Maria Ouspenskaya

Russian actress

Born: July 29, 1876 · Died: December 3, 1949

Famous Persons

Who was Maria Ouspenskaya?

Maria Alekseyevna Ouspenskaya (Russian: Мария Алексеевна Успенская; 29 July 1876 – 3 December 1949) was a Russian actress and acting teacher. Ouspenskaya was born in Tula, Russia. She taught acting to Lee Strasberg among others, at the American Laboratory Theatre, and in 1929, together with Richard Boleslawski, her colleague from the Moscow Art Theatre, she founded the School of Dramatic Art in New York City. She achieved success as a stage actress as a young woman in Russia, and as an older woman in Hollywood films. She studied singing in Warsaw and acting in Moscow. There she was trained by Konstantin Stanislavsky and his assistant Leopold Sulerzhitsky. The Moscow Art Theatre traveled widely throughout Europe, and when it arrived in New York City in 1922, Ouspenskaya decided to stay there. She performed regularly on Broadway over the next decade.

Historical significance

She was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Dodsworth (1936) and Love Affair (1939). Ouspenskaya is the first Russian actress to be nominated for an Oscar. She was a founding member of the First Studio, a theatre studio of the Moscow Art Theatre.

Sources and further reading

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MLA

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APA

Maria Ouspenskaya. (n.d.). thisDay. Retrieved October 26, 2026, from https://thisday.info/people/maria-ouspenskaya/

Chicago

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