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IMDbPro

Taina Elg

  • Actress
  • Soundtrack
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Taina Elg
In London, a diplomat accidentally becomes involved in the death of a British agent who's after a spy ring that covets British military secrets.
Play trailer3:09
The 39 Steps (1959)
3 Videos
21 Photos
Finnish-American actress and dancer Taina Elisabeth Elg was born in 1930 in Helsinki but later her family moved and lived in and around Finland, including Turku. Taina's mother was a Russian immigrant, pianist Helena Doroumova, and her father was pianist Åke Elg (a.k.a. Åke Ludwig). Her home later became a target during the Finnish-Soviet wars between 1939 and 1944 and when it became part of the Soviet Union, the family was forced to leave. After WWII they evacuated from Viipuri and returned to Helsinki.

At a very young age Taina trained in both ballet and acting. When the family returned to Helsinki, Taina continued with her dance and acting training and eventually she was invited to join the Finnish National Ballet. She appeared in a few homeland movies as early as age 10 and found a couple of obscure film roles as a teenager, one in which she danced. Her international reputation began to grow when she joined the famed Sadler's Wells ballet dance company (The Royal Ballet) in London and then the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas, in Paris. A serious injury forced her to rethink her dancing career.

Fortunately, Elg was discovered in London by American film producer Edwin H. Knopf and, on the heels of the spectacular Hollywood success fellow Scandinavian Anita Ekberg was having, MGM decided to sign Elg to a customary seven-year Hollywood contract. She made her American debut for MGM with the secondary role of Elissa in the Lana Turner biblical costumer The Prodigal (1955). The following year MGM utilized her acting talents in their films Diane (1956), again starring Turner, and Gaby (1956) with Leslie Caron.

For the aforementioned work she was honored with a Golden Globe award for female "foreign newcomer". She was subsequently handed her best all-around opportunity by MGM to display her sublime dancing, sexy figure and comedic acting skills when asked to portray Angèle Ducros in Cole Porter's musical Les Girls (1957) opposite Gene Kelly and alongside fellow dazzlers Mitzi Gaynor and Kay Kendall. Receiving her second consecutive Golden Globe (tying with Kendall) for "Best Actress" in a musical, Les Girls (1957) also won the Golden Globe for "Best Picture - Musical" and an Oscar for its costume design.

More films came her way with Imitation General (1958) starring Glenn Ford and Red Buttons; the remake of the classic The 39 Steps (1959) opposite Kenneth More; the African adventure Watusi (1959) with George Montgomery and David Farrar and the war story Mission of Danger (1960), which was actually culled from a few TV episodes. None, however, could match the quality of Les Girls (1957). Elg's Hollywood film career went into a steep decline at this juncture and she began focusing on TV projects, foreign films and especially theatre roles. Appearing on stage in such 1960s productions as "Redhead," "Silk Stockings", "Irma La Douce", "West Side Story", "The Sound of Music", and "There's a Girl in My Soup", she finally made her Broadway debut with the musical "Look to the Lilies" in 1970, which was based on the Oscar-winning film Lilies of the Field (1963). She never found a strong footing again in films and has appeared in less than a handful since. Other than the 1961 Italian spectacle The Bacchantes (1961), she showed up in the musclebound Arnold Schwarzenegger's vehicle Hercules in New York (1970), Liebestraum (1991), and the Barbra Streisand feature The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996).

Her love for the stage was obvious and she remained as colorful than ever gracing such musicals as Sondheim's "A Little Night Music" (1973) in which she sang the haunting "Send in the Clowns." She also returned to Broadway in later years with the musicals "Where's Charley?", for which she earned a Tony nomination, "Nine" and "Cabaret". She appeared in the national tour of the musical "Titanic" in 1998-1999. On the non-musical stage she had strong roles in "Uncle Vanya", "I Hate Hamlet", "O Pioneers!", and, more recently, "Requiem for William" and Memory of a Summer" (both 2003).

