Rafaela Ottiano

Born: 1888-03-02

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Rafaela Ottiano (4 March 1888 – 18 August 1942) was an Italian-born American stage and film actress. Born in Venice, Italy, she emigrated with her parents to the United States, and was processed at Ellis Island, in 1910. Ottiano established herself as a stage actress in Europe before arriving in Hollywood in 1924 and appearing in American motion pictures. Ottiano's first film was in the John L. McCutcheon-directed drama The Law and the Lady (1924) opposite actors Len Leo, Alice Lake, and Tyrone Power, Sr. Ottiano was part of the original 1928 Broadway cast of the Mae West hit play Diamond Lil and reprised her role as Rita when the play was made into a film as She Done Him Wrong (1933), directed by Lowell Sherman. Throughout the 1930s, Rafaela Ottiano would often specialize in roles as sinister, maleveolent, or spiteful women, such as her role in the Tod Browning-directed horror film The Devil-Doll (1936), opposite Lionel Barrymore and Maureen O'Sullivan. Other notable film roles for Ottiano include Lena in As You Desire Me (1932) with Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas, Erich von Stroheim, Owen Moore, and Hedda Hopper; Mrs. Higgins in the Shirley Temple musical-comedy Curly Top (1935); as a matron in the crime-drama Riffraff (1936), starring Jean Harlow and Spencer Tracy; and as Suzette, Greta Garbo's devoted maid, in the Edmund Goulding-directed drama Grand Hotel (1932). When Grand Hotel was turned into a Broadway Musical in 1989, her character was renamed Rafaela Ottiano in honor of the actress. Ottiano's last film was the musical comedy I Married an Angel (1942), starring Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald. During her career in film, she appeared in approximately 45 motion pictures, opposite such actors as Barbara Stanwyck, Conrad Nagel, Peter Lorre, Zasu Pitts, and Katharine Hepburn. Ottiano lived in the Times Square area during the Prohibition Era and never married. She died in 1942 in East Boston, Massachusetts of intestinal cancer at the age of 54. Description above from the Wikipedia article Rafaela Ottiano, licensed under CC-BY-SA,full list of contributors on Wikipedia.


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Grand Hotel

as Suzette
Released: 1932-05-25

Guests at a posh Berlin hotel struggle through worry, scandal, and heartache.

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Topper Returns

as Lillian
Released: 1941-03-21

Topper is once again tormented by a fun-loving spirit. This time, it's Gail Richards,...

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She Done Him Wrong

as Russian Rita
Released: 1933-02-09

New York singer and nightclub owner Lady Lou has more men friends than you can imagine. One of...

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Marie Antoinette

as Louise - Marie's Maid (uncredited)
Released: 1938-08-26

The young Austrian princess Marie Antoinette is arranged to marry Louis XVI, future king of...

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The Devil-Doll

as Malita
Released: 1936-07-10

Wrongfully convicted of a robbery and murder, Paul Lavond breaks out of prison with a genius...

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Ann Vickers

as Mrs. Feldermans
Released: 1933-09-26

After a love affair ending in an abortion, a young prison reformer submerges herself in her...

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As You Desire Me

as Lena
Released: 1932-05-28

Bar entertainer Zara is a discontented alcoholic who is pursued by many men but lives with...

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Anthony Adverse

as Signora Bovino
Released: 1936-08-26

Based on the novel by Hervey Allen, this expansive drama follows the many adventures of the...

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The Long Voyage Home

as Bella
Released: 1940-11-16

The crew of the merchant ship Glencairn hope to survive a transatlantic crossing during World...

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Curly Top

as Mrs. Higgins
Released: 1935-07-26

Wealthy Edward Morgan becomes charmed with a curly-haired orphan and her pretty older sister...

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Seventh Heaven

as Madame Frisson
Released: 1937-03-25

A Parisian sewer worker longs for a rise in status and a beautiful wife. He rescues a girl from...

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Maytime

as Ellen
Released: 1937-03-26

An aging opera singer looks back on her long life, including her relationships with her vocal...

