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Linda Christian

 
Actor: Linda Christian
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Actors
  • Born: Nov 13, 1924 in Tampico, Mexico
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '40s-'60s
  • Major Genres: Drama, Adventure
  • Career Highlights: Green Dolphin Street, Holiday in Mexico, The Happy Time
  • First Major Screen Credit: Holiday in Mexico (1946)

Biography

Of Spanish, French, German, and Dutch descent, actress Linda Christian spent her childhood moving from place to place across the globe; her father was a petroleum engineer, a profession that precluded a permanent address. After working as a clerk in the British government office in Palestine, Christian relocated to Acapulco, where she was discovered by film star Errol Flynn. Signed to an RKO contract in 1944, she languished in bit roles for a year or so. She was better served at MGM, where she was stuck with the publicity-flack designation "the Copper Girl." Her best-known assignment during her MGM years was as a loan-out to her old studio of RKO to appear in the Mexico-filmed Tarzan and the Mermaids. Christian married Tyrone Power in 1949 and had two daughters by Power before their 1956 divorce, which garnered international headlines due to Christian's then-enormous one-million-dollar cash settlement. Having no problem whatsoever attracting press attention wherever she went, Christian still could not parlay her off-camera fame into movie stardom: Her film appearances of the 1950s were generally unsuccessful. She did, however, have the distinction of being the very first "Bond Girl" when she co-starred with Barry Nelson (as American secret agent "Jimmy" Bond) in a 1954 TV adaptation of Ian Fleming's Casino Royale. Squired by European nobility after her breakup with Power, Christian opted to become an actor's wife for a second time when she married Edmond Purdom in 1962, and later married a third time into an aristocratic European family. Linda Christian's daughter, Romina Power, launched her own film career in the 1960s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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Wikipedia: Linda Christian
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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
Linda Christian
Born Blanca Rosa Welter
November 13, 1923 (1923-11-13) (age 86)
Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Other name(s) Linda Christian Power, Linda Welter
Years active 1943 – 1988
Spouse(s) Tyrone Power (1949-1956)
Edmund Purdom (1962-1963)

Linda Christian (born Blanca Rosa Welter on November 13, 1923)[1][2][3] is a Mexican movie actress, who filmed films in Mexican cinema and in Hollywood, her career reached its peak in the 1940s and 1950s. She played Mara in the last Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan film Tarzan and The Mermaids (1948).[4] She is also noted for being the first Bond girl, appearing in a 1954 TV adaptation of the James Bond novel Casino Royale.[5] In 1963 she starred in an episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour called "An Out for Oscar."

Contents

Early life

Christian was born in Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico, the daughter of Dutch engineer and Royal Dutch Shell executive, Gerardus Jacob Welter,[6] and his Mexican-born wife of Spanish, German and French descent Blanca Rosa.[7] The Welter family moved a great deal during Christian's youth, living everywhere from South America and Europe, to the Middle East and Africa.[8] As a result of this nomadic lifestyle, Christian became an accomplished polyglot with the ability to speak fluent French, German, Dutch, Spanish, English, Italian, and even a bit of haphazard Arabic and Russian.[9]

Christian had three younger siblings, a sister, Ariadna Gloria Welter (1930-1998), and two brothers, Gerardus Jacob Welter (b.1924) and Edward Albert Welter (b.1932).[10][11]

Ariadna Welter was a well-known actress in the Mexican cinema.[12] Her most celebrated role was as 'Carlota Cervantes' in Luis Buñuel's 'Ensayo de un Crimen' (The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz) in 1955. Ariadna continued to appear in movies and on soap operas in Mexico in her later years.

Career and family

In her youth Christian's only aspiration was to become a physician.[13] After she graduated from secondary school she had a fortuitous meeting with her screen idol Errol Flynn, and was persuaded by him to give up her hopes of joining the medical profession, move to Hollywood, and pursue an acting career.[14] Not long after arriving in Hollywood she was spotted by Louis B. Mayer's secretary at a fashion show in Beverly Hills. He offered, and she accepted, a seven year contract with MGM.[15]

She made her film debut in the 1944 musical comedy Up In Arms, co-starring Danny Kaye and Dinah Shore. This movie also happened to be Danny Kaye's own first film.[16] This film was followed by Holiday In Mexico in 1946, Captain From Castile in 1947, and what was perhaps her best-known film, 1948's Tarzan and the Mermaids.[17]

Linda Christian's fame, however, is derived largely from having wed (and divorced) the popular movie actor Tyrone Power.[18] She and Power are the parents of actress Taryn Power and singer Romina Power,[19] one half of the famous Italian singing duo Al Bano & Romina Power. Christian was later also briefly married to the Rome-based British actor (and movie heartthrob) Edmund Purdom.

