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IMDbPro

Lya Lys(1908-1986)

  • Actress
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Lya Lys
This blonde stunner and German-born foreign import started life on May 18, 1908, in Berlin as Nathalie Margoulis (or perhaps Natalia Lyech) the daughter of a Russian banker and French pediatrician. The family moved to Paris when she was young where she received her schooling both there and in Switzerland. While little is known about her father, her mother was Ina Löscht (née Blumenfeld), who served at a French field hospital at the onset of WWII.

Lya broke into the business as a model and first appeared on film in the Francis Lederer starrer Maman Colibri (1929). MGM, checking out European actors, took notice of Lya and signed her, among others including Charles Boyer, to perform in French-language version of Hollywood movies. It was during this time she starred in the classic Luis Buñuel film L'Age d'Or (1930), which was co-written by none other than Salvador Dalí.

Returning to Hollywood, she failed to hit stardom as her thick accent was a primary hindrance. During this turbulent time, she met and married actor Charles Morton in 1931. That very brief marriage produce one daughter. A second marriage in 1932 to business manager Percy Montague also ended quickly. She became a U.S. citizen in 1933. Touring successfully with the 1936 play "Night of January 16", only one decent film came her way, The Great Gambini (1937), but more money problems and an emotional breakdown stopped the momentum dead in its tracks. She made a brief return to Paris to perform in the play "The King's Dough" but was forced to escape with rise of Nazism. Left destitute now, she made a failed suicide attempt with pills.

Following unbilled parts in such films as George White's 1935 Scandals (1935) and Vagabond Lady (1935), she made a comeback of sorts, courtesy of a Warner Bros. contract, with the film Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939). This success led to roles in The Return of Doctor X (1939) and her last, Murder in the Air (1940), starring Ronald Reagan. A third short-lived marriage occurred with Chicago vending machine operator John Gunnerson, who was once married to silent star Anna Q. Nilsson.

The war-era 1940s saw major financial and career setbacks once again, eventually filing for bankruptcy. Later work included torch song singing as a club chanteuse and writing as a fashion newspaper columnist. Her life vastly improved following her stable fourth marriage to George Feit, which lasted until her death. The couple settled in Newport Beach, California where she involved herself in charity work. Lya died of a heart ailment at age 78, on June 2, 1986.
BornMay 18, 1908
DiedJune 2, 1986(78)
BornMay 18, 1908
DiedJune 2, 1986(78)
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Photos37

Duchange and Lya Lys in L'Age d'Or (1930)
Lya Lys and Gaston Modot in L'Age d'Or (1930)
Lya Lys in L'Age d'Or (1930)
Lya Lys in L'Age d'Or (1930)
Lya Lys and Gaston Modot in L'Age d'Or (1930)
Lya Lys and Gaston Modot in L'Age d'Or (1930)
Lya Lys and Gaston Modot in L'Age d'Or (1930)
Lya Lys in L'Age d'Or (1930)
Bonaventura Ibáñez, Lya Lys, and Germaine Noizet in L'Age d'Or (1930)
Lya Lys in L'Age d'Or (1930)
Lya Lys in L'Age d'Or (1930)
Lya Lys in L'Age d'Or (1930)

Known for

L'Age d'Or (1930)
L'Age d'Or
7.2
  • The Woman
  • 1930
Ronald Reagan and Lya Lys in Murder in the Air (1940)
Murder in the Air
5.4
  • Hilda Riker
  • 1940
Humphrey Bogart, Rosemary Lane, Dennis Morgan, and Wayne Morris in The Return of Doctor X (1939)
The Return of Doctor X
5.7
  • Angela Merrova
  • 1939
Moral um Mitternacht (1930)
Moral um Mitternacht
  • Nora
  • 1930

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actress

  • Ronald Reagan and Lya Lys in Murder in the Air (1940)
    Murder in the Air
  • Humphrey Bogart, Rosemary Lane, Dennis Morgan, and Wayne Morris in The Return of Doctor X (1939)
    The Return of Doctor X
  • Edward G. Robinson in Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939)
    Confessions of a Nazi Spy
  • Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Paulette Goddard, and Janet Gaynor in The Young in Heart (1938)
    The Young in Heart
    • (uncredited)
  • Maureen O'Sullivan, Rita Johnson, Edna May Oliver, and Walter Pidgeon in My Dear Miss Aldrich (1937)
    My Dear Miss Aldrich
    • (uncredited)
  • Marian Marsh and Akim Tamiroff in The Great Gambini (1937)
    The Great Gambini
  • Robert Young and Evelyn Venable in Vagabond Lady (1935)
    Vagabond Lady
    • (uncredited)
  • George White's 1935 Scandals (1935)
    George White's 1935 Scandals
    • (uncredited)
  • Gary Cooper in The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935)
    The Lives of a Bengal Lancer
    • (uncredited)
  • Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald in The Merry Widow (1934)
    The Merry Widow
    • (uncredited)
  • James Dunn and Lya Lys in Jimmy and Sally (1933)
    Jimmy and Sally
  • George Archainbaud, Samuel Bischoff, Phillips Holmes, George E. Stone, and Fay Wray in The Big Brain (1933)
    The Big Brain
    • (uncredited)
  • Lee Tracy in Clear All Wires! (1933)
    Clear All Wires!
  • Buster se marie (1931)
    Buster se marie
  • Casanova wider Willen (1931)
    Casanova wider Willen

Personal details

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    • May 18, 1908
    • Berlin, Germany
    • June 2, 1986
    • Newport Beach, California, USA(heart ailment)
    • 1954 - June 2, 1986 (her death)
    • Randy Caruso(Grandchild)
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Article
    • 2 Pictorials

Did you know

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  • Trivia
    In 1940, she married a Chicago vending machine manufacturer and former husband of actress Anna Q. Nilsson. Their marriage ended in divorce in 1943. Having previously suffered a nervous breakdown and declared bankruptcy, Lys never returned to acting.
  • Quotes
    To be a success in this business you've got to be popular. And to be popular you'd better be just as nice to the least important people as to the great ones. Why, the man who brings you a drink of water today may be your director next week

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