Lya Lys (born Nathalie Margoulis; May 18, 1908 – June 2, 1986) was a German-born American actress.
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Biography
Lya Lys was born in Berlin on May 18, 1908 to a Russian banker and French pediatrician who moved to Paris when she was about seven. Her mother was Ina Löscht (née Blumenfeld), who later served at a French field hospital during the early months of World War II. Her fate during or after the German invasion is unclear. Nathalie was educated in France and Switzerland and later studied language at the Sorbonne.
In the late 1920s, Lya Lys was among a group of French actors that included Charles Boyer, André Berley, and Mona Goya, who were brought to Hollywood by MGM to work on films intended for the French market. Reportedly, after her contract expired, Lys received a Hollywood movie offer just as she was about to board an ocean liner to return to Europe. In 1930, Lys returned to Paris to star in Salvador Dalí and Luis Buñuel's surrealist film, L'Age d'Or (1930), considered by many as her most memorable performance. She then returned to America.
In 1931 she married Charles Morton, a young silent film actor. The couple divorced some months later not long after the birth of their daughter. Later a dispute over alimony payments would see Morton spending a few days behind bars. Her second marriage to Percy Montague, a business manager, in April 1932 ended in divorce sometime before the end of the decade. Lys took US citizenship in 1933.