Several times Christian and Power were offered the opportunity to work together, but for various reasons each offer was refused or rescinded.[20] The most notable opportunity to co-star with one another came in 1953, when they were offered leading roles in From Here to Eternity. Power didn't wish to do the film,[21] rejected the offer, and the roles went to Donna Reed and Montgomery Clift, winning Donna Reed an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

Christian's autobiography, Linda, was published in 1962.

She is the subject of a well-known photograph published in the January 1, 1949 issue of Vogue.

See also

References

  1. ^ Ancestry.com. New Orleans Passenger Lists, 1820-1945 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006. Micropublication T905. RG085. Rolls #104. Entry for Blanca Rosa Welter Age 1yr 4 months. Gender Female. Nationality: Dutch. Port of Departure: Tampico, Mexico. Ship Name: Maasdam Port of Arrival: New Orleans, Louisiana. Date of Arrival: Mar 23, 1925.
  2. ^ Ancestry.com. New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006. Year: 1947; Microfilm serial: T715; Microfilm roll: T715_7515; Line: 6;. Entry for: Blanca Welter. Gender Female. Age: 24 years. Port of Departure: Southampton, England. Nationality: Mexican. Place of Birth: Tampico, Mexico. Occupation: Actress. Ship Name: Queen Mary. Port of Arrival: New York, NY. Date of Arrival: Dec 10, 1947.
  3. ^ Ancestry.com. New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006. Year: 1941; Microfilm serial: T715; Microfilm roll: T715_6565; Line: 9; .Entry for: Blanca Rosa Welter. Gender: Female. Age: 17. Nationality: Dutch. Occupation: Student. Place of Birth: Tampico, Mexico. Port of Departure: Cape Town, South Africa. Ship Name: President Monroe. Port of Arrival: New York, NY. Date of Arrival: July 31, 1941. Editor's Note: If she was 17 in July 1941, that would mean she was going to turn 18 that November; another confirmation of 1923 as her year of birth.
  4. ^ Paul Parla & Charles P. Mitchell. Screen sirens scream!, pages 35. McFarland, 2000
  5. ^ Rubin, Steven Jay. The complete James Bond movie encyclopedia, pages 70 & 76-77. Contemporary Books, 2003
  6. ^ Ancestry.com. New Orleans Passenger Lists, 1820-1945 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006. Port of Departure: Tampico, Mexico. Ship Name: Maasdam Port of Arrival: New Orleans, Louisiana. Date of Arrival: Mar 23, 1925.
  7. ^ Paul Parla & Charles P. Mitchell. Screen sirens scream!, pages 35-36. McFarland, 2000
  8. ^ Paul Parla & Charles P. Mitchell. Screen sirens scream!, pages 35. McFarland, 2000
  9. ^ Paul Parla & Charles P. Mitchell. Screen sirens scream!, pages 35. McFarland, 2000
  10. ^ Ancestry.com. New Orleans Passenger Lists, 1820-1945 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006. Micropublication T905. RG085. Rolls #104. Port of Departure: Tampico, Mexico. Ship Name: Maasdam Port of Arrival: New Orleans, Louisiana. Date of Arrival: Mar 23, 1925.
  11. ^ Ancestry.com. New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006. Year: 1941; Microfilm serial: T715; Microfilm roll: T715_6565; Line: 9;. Port of Departure: Cape Town, South Africa. Ship Name: President Monroe. Port of Arrival: New York, NY.
  12. ^ Paul Parla & Charles P. Mitchell. Screen sirens scream!, pages 35. McFarland, 2000
  13. ^ Paul Parla & Charles P. Mitchell. Screen sirens scream!, pages 36. McFarland, 2000
  14. ^ Paul Parla & Charles P. Mitchell. Screen sirens scream!, pages 36. McFarland, 2000
  15. ^ Paul Parla & Charles P. Mitchell. Screen sirens scream!, pages 37. McFarland, 2000
  16. ^ Paul Parla & Charles P. Mitchell. Screen sirens scream!, pages 37. McFarland, 2000
  17. ^ Paul Parla & Charles P. Mitchell. Screen sirens scream!, pages 37. McFarland, 2000
  18. ^ Paul Parla & Charles P. Mitchell. Screen sirens scream!, pages 35. McFarland, 2000
  19. ^ Paul Parla & Charles P. Mitchell. Screen sirens scream!, pages 39. McFarland, 2000
  20. ^ Paul Parla & Charles P. Mitchell. Screen sirens scream!, pages 39. McFarland, 2000
  21. ^ Paul Parla & Charles P. Mitchell. Screen sirens scream!, pages 39. McFarland, 2000

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