Anya Taranda: Movies & Filmography

Anya Taranda (January 1, 1915 – March 9, 1970) was an American model, showgirl, and actress who became known both for her career in the entertainment industry and for being the wife of the legendary composer Harold Arlen. Born in New York City to Catholic Russian parents, Taranda rose to prominence through her work with the Powers Agency as a fashion model, where she was notably signed as one of the first Breck Shampoo models, a significant achievement during the era when such advertising campaigns were pioneering the use of celebrity endorsements in print media. Her striking looks and charismatic presence helped her transition from modeling into the world of Broadway and Hollywood, where she became a recognizable face in the 1930s entertainment scene.

In 1932, Taranda met composer Harold Arlen in New York City during the Broadway theatre production of Earl Carroll's Vanities, a meeting that would change the course of her personal life forever. Despite coming from different religious backgrounds—she being a gentile and he being Jewish—the couple eventually married on January 6, 1937, over the strong objections of their respective parents. Her career in film began in 1934 with an uncredited role as an "Earl Carroll girl" in the murder mystery film Murder at the Vanities, based on Carroll's Broadway play. Over the course of her career, she appeared in a total of nine films, establishing herself as a supporting presence in the golden age of Hollywood cinema. Her personal life took a tragic turn in 1951 when she was institutionalized in a sanatorium after repeatedly threatening her husband and others with physical harm; she remained there for seven years. Taranda died from a brain tumor on March 9, 1970, in New York City, at the age of 55. A Russian Orthodox service was held for her funeral, and she is interred next to her husband in the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York, a lasting tribute to their enduring bond.