Maria Karnilova

Karnilova, Maria [neé Maria Karnilovich Dovgolenko] (1920–2001), character actress. A sharp‐voiced, lively performer mostly in musicals, she worked her way up to star billing by the peak of her Broadway career. She was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and trained for a career in ballet at the Metropolitan Opera School where she performed as a child. She was a featured dancer in several Broadway musicals before she was cast in the colorful role of stripper Tessie Tura in Gypsy (1959). From that point on Karnilova played character parts, sometimes in the leading role. Her most notable performances were the Russian mother Golde in Fiddler on the Roof (1964), the faded courtesan Hortense in Zorbá (1968), and the Parisian guardian Inez in Gigi (1973).