Pola Illéry


Paula Iliescu Gibson professionally known as Pola Illery, was a Romanian-born actress and singer, best known for her appearances in early French film, and of the latter after emigrating to the United States, in Hollywood films, best known for her portrayal of vamps, she appeared in both silent film and talkie films, in a decade long screen career between 1928 and 1938.
Born into a middle-class Jewish family in Corabia, Romania as Paula Iliescu, she changed her name to "Pola" in tribute to the Polish-born screen actress Pola Negri. Illéry appeared in a few French films in the 1920s and 1930s. She made her movie debut as the lead in René Clair's musical comedy Under the Roofs of Paris. She also played the lead in Parada Paramount, the Romanian-language version of Paramount on Parade, which was made in Paris by Paramount Pictures. She is believed to have made her last film appearance's in 1938.
Illéry married a United States Army Air Corps Major Charles H. Greiner during World War II and moved to the United States with him on May 26, 1946 The marriage only lasted a few months before he was killed in an accident. She worked for the American Red Cross as a nurse during the war and took up American citizenship in 1946. She later married James Gibson and the couple moved to Palos Verdes, California, where Illéry lived for the rest of her life.

Selected filmography