In 2004, the actress received a special honor from her native Finland, when she was knight by the Order of the Lion of Finland. She is a naturalized American citizen. Jazz guitarist Raoul Björkenheim is Taina's son from her first marriage (1953-1958) to Carl "Poku" Björkenheim. In 1985, she married Rocco Caporale, an Italian educator and professor of sociology. The couple lived in New York City until his death in 2008.
BornMarch 9, 1930
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BornMarch 9, 1930
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 3 wins & 1 nomination total

    Photos21

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    Known for

    Les Girls (1957)
    Les Girls
    6.6
    • Angèle Ducros
    • 1957
    Kenneth More in The 39 Steps (1959)
    The 39 Steps
    6.6
    • Fisher
    • 1959
    Arnold Schwarzenegger and Arnold Stang in Hercules in New York (1970)
    Hercules in New York
    3.3
    • Nemesis
    • 1970
    Taina Elg and George Montgomery in Watusi (1959)
    Watusi
    5.5
    • Erica Neuler
    • 1959

    Credits

    Edit
    IMDbPro

    Actress



    • Kummelin Jackpot (2006)
      Kummelin Jackpot
      6.3
      • Mrs. Skogstedt
      • 2006
    • Jeff Bridges and Barbra Streisand in The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996)
      The Mirror Has Two Faces
      6.6
      • Female Professor
      • 1996
    • Woody Allen, Michael J. Fox, Dom DeLuise, and Mayim Bialik in Don't Drink the Water (1994)
      Don't Drink the Water
      6.2
      TV Movie
      • Anna Gruber
      • 1994
    • Loving (1983)
      Loving
      6.9
      TV Series
      • Mrs. Mulryan
      • 1993
    • Liebestraum (1991)
      Liebestraum
      5.8
      • Old Mother Ralston
      • 1991
    • Angela Lansbury in Murder, She Wrote (1984)
      Murder, She Wrote
      7.2
      TV Series
      • Claudia Soury
      • 1987
    • Sharon Gabet and Larkin Malloy in The Edge of Night (1956)
      The Edge of Night
      7.8
      TV Series
      • Waitress
      • 1984
    • Blood and Honor: Youth Under Hitler (1982)
      Blood and Honor: Youth Under Hitler
      7.3
      TV Series
      • Adult Renate Keller (voice)
      • 1982
    • One Life to Live (1968)
      One Life to Live
      6.9
      TV Series
      • Nicole Bonnard aka Olympia Buchanan
      • 1980–1981
    • Lloyd Bridges and Britt Ekland in The Great Wallendas (1978)
      The Great Wallendas
      6.4
      TV Movie
      • Helen Wallenda
      • 1978
    • The Andros Targets (1977)
      The Andros Targets
      7.0
      TV Series
      • Mystery Woman
      • 1977
    • The Adams Chronicles (1976)
      The Adams Chronicles
      8.1
      TV Mini Series
      • Comtesse de Vergennes
      • 1976
    • Arnold Schwarzenegger and Arnold Stang in Hercules in New York (1970)
      Hercules in New York
      3.3
      • Nemesis
      • 1970
    • It Takes a Thief (1968)
      It Takes a Thief
      7.5
      TV Series
      • Anya Selina
      • 1968
    • Juhlat linnassa
      TV Movie
      • Isabelle, oopperan pikku tanssijatar
      • 1966

    Soundtrack



    • Toutes les histoires (1988)
      Histoire(s) du cinéma
      7.2
      TV Mini Series
      • performer: "Ça, c'est l'amour"
      • 1988
    • That's Entertainment, Part II (1976)
      That's Entertainment, Part II
      7.3
      • performer: "Les Girls"
      • 1976
    • The Bell Telephone Hour (1959)
      The Bell Telephone Hour
      7.7
      TV Series
      • performer: "What'll I Do?"
      • 1959
    • Les Girls (1957)
      Les Girls
      6.6
      • performer: "Les Girls", "Ça c'est l'Amour", "Ladies in Waiting", "The Rope Dance" (uncredited)
      • 1957

    Videos3

    Trailer
    Trailer 3:09
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    Trailer 2:25
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    Trailer 2:25
    Trailer
    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:51
    Official Trailer

    Personal details

    Edit
    • Born
      • March 9, 1930
      • Helsinki, Finland
    • Spouses
        Rocco Caporale1982 - June 30, 2008 (his death)
    • Children
      • Raoul Björkenheim
    • Other works
      Appeared on Broadway in "Nine" as Guido's mother.
    • Publicity listings
      • 1 Biographical Movie
      • 1 Pictorial
      • 3 Magazine Cover Photos

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Replaced by Vivien Leigh in the musical "Tovarich" before the show reached Broadway.

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