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Suez

as Maria De Teba
Released: 1938-10-28

Ferdinand de Lesseps, disappointed in love, is sent as a junior diplomat to the Isthmus of Suez,...

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Female

as Della, Alison's Maid (Uncredited)
Released: 1933-11-11

Alison Drake, the tough-minded executive of an automobile factory, succeeds in the man's world...

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Riffraff

as Matron (as Rafaelo Ottiano)
Released: 1936-01-03

Fisherman Dutch marries cannery worker Hattie. After he is kicked out of his union and fired...

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Vigil in the Night

as Mrs. Henrietta Sullivan
Released: 1940-02-05

A good nurse ruins her career by covering up for her sister's careless mistake.

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The League of Frightened Men

as Dora Chapin
Released: 1937-05-25

Nero Wolfe agrees to investigate a series of murders that seem to be tied in with a past Harvard...

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Night Court

as Evil Tongued Neighbor (uncredited)
Released: 1932-06-04

A corrupt night court judge tears an innocent young family apart in his efforts to elude a...

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Enchanted April

as Francesca
Released: 1935-02-01

Mrs. Lotty Wilkins is an unhappily wife whom's life husband and romance have departed. In order...

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I'll Give a Million

as Barmaid
Released: 1938-07-27

After saving a tramp from suicide, a millionaire takes his clothing and disappears. Word is out...

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The Florentine Dagger

as Lili Salvatore
Released: 1935-03-30

A playwright descended from the Borgia family becomes a murder suspect.

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A Little Bit of Heaven

as Mme. Lupinsky
Released: 1940-10-10

A child from the New York tenements sings on a radio quiz show and is eventually hired to a...

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That Girl from Paris

as Nikki's Personal Maid (uncredited)
Released: 1936-12-31

Nikki Martin, a beautiful French opera star, stows away on an ocean liner in hopes of escaping...

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Victory

as Madame Makanoff
Released: 1940-12-21

A hermit's idyllic life on an island is disturbed by the arrival of a bunch of cutthroats.

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Mad Holiday

as Ning
Released: 1936-11-13

A temperamental film star's vacation turns deadly when he uncovers a murder.

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A Lost Lady

as Rosa
Released: 1934-09-29

A bitter woman who thinks she'll never love again marries, only to fall for a brash young man.

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The Lottery Lover

as Gaby's Maid
Released: 1935-02-05

A crew of young military-school cadets are enjoying their first weekend in Paris. Frank...

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Great Expectations

as Mrs. Joe
Released: 1934-10-22

A young boy, Pip, encounters an escaped prisoner, Magwitch, and steals food for him. After the...

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Paris Honeymoon

as Fluschotska
Released: 1939-01-27

A Texas millionaire travels to Europe to meet his girlfriend, a European countess. He stops in a...

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Mandalay

as Madame Lacalles
Released: 1934-02-10

Abandoned by her lover, a woman becomes the main "hostess" in a decadent nightclub, but tries to...

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The Last Gentleman

as Retta Barr, Judd's wife
Released: 1934-04-27

In New England circa 1933, a niece is reported missing and presumed dead and Cabot Barr (George...

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Remember Last Night?

as Mme. Bouclier
Released: 1935-10-28

After a night of wild partying at a friend's house, a couple wake up to discover the party's...

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We're Only Human

as Mrs. Anderson
Released: 1935-12-27

A cop, who plays by his own rules, brings down a notorious gangster.

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The Adventures of Martin Eden

as uncredited
Released: 1942-02-26

Author writes about his experiences sailing at sea, struggles to get his work published.

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Bondage

as Miss Trigge
Released: 1933-04-22

Judy Peters is about to be sentenced after she has pled guilty to her third offense of...

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One Frightened Night

as Elvira
Released: 1935-05-01

Eccentric tycoon Jasper Whyte hosts a dinner at his mansion and announces that he will divide...

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The Washington Masquerade

as Mona Farrell
Released: 1932-07-09

An honest, talented and well respected attorney defeats a corrupt incumbent U.S. Senator. After...

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Married?

as Maid
Released: 1926-02-17

A couple endure 365 days of marriage in order to inherit money.

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