Maria Karnilova
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Biography
Maria Karnilova (August 3, 1920 â April 20, 2001) was an American dancer and actress. She was initially known legally as Maria Karniloff.
She was born in Hartford, Connecticut, the daughter of Filip (Philip) and Stefanida Dovgolenko (or Dowholonok), emigrants from Tsarist Russia. The family later moved to Brooklyn, New York. She started her professional career in 1927 in the Children's Ballet of the Metropolitan Opera and joined the corps when Ballet Theater, now American Ballet Theater, was founded in 1939. She adopted the name Karniloff, and later, Karnilova as her professional name. Her professional surname was often ascribed as her own mother's maiden name, however, that is inaccurate as her mother's maiden name was "Shlonskaya".
Karnilova made her Broadway debut in 1946 in Call Me Mister. She won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for the original 1964 production of Fiddler on the Roof starring Zero Mostel and was nominated as Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for Zorba (1968).
Other Broadway credits include Miss Liberty (1949), Two's Company (1952), Jerome Robbins' Ballet: U.S.A. (1958), Gypsy (as the original "Tessie Tura"; 1959), Bravo Giovanni (1962), Gigi (1973), God's Favorite (1974), Bring Back Birdie (1981), and the 1981 revival of Fiddler. Her film credits include The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964) and Married to the Mob (1988).
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Albums
Top Tracks
- Track Popularity
- Sunrise, Sunset featuring Zero Mostel
- Do You Love Me? (From "Fiddler on the Roof") featuring Zero Mostel
- You Gotta Get a Gimmick featuring Maria Karnilova
- Sabbath Prayer by Maria Karnilova
- The Dream (From "Fiddler on the Roof") by Maria Karnilova
- The Contract featuring Agnes Moorehead
- I Remember It Well featuring Alfred Drake
- Do You Love Me featuring Zero Mostel
- The Night They Invented Champagne featuring Daniel Massey
