Lyda Roberti

Lyda Roberti (née Pecjak; May 20, 1906 – March 13, 1938)<ref name=":1"/> was an American singer and stage and film actress. (According to the opening credits of "The Big Broadcast of 1936," Lyda is pronounced LEE-duh.)

Early years

Born in Warsaw,<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref> then part of Imperial Russia, Lyda Roberti was the daughter of a German father (a professional clown surnamed Pecjak) and a Polish mother. As a child she performed in the circus as a trapeze artist and bareback rider.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref> She had an elder brother, Robert, also born in Poland,<ref>Robert Pecjak (later Robert Roberti; 1905–1996)</ref> and a younger sister, Manya.Template:Citation needed

To escape the upheaval in Russia after the Communist revolution in 1917, the Pecjak family settled in Shanghai, China, where Lyda earned money as a dancer in the Carlton café. Eventually, she saved enough money to pay her passage to the United States, where she performed in vaudeville in both San Francisco and Los Angeles.<ref name=":1"/>

Career

Roberti made her Broadway debut in You Said It in 1931 and, with its success, became an overnight sensation. During her run with the show, she was nicknamed "Broadway's preferred Polish blonde". Historian Edward Jablonski found that "much of her appeal to the audiences at the time was due to her Polish accent" and cited instances when her pronunciation of certain consonants would "stir audiences to gales of laughter."<ref name="Jablonski1998">Template:Cite book</ref>

In 1932, she was signed to Paramount Pictures,Template:Citation needed where she appeared in Edward F. Cline's comedy film Million Dollar Legs (1932) as "Mata Machree, The Woman No Man Can Resist", a Mata Hari-type spy hired to undermine the President of Klopstokia (played by W.C. Fields) in his efforts to secure money for his destitute country.

In 1933, she performed in two more Broadway musicals: the short-lived Pardon My English and the much more successful Roberta. Throughout the 1930s, she played in a string of films. Her sexy but playful characterizations, along with the accent she had acquired during her years in Europe and Asia, made her popular with audiences. In 1936, Roberti replaced Thelma Todd in several films after Todd's death.<ref name=":1" />

Personal life

On June 25, 1935, Roberti married aviator Bud Ernst in Yuma, Arizona.<ref>Template:Cite news Template:Open access</ref> They separated one year later but secretly reconciled in January 1937 and remained together until her death.<ref name=":1" />

Roberti struggled with health issues for most of her life, mainly related to her heart. In the spring of 1935, she underwent surgery for heart and appendix issues. In 1936, she was forced to withdraw from Wives Never Know owing to an unnamed illness. A series of heart attacks forced her to curtail her workload in 1937.<ref name=":1" />

Death

On the night of March 13, 1938, Roberti suffered another severe heart attack. Dr. Myron Babcock unsuccessfully administered heart stimulants, and Roberti died at age 31 with husband Ernst at her bedside. Her funeral two days later drew 400 people, including many of her Hollywood colleagues.<ref name=":1" />

According to her friend and co-star Patsy Kelly, Roberti died from a heart attack while bending to tie her shoelace.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In an interview with Leonard Maltin for Film Fan Monthly, Kelly said, "As a child, her father was in the circus, and he used to throw her on bareback, and we never knew it had affected her heart, and one day – boom!"<ref>Maltin, Leonard. "FFM Interviews Patsy Kelly", March 1971, 3.</ref>

Roberti is interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1928	Undersea Revue		Short
1932	Dancers in the Dark	Fanny Zabowolski
	Million Dollar Legs	Mata Machree
	The Kid from Spain	Rosalie
1933	Three-Cornered Moon	Jenny
	Torch Singer	Dora Nichols
	Meet the Baron	College Girl	Uncredited
1934	College Rhythm	Mimi
	Hollywood Rhythm	Herself	Short
1935	George White's 1935 Scandals	Manya
	The Big Broadcast of 1936	Countess Ysobel de Naigila
1936	At Sea Ashore	Herself	Short
	Hill-Tillies	Herself	Short
1937	Nobody's Baby	Lena Marchetti
	Pick a Star	Dagmar
1938	Wide Open Faces	Kitty Fredericks	(final film role)

External links

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