Zorina, Vera (1917–2003)

German-born Norwegian-American ballet dancer and actress. Name variations: Eva Brigitta Hartwig; Brigitta Hartwig. Born Eva Brigitta Hartwig, Jan 2, 1917, in Berlin, Germany; became US citizen, 1943; died April 9, 2003; dau. of Fritz Hartwig (a German) and Billie Wimpel (Mann) Hartwig of Kristiansund, Norway; studied dance with Eugenie Eduardova in Germany, Olga Preobrazhenska in Paris, and Nicholas Légat in London; m. George Balanchine (director and choreographer), Dec 24, 1938 (div. 1947); m. Goddard Lieberson (president of Columbia Records), 1948 (died 1977); m. Paul Wolfe (harpsichordist), 1991; children: (2nd m.) Peter and Jonathan.

Made stage debut in Kristiansund, Norway (where she grew up), as a butterfly in a Flower Ballet (1923); partnered with Anton Dolin in Ballerina and danced in Max Reinhardt's Midsummer Night's Dream (1931); danced with Ballets Russes (1934–36), reluctantly changing name to Vera Zorina (since all their dancers had Russian names), and had great success in Massine's Symphonie fantastique; left Ballets Russes to appear in role of Vera Baranova in British version of On Your Toes (1937); subsequently appeared in film version (1939), followed by The Goldwyn Follies; on Broadway, starred in I Married an Angel (1938) and Louisiana Purchase (1941), among others; after 7 films, career in Hollywood came to an abrupt end when replaced by Ingrid Bergman in For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943); returned to stage as Ariel in The Tempest (1945); later became narrator-performer in such works as Stavinsky's Persephone, Milhaud's Les Choëphores, and Debussy's The Martydom of St. Sebastian; took active role at Lincoln Center in NY, as advisor and director, and directed operas at Santa Fe Opera in New Mexico; also contributed to the raising of $1.7 million for a theater in the hills of New Mexico.

See also autobiography Zorina (1986).