Elvira Amazar

Russian opera singer (1890's–1971)

Elvira Amazar

Elvira Amazar in costume as Marguerite in Faust, from the cover of Musical Courier (September 27, 1917)

Born| 1890s

Serbia

Died| (1971-02-07)February 7, 1971

New York City

Elvira Amazar (1890s – February 7, 1971), also known as Vera Amazar or Elaine Amazar, was a Serbian-born Russian-American soprano singer and actress. She was also the subject of the first photograph described as "cheesecake", in 1917.

## Early life

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Elvira Amazar was born in Serbia. Her father was a mining engineer. She was orphaned as a small girl, when both parents died during a strike. Relatives in Poland took her in, and she was educated in Germany and Moscow. She studied music in Paris and Milan.[1] Among her teachers were Félia Litvinne and Umberto Masetti.[2]

## Career

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As a Man Thinks (1919) – 3

Amazar began her singing career at the Marinskiy Theater in St. Petersburg (Petrograd), Russia, in Il Pagliacci by Leoncavallo [3] and found further success in Monte Carlo and Milan. She moved to the United States during World War I, a member of the Boston National Opera Company[4] and a client of the Bel Canto Music Bureau.[5] She sued her lover, baritone Georges Baklanoff, for an assault while they were on a Pacific Coast tour in 1917.[6] They later reached a settlement.[7]

A print advertisement for As a Man Thinks (1919), describing the seductive model character played by Amazar

Amazar appeared in three silent films, The Volcano (1919), As a Man Thinks (1919),[8] and L'Aviateur Masqué (1922). She had a cabaret act in Paris in 1920.[9]

In 1917 she appeared in Ziegfeld's Follies of 1917.[10] In 1925, Amazar was in the cast of another revue, Sinners of 1925, in New York.[11] In 1927 and 1928, she was in the cast of Blossom Time, an operetta based loosely on the life of composer Franz Schubert.[12][13]

## "Cheesecake"

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Amazar was known for wearing short skirts and high heels,[14] and is often mentioned in connection with the term "cheesecake". As the story goes,[15] in 1915, Amazar raised her skirt to show some of her bare leg for a photograph.[16] The photographer was George Miller. Miller's editor liked the image enough to declare it "better than cheesecake," and the word "cheesecake" became a term for photographs of attractive young women baring some skin.[17]

## Personal life

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Elvira Amazar was involved with a married colleague, George Baklanoff, for several years.[18] (His wife and children lived in Russia.) Her claims that he deceived her into traveling with him[19] led to their arrests in Chicago, under the Mann Act, in 1920.[20][21] The couple left for Paris soon after they were charged;[22] Baklanoff was allowed to re-enter the United States in 1921,[23] and the deportation orders were dropped by 1922.[24] She became a citizen of the United States in 1929.[25]

She had a daughter, Tatiana Amazar (1911–1979), born in Russia, who became a cookbook author and food editor.[26] Elvira Amazar died in New York City in 1971, in her seventies.[27]

## References

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1. ^ "Elvira Amazar, Lyric Soprano" Musical Courier (September 27, 1917): 26.
2. ^ "Elvira Amazar to Appear in Concert Here This Season" Musical America (September 29, 1917): 21.
3. ^ Fedoroff family archive
4. ^ "Russian Operas to be Sung Here". The New York Times. September 14, 1916. p. 5\. ProQuest 97850645.
5. ^ "Elvira Amazar Engagements; Bel Canto Bureau Items" Musical Courier (November 1, 1917): 38.
6. ^ "Russian Soprano Sues Baritone for $25,000, Alleging Assault" Musical America (May 5, 1917): 44.
7. ^ "Elvira Amazar Withdraws Suit Against George Baklanoff" Musical America (May 19, 1917): 15.
8. ^ Alan Gevinson, Within Our Gates: Ethnicity in American Feature Films, 1911–1960 (University of California Press 1999): 55. ISBN 9780520209640
9. ^ Simon Morrison, Lina and Serge: The Love and Wars of Lina Prokofiev (HMH 2013): 57–60. ISBN 9780547844138
10. ^ "The 'Follies Of 1917' Are Coming To Town: Ziegfeld's Annual Hot-Weather Revue Due Tuesday at the New Amsterdam Theatre in All Its Glory". The New York Times. June 10, 1917. p. 79\. ProQuest 99952839.
11. ^ "Theatrical Notes". The New York Times. February 16, 1925. p. 24\. ProQuest 103642379.
12. ^ "Majestic Theatre" Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long Island Society (May 12, 1928): 18. via Newspapers.com
13. ^ "Fitting Exponent of Vixenish Prima Donna Promised in 'Blossom Time'" Courier-Journal (October 16, 1927): 31. via Newspapers.com
14. ^ "Wear 'em 9 Inches Above Ground, Girls!" News Journal (October 1, 1915): 2. via Newspapers.com
15. ^ Vic Timoner, "Harbor Lights" Brooklyn Daily Eagle (January 13, 1954): 21. via Newspapers.com
16. ^ "Women Here Do Not Know Makeup Art" Philadelphia Inquirer (October 2, 1915): 2. via Newspapers.com
17. ^ Tracey Owens Patton, Sally M. Schedlock, Gender, Whiteness, and Power in Rodeo: Breaking Away from the Ties of Sexism and Racism (Lexington Books 2012): 99. ISBN 9780739173213
18. ^ "The Baklanoff-Amazar Affair" Musical Courier (January 15, 1920): 8.
19. ^ "Music's Charms Fail" Daily News (January 8, 1920): 3. via Newspapers.com
20. ^ "Ha! Artistic Temperament and Cruel Laws Clash Again" Oregon Daily Journal (February 1, 1920): 56. via Newspapers.com
21. ^ "Mlle. Amazar Arrested". The New York Times. January 8, 1920. p. 22\. ProQuest 97928275.
22. ^ "Off for Paris, but not Together" Daily News (April 5, 1920): 7. via Newspapers.com
23. ^ "Baklanoff May Re-Enter: State Department to Admit Russian Baritone of Chicago Opera". The New York Times. October 6, 1921. p. 28\. ProQuest 98371807.
24. ^ "Deportation of Baklanoff Is Dropped by U. S." Chicago Sunday Tribune (February 12, 1922): 10. via Newspapers.com
25. ^ "Actress is Now American Citizen" Brooklyn Daily Eagle (May 7, 1929): 15. via Newspapers.com
26. ^ "Tatiana Nichols, 68, Dies; Food Authority, Musician" Baltimore Sun (May 11, 1979): 15. via Newspapers.com
27. ^ "Deaths". The New York Times. February 9, 1971. p. 42\. ProQuest 119175403.

## External links

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* Elvira Amazar at IMDb
* "Wharburton Gamble, Elaine Amazar, and Henry Clive in a scene still" (1919), a photograph at the Wisconsin Historical Society.