the artistic pseudonym Pola Negri. The first part of the pseudonym is a diminutive of the name Apolonia. The second part is the name of Ada Negri, an Italian poetess.

Reviews after Pola’s debut were not the best. She was accused of poor diction and a snarling voice. Nevertheless, the actress soon performed in the pantomime ‘Sumurun’, which brought a breakthrough in her career. After this performance, she was approached by Alexander Hertz, who owned the Sphinx film studio, with a proposal for a film engagement. She made her big screen debut in the picture Slave of the Senses in 1914.  After a few more films, she was labelled ‘a vamp’.

Career in Germany

At the start of the First World War, productions starring Pola Negri began to hit German cinemas. The film industry there began to tempt the young Polish actress. She finally agreed to an offer from the Saturn studio. This meant breaking her contract with the Sphinx studio and Hertz. It was rumoured that he brought a lawsuit against Pola Negri, which, as it turned out years later, was a sham. It was only meant to raise the stakes in the fight for the actress.

Pola left for Berlin in 1917. She initially appeared in films very similar to the Polish ones. A change in her life came when she met the director Ernest Lubitsch and, in particular, appeared in his film ‘The Eyes of the Mummy Ma’.

Pola in Hollywood

The German director’s fame grew rapidly.  He was extremely appreciated in Hollywood. However, it was a Polish actress who found herself there earlier than him. Pola arrived in the capital of the American film industry in 1922. She had already been wonderfully heralded by Charlie Chaplin. Returned to the USA after a tour of Europe, this famous American actor, declared to journalists that it was Pola Negri who had made the greatest impression on the Old Continent.

The Polish actress was hired by the Famous Players studio, which later changed its name to Paramount Pictures. She no longer played ‘vamp’ roles in American films, but films with Pola were not hits. She also came into conflict with another studio star, Gloria Swanson, who soon left the studio.

At this time, Ernest Lubitsch, whose beginnings in the American film business were not promising, arrived in Hollywood. In 1924, he made a film with Pola Negri “The Empress”, which was unexpectedly a huge success. Soon, the Polish actress also appeared in a production of ‘Hotel Imperial’, directed by Mauritz Stiller. Pola was finally loved by the American public. However, the good fortune did not last long.  Various rumours began to surface around Negri. Among others, it was said that she was having an affair with Charlie Chaplin, but the actor vehemently denied this. Later, during the illness of America’s favourite, Rudolph Valentino, the Pole declared that she was having an affair with him. When the actor soon died, Pola was accused of using the whole situation for self-promotion.

Back to German films

When sound films entered cinemas, there were no new offers for Negri in Hollywood. Her voice was said to be too low and her English was marked by a Polish accent. However, Germans showed a renewed interest in her. There, the Pole appeared in several films in the 1930s and had many admirers – including the then Chancellor of the Third German Reich, Adolf Hitler, and the physics genius Albert Einstein. Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels began to pressure Pola to star in a film promoting Nazi ideology, even though he had previously accused her of being of Jewish origin and banned her from being involved in future productions. As the pressure grew stronger, the actress left for France.

Last appearances on the big screen

After Germany defeated France in 1940, the Polish actress left for Portugal and later for the USA. There, three years later, she starred in the film “Hi Diddle Diddle”, which was well received by audiences. However, a lack of new proposals put her career on hold. She did not return to the big screen until 1964 in the film ‘Moon Spinner’. She then began to withdraw from the film business.

She died on 1 August 1987 in San Antonio (USA, Texas).