Tilly Losch (Who’s Who at MGM, 1937) 🇺🇸
Tilly Losch was enrolled as the youngest student in the Austrian Imperial School of Ballet at the age of seven, when the celebrated dancer, Saharet, sponsored her.
Not long after starting to study ballet, Tilly’s father, a wealthy banker, was killed in an automobile accident. That and the World War depleted the family fortune.
In spite of the hardships, Tilly continued in the ballet class and won considerable acclaim in the public examinations. When she was sixteen, she got her first big chance when she substituted for the prima ballerina in a performance before the King and Queen of Spain.
She entered other schools in Vienna and Berlin and studied under the famed Mary Wigman. In addition to dancing, Tilly took up music, acting, languages and art. She danced at the Opera, and appeared as an actress at the Burg Theatre, under the direction of Hans Brahm.
Danced tor Reinhardt
She met the famous Max Reinhardt, who engaged her as the premiere danseuse in The Green Flute. Later she arranged all the dances for his A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Reinhardt persuaded her to come to America to stage the dances for his production of the show there.
Tilly went to London and danced in This Year of Grace. Returning to New York, she appeared in Wake Up and Dream. Back in London, she danced in 50 Million Frenchmen, Bitter Sweet, The Gang’s All Here, The Band Wagon, Streamlined, and appeared in The Miracle. She was presented to the King and Queen while dancing at the Covent Garden Opera House.
After making her first picture, “Limelight,” in Great Britain, she came to America for “On Your Toes.” While dancing in this show she accepted an offer for a part in “The Garden of Allah.”
Lotus in “Good Earth”
She was tested for the part of Lotus in The Good Earth and was cast. Her work in this picture won her a long-term contract at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Tilly is five feet three inches tall, weighs 115 pounds, has auburn hair and gray-green eyes.
Tilly not only is talented as an actress and dancer, but she designs her own clothes. She has an exquisite collection of antique jewelry which she has added to, bit by bit, during her travels around the world.
She attends pictures several times a week because she is anxious to learn as much as possible about screen technique. Her closest friend is Adele Astaire Cavendish and she especially admires Noel Coward.
Dogs Favorite Pets
Her favorite form of exercise is swimming and she takes long walks in the early morning. Her favorite pets are dogs, and she declares that, if she moves out of the apartment where she now lives, she will buy a Dachshund.
For relaxation Tilly likes to read and selects her material from biographies and histories. She plays the piano expertly. Her favorite color is chartreuse and her favorite menu is a thick steak.
Her greatest disappointment in life was when she was unable to have her contract with the Vienna Opera Ballet signed because of the revolution. Tilly admits that her greatest fear is of burglars.
Although her sensational Flame Dance was a traditional Oriental movement, Tilly originates many of her own dances. She is of a shy, retiring nature.
Collection: Who’s Who at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1937)