Sari Maritza

Born Dora Patricia Detring-Nathan in Tianjin, China, Maritza was the daughter of a wealthy industrialist and his Viennese wife. Her stage name was taken from the titles of two then famous European operettas – Sari and Countess Maritza.

Maritza died in the U.S. Virgin Islands in July 1987.

The Literary Digest said the name was pronounced SHA-ree MAR-ee-tsa. (Charles Earle Funk, What's the Name, Please?, Funk & Wagnalls, 1936.)

In America, she was portrayed as an exotic European vamp with emphasis placed on her mother's Austrian heritage, but Maritza had lived most of her life in Britain, and disapproved of the studio's attempts to create a more mysterious facade for her. She retired in 1934 following her marriage, and in later years, admitted that she had been eager to end her career as she did not consider herself to be a capable actress.

Ironically, the New York Times commented in a June 4 1932 review about the 'vivacious Continental actress', that her "English is fluent and she looks far more attractive than she does in Forgotten Commandments".

Forgotten Commandments (1932) was a patchwork which re-used left-over footage from Cecil B.

Dora Patricia Detering-Nathan was born in Tientsin, China, the daughter of British Army Major Walter Nathan and his Austrian wife. She received her school education in England, Germany, Austria and Switzerland and was, therefore, linguistically well-equipped to appear in films in England as well as on the continent. Her stage name was an amalgamation of two popular contemporary operettas: Sari (also known as 'The Gypsy Violinist') and Countess Maritza, both composed by 'Emmerich Kalman'. Sari made her screen debut in her mother's home town, Vienna, and then went on to film in Budapest, Berlin and London. Most of her films were low budget efforts, such as 'Monte Carlo Madness', which was made by Ufa simultaneously in English and in German (as Bombs Over Monte Carlo (1931)). In this, she played a queen.

Maritza entered films in 1930 and gained some notoriety for dancing a tango with Charles Chaplin at the premiere for his film City Lights in 1931. Although her behaviour was described as lurid, which was silly publicity, she attracted attention and was cast in several low budget, but relatively popular British films.

DeMille's Biblical epic The Ten Commandments (1923), and had Maritza playing a vamp. The New York Times stated (June 2 1) that, though her make-up "was not in her favour", she gave a "competent performance". The connection between Ufa and Paramount was significant in launching Sari Maritza's brief Hollywood career. Paramount, always experimenting with continental actresses in the hope of finding another Greta Garbo or Marlene Dietrich, invented a fictitious, exotic background for her, though she was first, and foremost, English. Usually cast in femme fatale roles, neither the quality of her subsequent films, nor her performances, suggested major star potential.

Sari Maritza (17 March 1910 – July 1987) was an actress in British films of the early 1930s.