Miliza Korjus

Early Life

Miliza Korjus was born on August 18, 1909, in Warsaw, Poland, then part of the Russian Empire. She was the daughter of Anna and Artur Korjus, an Estonian lieutenant colonel. As the fifth of six children, she grew up in a family with noble roots, as her mother descended from Polish-Lithuanian nobility. Following her father's military career, the family moved to Moscow, and after their separation around 1912, Korjus relocated to Kiev in 1918 with her mother and sisters, where she began her musical training.

Career

Korjus's career took off as a teenager when she toured the Soviet Union with a dumka choir. In 1927, she crossed the border to Estonia and reunited with her father. By 1933, she was performing at the Berlin State Opera, earning acclaim and nicknames like "The Berlin Nightingale". Her talent caught the attention of Irving Thalberg from MGM, leading to a ten-year film contract. She made her Hollywood debut in the 1938 film "The Great Waltz," earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. However, her promising film career was cut short by a severe automobile accident in 1940, which led to the cancellation of her subsequent projects and the termination of her MGM contract.

Personal Life

Miliza Korjus married physicist Kuno Foelsch in 1929, but they divorced in the 1940s. She later married Canadian physician Walter Shector in 1952 and shifted her focus to recording music rather than performing live. Korjus had three children: a daughter, Melissa, who served as a U.S. ambassador to Estonia, and two sons. She passed away from heart failure in 1980 in Culver City, California, leaving behind a legacy as a celebrated soprano and actress.