Jetta Goudal

Jetta Goudal (July 12, 1891 – January 14, 1985) was a Dutch-born American actress, successful in Hollywood films of the silent film era.

Early life

Goudal was born as Juliette Henriette Goudeket in 1891, daughter of Mozes Goudeket (1860–1942), a wealthy, Orthodox Jewish diamond cutter in Amsterdam, and Geertruida Warradijn (1866–1920).Slide, Anthony. Silent Players:A Biographical and Autobiographical Study of 100 Silent Film Actors and Actresses. University Press of Kentucky, 2002. ISBN 081312249X. page 146. Tall and regal in appearance, she began her acting career on stage, traveling across Europe with various theater companies.

In 1918, she left World War I-era devastated Europe to settle in New York City in the United States, where she hid her Dutch and Jewish ancestry, generally describing herself as a "Parisienne" and on an information sheet for the Paramount Public Department she wrote that she was born at Versailles on July 12, 1901 (shaving 10 years off her age as well), the daughter of a fictional Maurice Guillaume Goudal, a lawyer.

Career

She first appeared on Broadway in 1921, using the stage name Jetta (, with a French "J") Goudal. After meeting director Sidney Olcott, who encouraged her venture into film...
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