Actress. The exotic vamp of roughly 15 French movies, she was possibly the last performer to have starred in silent films as an adult. Born Paula Illiescu in the small town of Corabia, she took to show business early and made her silver screen bow in the 1928 “Le Desir”. After first attracting major notice as Chiquita in 1929’s “Captain Francaise” she received good reviews for the role of Pola in Rene Clair’s 1930 musical comedy “Under the Roofs of Paris”. Also in 1930 she had the lead in “Paradia Paramount”, Romania’s first ‘talkie’ which showcased her singing ability. Thru the 1930s Pola divided her time between Paris and her native land, her other notable films including the 1930 drama “Little Red Riding Hood”, 1931’s comedy “Televiziune”, and in 1933 both “L’Ainge Gardien” and “Bastille Day”. Pola earned her final credits as Myrrha in the 1938 “Le Tigre du Bengale” and “Le Tombeau Hindou” then in 1939 fled Europe for the USA. She worked as a Red Cross volunteer nurse during World War II, took American citizenship in 1946, married Daniel Alpert (deceased 1999) in 1947, and lived in New York and Baltimore before settling in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in 1954. There she raised her four children, was active in her community and Synagogue, and lived out her days. At her death from advanced age at least some of her performances were preserved on DVD.