OLMYPE BRADNA BORN IN A THEATRE

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIII, Issue 20930, 8 January 1938, Page 18

OLMYPE BRADNA BORN IN A THEATRE

Hollywood’s Cinderella of the moment is a little French girl, barely 17 years of age. who just cannot talk English when she gets excited. A few months ago she was practically unknown in the film colony. She had danced briefly in a few pictures, walked in and out of a few dramatic scenes without even being noticed, and had never come with 20 feet of a close-up. Nobody had thought of her capabilities until Henry Hathaway, the director, saw her tested in a small role in Paramount's “Souls at Sea.” which costars Gary Cooper and George Raft. But Hathaway was so enthusiastic that he surprised everybody by casting her in the coveted role opposite George Raft instead of in an "extra” role. When he broke the news to her, the stroy goes, little Olympe Bradna was so excited she couldn't talk English-for

half an hour. Because the picture has not been released yet, she is still unknown in the film world, but, despite her youth, Olympe Bradna has had more theatrical experience than most actresses twice her age. She was actually born at the Olympic Theatre in Paris. Hence her first name, which in French sounds something like O-lamp,” but in Hollywood is usually pronounced with the final “e” sounded.