Voting Station

Helena Modjeska

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Actress

The Resume

    (October 12, 1840-April 8, 1909)
    Born in Krakow, Poland
    Birth name was Jadwiga Benda
    Stage actress who specialized in Shakespearean and dramatic roles
    Notable roles include Ophelia in 'Hamlet,' Lady Macbeth in 'Macbeth,' Juliet in 'Romeo and Juliet,' 'Desdemona in 'Othello,' Beatrice in 'Much Ado About Nothing,' Queen Anne in 'Richard III,' Nora in Ibsen's 'A Doll House,' Marguerite Gautier in Dumas' 'Camille' and Mary, Queen of Scots, in Schiller's 'Maria Stuart'
    Became a US citizen (1883)
    Godmother of Ethel Barrymore

Why she might be annoying:

    Her first marriage, to a Polish actor, was not legal because he was still married to another woman.
    From him, she adopted her initial stage name, 'Modrzejewska'; later,she took pity on her new English-speaking audiences and shortened her name to the comparatively simple 'Modjeska.'
    Her second husband called himself Count Bozenta, but was not really a count.
    She, her second husband, and several other Poles immigrated to the US to establish a utopian farming commune (1876) that soon failed, partly because of a drought but mostly because the settlers were intellectuals who had no experience as farmers.

Why she might not be annoying:

    After the failure of the commune, she took a crash course in English and mastered the language well enough to relaunch her stage career in America after only six months.
    Edwin Booth said, 'She is a genius. I learn something new from her every day.'
    She was the manager of her acting company, and did everything from selecting and training the supporting cast to helping design the costumes.
    Only a few weeks before her death, she appeared in a benefit organized by William Randolph Hearst for Sicilian earthquake victims.
    A biographer noted that hers was 'the first really big celebrity funeral that Los Angeles had ever had.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 24 Votes: 16.67% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 11 Votes: 72.73% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 5 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 5 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 50 Votes: 64.00% Annoying