Gina Malo
| Gina Malo | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
June 1, 1909 Cincinnati, Ohio, United States |
| Died | November 30, 1963 (aged 54) New York City, New York, United States |
| Years active | 1932–1940 |
Gina Malo (June 1, 1909 – November 30, 1963) was an American film actress, born Janet Flynn in Cincinnati, Ohio. She appeared in a number of British films in the 1930s, often playing an American.
Though born in Cincinnati as Janet Flynn, Gina Malo represented herself as a Parisian film actress when securing her first Broadway parts. After a stint with Florenz Ziegfeld as a showgirl, Malo's ambitions as a singer found vent when she secured the part of the prima dona in Sigmund Romberg's operetta 'The New Moon' (1928-1929). When a Paris production of Romberg's musical formed, she jumped at the chance to play the part again.
A capable French speaker, she obtained another stage role in Paris singing in Broadway. She returned to New York as a replacement for Lily Damita in "Sons o’Guns". Rumors of her American nativity were not laid to rest by her speaking in a heavy French accent to interviewers, but her singing, markedly superior to Damita's, won praise in 1930. After Ruby Keeler bailed out of 'The Gang's All Here' during its Philadelphia tryout in 1931, Malo took over as the singing lead. Keeler may have intuited something, for the show was being hijacked by Ted Healy, not a place for an ambitious leading lady to be. The musical died after 23 performances.
Assuaging her wounds by crossing the Atlantic, she appeared in the London production of Victoria and her Hussar. She remained in London for the production of Jerome Kern's The Cat and the Fiddle, a smash hit with Peggy Wood in the lead. When the British-Gaumont film company decided to adapt Johann Strauss's Fledermaus to the screen, they tapped Malo to play Adele, the singing maid. Waltz Time was a success in England and the United States.
Firmly established in the British entertainment world, Malo next starred in The Bride of the Lake, a nostalgic, tuneful rendering of Dion Boucicault's old Irish melodrama, The Colleen Bawn. After testing unsuccessfully for the role of Anna Held in The Great Ziegfeld in Hollywood, Malo returned to London to play in the French importation, Toi C’est Moi, followed in Spring 1935 with a turn in the musical Leave it to Love. She also appeared on screen in a Jan Kiepura vehicle, My Song for You.
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