Lyda Roberti

Lyda Roberti

Born: May 20, 1906
Died: December 3, 1938
in Warsaw, Poland, Russian Empire [now Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland]
Lyda's father was German clown Roberti, her mother a Polish trick rider. As a child performer, she toured Europe and Asia with the Circus in which she was born, leaving it (and her reportedly abusive father) in Shanghai, China. In this truly international city, Lyda became a child cafe entertainer and learned the fractured English that became her trademark. Around 1927, she emigrated to California, finding work in vaudeville, where she was "discovered" in 1930 by Broadway producer Lou Holtz and became an overnight star in his 1931 show 'You Said It'. Lyda's unforgettable stage and screen character was a sexy blonde whose charming accent and uninhibited man-chasing were played for hilarious laughs. From 1932-35 she made 8 comedy and musical films mainly at Paramount, with Fields, Cantor, and other great comedians; her unique singing style was also popular on the radio and records. Her health declining from premature heart disease, she briefly replaced the late Thelma Todd in Hal Roach comedy shorts with Patsy Kelly and appeared in 3 features for MGM and Columbia, then retired from film work a few months before her fatal heart attack at age 31.

Date of Birth 20 May 1906, Warsaw, Poland, Russian Empire [now Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland]

Date of Death 12 March 1938, Los Angeles, California, USA  (heart attack)

Movies for Lyda Roberti...

Wide Open Faces
Title: Wide Open Faces
Character: Kitty Fredericks
Released: April 18, 1938
Type: Movie
A small town soda jerk discovers a gang of criminals staying at a local hotel. Comedy.
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Pick a Star
Title: Pick a Star
Character: Dagmar
Released: May 21, 1937
Type: Movie
A Cinderella story of a young country girl who comes to Hollywood and achieves movie stardom with the help of a publicity man.
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Nobody's Baby
Title: Nobody's Baby
Character: Lena Marchetti
Released: April 23, 1937
Type: Movie
Kitty Reily (Patsy Kelly) and Lena Marchetti (Lyda Roberti) meet each other at an amateur Radio Show. Kitty quickly learns to greatly dislike incompetent Lena. They keep running into each other until Kitty resigns to being friends with Lena when they become hospital nurses and share a dorm room.
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Hill-Tillies
Title: Hill-Tillies
Character: Lyda Roberti
Released: April 24, 1936
Type: Movie
The girls camp out in the woods for a publicity stunt.
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At Sea Ashore
Title: At Sea Ashore
Character: Lyda Roberti
Released: April 4, 1936
Type: Movie
Patsy's working at Rumplemeyer's Donut Shop in Brooklyn. By accident she catches Mr. Rumplemeyer's trousers in the donut machine as he's leaving to pick his niece who's arriving from the old country, so he gives Patsy cab fare and sends her. She forgets her purse, so when she arrives at the immigration office, she can't pay the cabbie, who tells her he'll wait while the meter runs. Inside, Patsy finally finds the high-spirited Lyda, but by then, Patsy has sneaked into the holding area and may need a passport to get out. She hides in Lyda's trunk, but with the cabbie, a suspicious immigration officer, and a traffic cop buzzing around will uncle and niece ever connect?
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The Big Broadcast of 1936
Title: The Big Broadcast of 1936
Character: Countess Ysobel de Naigila
Released: September 20, 1935
Type: Movie
Two-bit radio station owner Spud Miller doubles as the station's sole announcer. On the verge of bankruptcy, Spud is receptive to the wacky notions of George and Gracie, who've just invented a television device that can pick up and transmit any signal, any time, anywhere.
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George White's 1935 Scandals
Title: George White's 1935 Scandals
Character: Manya
Released: March 29, 1935
Type: Movie
A Broadway producer discovers new talent in a small Georgia town and brings them to New York for his new show.
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College Rhythm
Title: College Rhythm
Character: Mimi
Released: November 23, 1934
Type: Movie
The story deals with the college rivalry of a piccolo player and an All-American halfback on the football team who both love the same co-ed. After graduation they carry their their feud and collegiate ideas over into the department store business.
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Hollywood Rhythm
Title: Hollywood Rhythm
Released: November 15, 1934
Type: Movie
This short plugs the new tunes written by Mack Gordon and Harry Revel for the movie "College Rhythm" and shows the audience how they were written and rehearsed. Naturally it also advertises the movie.
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Meet the Baron
Title: Meet the Baron
Character: College Girl (uncredited)
Released: October 20, 1933
Type: Movie
A charlatan posing as Baron Munchhausen is invited to be guest speaker at a girls' school.
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Torch Singer
Title: Torch Singer
Character: Dora Nichols
Released: September 8, 1933
Type: Movie
When she can't support her illegitimate child, an abandoned young woman puts her up for adoption and pursues a career as a torch singer. Years later, she searches for the child she gave up.
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Three-Cornered Moon
Title: Three-Cornered Moon
Character: Jenny
Released: August 8, 1933
Type: Movie
Elizabeth Rimplegar inhabits a household populated by virtual lunatics. Her mother, Nellie, mishandled the family fortune, and, alas, the stock market crash has depleted their worth. Elizabeth's goofy brothers cannot easily adjust to the life of the average worker. Meanwhile, the family doctor has his eye on Elizabeth, but he will have to compete with her suitor, an ill-informed writer.
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The Kid from Spain
Title: The Kid from Spain
Character: Rosalie
Released: November 17, 1932
Type: Movie
Eddie and his Mexican friend Ricardo are expelled from college after Ricardo put Eddie in the girl's dormitory when he was drunk. Per chance Eddie gets mixed up in a bank robbery and is forced to drive the robbers to safety. To get rid of him they force him to leave the USA for Mexico, but a cop is following him. Eddie meets Ricardo there, Ricardo helps him avoid being arrested by the cop when he introduces Eddie as the great Spanish bullfighter Don Sebastian II. The problem is, the cop is still curious and has tickets for the bullfight. Eddie's situation becomes more critical, when he tries to help Ricardo to win the girl he loves, but she's engaged to a "real" Mexican, who is, unknown to her father, involved in illegal business. While trying to avoid all this trouble, Eddie himself falls in love with his friend's girl friend's sister Rosalie, who also want to see the great Don Sebastian II to kill the bull in the arena.
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Million Dollar Legs
Title: Million Dollar Legs
Character: Mata Machree
Released: July 8, 1932
Type: Movie
A small country on the verge of bankruptcy is persuaded to enter the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics as a means of raising money.
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Dancers in the Dark
Title: Dancers in the Dark
Character: Fanny Zabowolski
Released: March 11, 1932
Type: Movie
A bandleader tries to romance a dancer by sending her boyfriend, a musician, out of town. However, things get complicated when he finds out that a gangster has designs on her too.
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The Roof Garden Revue
Title: The Roof Garden Revue
Character: Herself
Released: May 5, 1929
Type: Movie
A musical Vitaphone short by Larry Ceballos. The songs include "Over the Garden Wall", It Was the Dawn of Love", and Baily and Barnum singing "Pretty Little Bom Bom Maid From Bombay".