Pola Negri - Retirement and Later Years

Retirement and Later Years

When Negri returned to the United States in early the 1940's, she became close friends with Margaret West, an oil heiress and vaudeville actress that she had originally met in the 1930s. The two became housemates, and moved from Los Angeles to San Antonio, Texas, in 1957. Negri became a naturalized citizen of the United States on January 12, 1951.

In 1948, director Billy Wilder approached Negri to appear as Norma Desmond in the film Sunset Boulevard (1950), after Mae Murray, Mae West, and Mary Pickford declined the role. Negri also declined the role, because she felt that the screenplay was not ready and that Montgomery Clift, who was slated to play the Joe Gillis character at the time, was not a good choice for the character. The role of Joe Gillis eventually went to William Holden.Gloria Swanson, Negri's former "rival" at Paramount, accepted the Norma Desmond role.

Negri would live with Margaret West until the latter's death in 1963. After West's death, Negri moved out of the home she had shared with West into a townhome located at 7707 Broadway in San Antonio. She spent the remainder of her years there, largely out of the public eye.

Negri came out of retirement once to appear in the Walt Disney film The Moon-Spinners (1964), which starred Hayley Mills and Eli Wallach. Negri's appearance in the film as eccentric jewel collector Madame Habib was shot in London over the course of two weeks. During the time that Negri was filming The Moon-Spinners, she made a sensation by appearing before the London press at her hotel in the company of a feisty cheetah on a steel chain leash.

In 1964, Negri received an honorary award from the German film industry for her film work, followed by a Hemis-Film award in San Antonio in 1968. In 1970 she published her autobiography, Memoirs of a Star, which was published by Doubleday.

Negri made an appearance at The Museum of Modern Art on April 30, 1970, for a screening event in her honor, which featured her film A Woman of the World (1925) and selections from her films. Negri was also guest of honor at a 1972 screening of Carmen held at the Witte Museum in San Antonio.

In 1975, director Vincente Minnelli approached Negri to appear as the Contessa Sanziani in his film A Matter of Time, but Negri was unable to accept the part due to poor health. The role ended up going to Ingrid Bergman instead.

In 1978, Billy Wilder directed the film Fedora; although Negri does not appear in the film, the title character is based largely on her.

Negri's final high-profile coverage in her lifetime was for a "Where Are They Now?" feature on silent film stars, which appeared in Life magazine in 1980.