Movie star mystery photos

Posted on September 23, 2008 by lmharnisch

2008_september_22_mystery_pix
Los Angeles Times file photo

1935_1017_borg_2
Update: Our mystery guest was identified almost immediately yesterday by Steven Bibb. Because he guessed so quickly that this is Ariane Borg, I deferred his answer for a day to see if anyone else would get it.

At left, news of Ariane Borg’s arrival in Los Angles, Oct. 17, 1935.

This is a third photo of our mystery guest, who was misfiled as Veda Ann Borg. The Times published a fair number of articles about her in the mid-1930s, noting that she had been brought over from Europe for a movie as the next Garbo or the next Dietrich and had done very little work since, although she was kept on contract. The Times credits her with at least one and possibly two films at MGM, although she’s not listed in the imdb credits for either one. I don’t have access to either of the films to check.

According to her entry in the French version of Wikipedia, she went back to Europe to celebrate her birthday with her family and was stuck there during World War II. Plans for an American comeback after the war never materialized and she abandoned any hope of a show business career.

2008_0915_mystery_pix

So sorry, only one guess was even vaguely warm. Not Lucille Ball and not Vera Hruba Ralston. This is going to be a toughie.
2008_0825_mystery_photo And the original photo of the mystery woman who is not Veda Ann Borg.
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About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times
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13 Responses to Movie star mystery photos

  1. Unknown's avatar zabadu says:
    September 22, 2008 at 10:21 am

    Is it Signe Hasso?

    Like

  3. Andrew Miller's avatar Andrew Miller says:
    September 22, 2008 at 11:18 am

    Ingrid Bergman

    Like

  4. Vincent's avatar Vincent says:
    September 22, 2008 at 11:32 am

    Danielle Darrieux?

    Like

  5. S Paris's avatar S Paris says:
    September 22, 2008 at 1:40 pm

    She made maybe 1 and maybe 2 films with MGM in the 30’s but didn’t have a role big enough to get credited in IMDB and you refer to her as a “star”? Why would anyone know this woman?

    Like

  6. Hodeener's avatar Hodeener says:
    September 22, 2008 at 2:00 pm

    Vivien Leigh?

    Like

  7. D. Webb's avatar D. Webb says:
    September 22, 2008 at 6:34 pm

    I’m with S. Paris. If Mystery Photo subject is so obscure that she’s mistaken for misfiled Veda Ann Borg, what’s the point of contest? Might as well asking readers to ID photos from old yearbooks. Love the Mystery Photo idea but just because someone’s photo ran in a newspaper 80 years ago does not mean anyone today can reasonably expect to know who they are.

    Like

  8. Amy Disch's avatar Amy Disch says:
    September 22, 2008 at 6:50 pm

    Is it Alida Valli?

    Like

  9. Arye Michael Bender's avatar Arye Michael Bender says:
    September 22, 2008 at 6:55 pm

    Keep the mysteries coming. More fun than I can have without a naked woman. Now it for you to figure out who that naked woman was…

    Like

  10. mg's avatar mg says:
    September 22, 2008 at 7:54 pm

    Annabella (wife of Tyrone Power)

    Like

  11. Louis Bonhomme's avatar Louis Bonhomme says:
    September 23, 2008 at 4:26 am

    Simone Simon

    Like

  12. JJ's avatar JJ says:
    September 23, 2008 at 5:11 am

    I agree with the whiners. If this woman is not credited with her performances then it’s not possible to research the answer. Knowing the answer is a chance occurence. One either knows the answer or not. That’s no fun

    Like

  13. Rinky Dink's avatar Rinky Dink says:
    September 23, 2008 at 5:52 am

    Nancy Nash?

    Like

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