Armen Ohanian, born Sophia Pirboudaghian, was an Armenian actress, choreographer, dancer, and author.
She was born in Shamakha, then part of the Russian Empire and now part of modern-day Azerbaijan. In 1905, her father was killed in the anti-Armenian pogroms that took place in the city of Baku. Armen Ohanian began her theatrical career in Baku in 1906, before moving to Moscow where she studied plastic arts.
In 1909, she moved to Iran, where she pursued dance and theater activities and co-founded the Persian National Theater in Tehran. She perfected her skills in Oriental dances and began performing on stage in Egypt, the Ottoman Empire, and Europe. She was the first to introduce traditional Middle Eastern dances to Western audiences by merging them with contemporary dance methods then emerging in Europe, notably those of the "free dance" developed by the American dancer Isadora Duncan.
Her short choreographies, often inspired by poetic texts, were presented without sets or staging. She used Armenian, Russian, and Iranian music, often accompanied by the tar and traditional songs.
Armen Ohanian moved to Paris in 1912, where she published several books, often autobiographical, such as The Dancer of Shamakha in 1918, as well as poems and newspaper columns.
She performed on stage until the mid-1930s. In 1934, she moved to Mexico, where she founded a dance school. She also continued to write essays on literature and poetry. An active member of the Mexican Communist Party, she translated several books from Russian to Spanish.
Armen Ohanian had several romantic relationships with women, including Natalie Barney during the 1910s.
Leonor Fini, born Eleonor Fini, was an Argentine-Italian painter, designer, illustrator, and author.
She was close to Surrealist circles and participated in the movement's major exhibitions, but refused to join the group in order to protect her independence and autonomy. In her paintings, Leonor Fini reversed the traditional power relationship between men and women by depicting women as powerful and erotic goddess figures, and men as passive and androgynous.
Leonor Fini was also a theater set designer and costume designer for films, operas, and theater. She illustrated numerous books and wrote three novels. She created the bottle design for Elsa Schiaparelli's perfume "Shocking », based on the torso of the famous actress Mae West. In 1954, Leonor Fini painted the actress Maria Felix, who had been introduced to her by the cabaret manager Frede, who was Maria Felix's lover and Leonor Fini's friend.
Lilli Palmer, born Lilli Marie Peiser, was a German actress, author, and painter. Born in Poland to a Jewish family, she grew up in Berlin, where she studied drama. She fled Germany shortly after the Nazis came to power and took refuge in England, where she began a career in film and theater. In 1945, she moved to Hollywood and signed a contract with Warner Brothers. She appeared in several films and plays, and hosted her own television show.
In 1954, Lilli Palmer returned to Germany, where she became a post-war film star. She also continued to appear in films in the United States, England, and France. One of her most famous films was "Mädchen in Uniform" (Girls in Uniform), released in 1958, which was a remake of Leontine Sagan's 1931 film. Palmer played Miss Elisabeth von Bernburg, a caring boarding school supervisor with whom a student, Manuela, falls in love.
During filming, Palmer reportedly had an affair with her co-star, Romy Schneider.
Lilli Palmer also likely had an affair with Greta Garbo, with whom she was very close and about whom she discusses at length in her autobiography.
Lilli Palmer was involved in the disturbing and mysterious death of actress Carole Landis, who was found dead at her home in 1948. According to the official version, Carole Landis committed suicide because her lover, Rex Harrison, refused to leave his wife, Lilli Palmer. Rex Harrison reportedly paid $500 to retrieve a suicide note from Carole Landis — a love letter addressed to him, which he considered incriminating.
In 1978, Lilli wrote a book called "The Red Raven," whose story shares many similarities with the tragic death of Carole Landis. The protagonist, "L" (for Lilly), poses for a lesbian painter who had previously had an affair with one of "L's" former friends, Annabelle. Annabelle, like Carole Landis, had an affair with "L"'s husband and committed suicide out of spite, leaving "L" her diary and a farewell letter, written minutes before her suicide. Troubled by this coincidence, "L" decides to delve into this painful past and read Annabelle's diary and farewell letter, something she had previously refused to do.
Lilli Palmer has claimed that the story told in "The Red Raven" is autobiographical and that she changed only the names of the protagonists. The story takes place ten years before she met Carole Landis. Is it possible that she experienced two nearly identical stories in her life? "The Red Raven" casts doubt on the official version of Carole Landis's death. Was it Rex Harrison who was having an affair with Carole Landis, or was it Lilly Palmer (Carole Landis herself had several lesbian love affairs in her life) ? Was the suicide note supposedly addressed to Rex, which he had to pay to have removed, actually addressed to Lilly?
