Author Archive
1919: Photo of Anna Mae Wong by Alla’s Pool
Joyce Ralston Payton, who is a member of the Hollywood’s Garden of Allah Novels Facebook Group, posted this photo of Anna Mae Wong to the group. She rightly suspected the photo was taken at the Garden of Alla. Anna Mae Wong’s first appearance in movies was in Nazimova’s “The Red Lantern,” which was released by […]
Born Today: Caroline Harris – Helped Nazimova Learn English
November 1 is the birthday of Caroline Harris. One of the legends of Alla Nazimova is that when she landed in the United States, she couldn’t speak a word of English. However, she managed to impress Shubert brothers so deeply that they hired her on the condition she learn English in six months. And she […]
  • Rambova | Nov 1, 2017
  • Section: Blog
Nazimova’s Friend – the Singer Feodor Chaliapin
“[Feodor]Chaliapin, the famed Russian singer, came to Los Angeles for three seasons, 1923, 1924 and 1925. After his performances, he invariably went to Alla’s house to eat two big steaks, drink half a bottle of vodka, and tell dirty stories until morning.” Shelia Graham, The Garden of Allah.
Alla Nazimova’s Iconic 1923 ‘Salome’ Wig Discovered in a Trunk in Georgia
Wig Was Designed by Natacha Rambova, Wife of Rudolph Valentino
West Hollywood, Calif. (March 10, 2015) A lost trove of early 20th century costumes and fashionable street wear from the estate of Broadway and silent-film star Alla Nazimova (“Nah-ZIM-oh-vah”) was discovered last fall in an unlikely place: a storage building behind a home in Columbus, Ga. College student Jack Raines found the garments fastidiously packed […]
Nazimova in Columbia University’s Women Film Pioneers Project
There’s an important overview of the location and status of Alla Nazimova’s papers and other research assets on Columbia University’s Women Film Pioneers Project, written by Jennifer Horne, including this bit: There is no denying the intriguing power of a biographical narrative that traces connections between Alla Nazimova and almost every prominent lesbian in Hollywood, […]
Nazimova on ‘Mysteries & Scandals’
Originally broadcast in September 1998, with commentary by the late Gavin Lambert, author of the definitive biography, “Nazimova: A Biography.”
Happy Birthday, Alla Nazimova
June 4 is Alla Nazimova’s birthday. She would be 135 years old today, but we suspect she’d only admit to 110. Here’s an astrological chart that someone prepared on her behalf. Some of the information is inaccurate — she never actually studied with Stanislavsky and she did eventually divorce her first husband, but close enough.
Dorothy Parker Book Events in West Hollywood This Week
WEHOville: [Dorothy] Parker’s WeHo history will be celebrated this weekend with a series of events, beginning with a reception at Tags, the clothing store on 8570 W. Sunset Blvd. near Alta Loma, for Kevin Fitzpatrick, author of “Under the Table: A Dorothy Parker Cocktail Guide.” Fitzpatrick is president of the Dorothy Parker Society in New […]
Podcasts: Martin Turnbull Interviewed about Nazimova and the Garden of Allah
Alla Nazimova Society co-founder Martin Turnbull was interviewed recently by the Kim Cooper and Richard Schave, the folks behind Esotouric and the Los Angeles Visionaries Association (LAVA) about Alla Nazimova and the Garden of Allah. You can listen to the podcast through the Los Angele Magazine website. Update: Esotouric has released their second podcast interview […]
Book Events for ‘Under the Table: A Dorothy Parker Cocktail Guide’ Scheduled for West Hollywood, Parker’s West Coast Home
Dorothy Parker is so closely associated with New York that it is often forgotten that she lived at the Garden of Allah and elsewhere around town — in fact, for a brief while, she owned one of those tiny houses on Norma Place — off and on from the mid-1930s through the 1960s. So it […]