Image of Rafaela Ottiano

Rafaela Ottiano

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Rafaela Ottiano (4 March 1888 – 18 August 1942)  was an Italian-born American stage and film actress. Born in Venice, Italy, she emigrated with her parents to the United States, and was processed at Ellis Island in 1910. Ottiano established herself as a stage actress in Europe before arriving in Hollywood in 1924 and appearing in American motion pictures. Ottiano's first film was in the John L. McCutcheon-directed drama The Law and the Lady (1924) opposite actors Len Leo, Alice Lake, and Tyrone Power, Sr. Ottiano was part of the original 1928 Broadway cast of the Mae West hit play Diamond Lil and reprised her role as Rita when the play was made into a film as She Done Him Wrong (1933), directed by Lowell Sherman. Throughout the 1930s, Rafaela Ottiano would often specialize in roles as sinister, maleveolent, or spiteful women, such as her role in the Tod Browning-directed horror film The Devil-Doll (1936), opposite Lionel Barrymore and Maureen O'Sullivan. Other notable film roles for Ottiano include Lena in As You Desire Me (1932) with Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas, Erich von Stroheim, Owen Moore, and Hedda Hopper, "Mrs. Higgins" in the Shirley Temple musical-comedy Curly Top (1935), as a matron in the crime-drama Riffraff (1936), starring Jean Harlow and Spencer Tracy, and as "Suzette", Greta Garbo's devoted maid in the Edmund Goulding-directed drama Grand Hotel (1932). When Grand Hotel was turned into a Broadway Musical in 1989, her character was renamed Rafaela Ottiano in honor of the actress. Ottiano's last film was the musical comedy I Married an Angel (1942), starring Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald. During her career in film, she appeared in approximately 45 motion pictures, opposite such actors as Barbara Stanwyck, Conrad Nagel, Peter Lorre, Zasu Pitts, and Katharine Hepburn. Ottiano lived in the Times Square area during the Prohibition Era and never married. She died in 1942 in East Boston, Massachusetts of intestinal cancer at the age of 54. Description above from the Wikipedia article Rafaela Ottiano, licensed under CC-BY-SA,full list of contributors on Wikipedia.


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Born:
Mar 4, 1888 In Venice, Italy
Movie/TV Credits:
38
First Appeared:
In the movie Married? 1926-02-17
Latest Project:
Movie The Adventures of Martin Eden 1942-02-26
Known For
Poster of A Little Bit of Heaven
Poster of Curly Top
Poster of As You Desire Me
Poster of Grand Hotel
Filmography
Movie The Adventures of Martin Eden 1942-02-26
Movie Topper Returns Lillian 1941-03-21
Movie A Little Bit of Heaven Mme. Lupinsky 1940-10-10
Movie Vigil in the Night Mrs. Henrietta Sullivan 1940-02-05
Movie The Long Voyage Home Bella 1940-11-16
Movie Victory Madame Makanoff 1940-12-21
Movie Paris Honeymoon Fluschotska 1939-01-27
Movie I'll Give a Million Barmaid 1938-07-27
Movie Suez Maria De Teba 1938-10-28
Movie Marie Antoinette Louise - Marie's Maid (uncredited) 1938-08-26
Movie Seventh Heaven Madame Frisson 1937-03-25
Movie The League of Frightened Men Dora Chapin 1937-05-25
Movie Maytime Ellen 1937-03-26
Movie Riffraff Matron (as Rafaelo Ottiano) 1936-01-03
Movie Anthony Adverse Signora Bovino 1936-08-26
Movie The Devil-Doll Malita 1936-07-10
Movie Mad Holiday Ning 1936-11-13
Movie That Girl from Paris Nikki's Personal Maid (uncredited) 1936-12-31
Movie The Lottery Lover Gaby's Maid 1935-02-05
Movie The Florentine Dagger Lili Salvatore 1935-03-30
Movie Enchanted April Francesca 1935-02-01
Movie We're Only Human Mrs. Anderson 1935-12-27
Movie One Frightened Night Elvira 1935-05-01
Movie Remember Last Night? Mme. Bouclier 1935-10-28
Movie Curly Top Mrs. Higgins 1935-07-26
Movie Mandalay Madame Lacalles 1934-02-10
Movie The Last Gentleman Retta Barr, Judd's wife 1934-04-27
Movie A Lost Lady Rosa 1934-09-29
Movie Great Expectations Mrs. Joe 1934-10-22
Movie She Done Him Wrong Russian Rita 1933-02-09
Movie Bondage Miss Trigge 1933-04-22
Movie Female Della, Alison's Maid (Uncredited) 1933-11-11
Movie Ann Vickers Mrs. Feldermans 1933-09-26
Movie Grand Hotel Suzette 1932-05-25
Movie As You Desire Me Lena 1932-05-28
Movie Night Court Evil Tongued Neighbor (uncredited) 1932-06-04
Movie The Washington Masquerade Mona Farrell 1932-07-09
Movie Married? Maid 1926-02-17