Pola Negri (Barbara Apolonia Chałupiec) (31 December, 1894 - August 1, 1987) was a Polish film actress who achieved notoriety as a femme fatale in silent films between 1910s and 1930s.

Pola Negri was born in Poland and moved to Warsaw as a young child. Living in poverty with her mother, a teenage Pola auditioned and was accepted to the Imperial Ballet. Due to an illness which ended her dancing career, she soon switched to the Warsaw Imperial Academy of Dramatic Arts and became an actress. By 17, she was a star on the stage in Warsaw, but World War I would soon change the theater scene. Without the theater, Pola turned to films. With her new career in pictures and her stage success in 'Sumurun', she went to Berlin and was teamed with German Director Ernst Lubitsch. The Lubitsch-Negri combination was very successful and the roles that Pola played were earthy, exotic, strong women. One of her films, 'Madame DuBarry (1919)' was optioned and retitled as 'Passion (1919)' for exhibition in America. The film was such a success that by 1922, Pola and Lubitsch were both given contracts to work in Hollywood. While her first few films showed some success, they were overshadowed by her reported romances with such stars as Chaplin and Valentino. 'Forbidden Paradise (1924)', made with Director Lubitsch, and 'Hotel Imperial (1927)' were two of her more successful films. But three things conspired to end her career in Hollywood. The display that she put on at the funeral of Valentino in 1926, changed the public mood towards her. The Hays Office codes which would not allow filming the very traits that made her a sex-siren European star. And finally, her thick accent would not play in the sound pictures that were coming into vogue. Pola Negri returned to Europe and eventually made films for UFA, which was under Nazi management. In 1941, Pola returned to American penniless. She made the movie 'Hi Diddle Diddle' in 1943 and became an American citizen in 1951. Her next and last movie was 'The Moon-Spinners (1964)'.

Barbara Apollina Chalupiec (aka Pola Negri) was born in Janowa, Poland on New Year's Eve in 1894. Pola was born into a comfortable lifestyle until her father was arrested by the Russians and sent to a Siberian prison camp. Moving to Warsaw in 1902, she was to spend her formative years in dire poverty. As a teenager, Pola auditioned for the St. Petersburg Imperial Ballet. She was accepted. As a ballerina she showed great promise until she contracted tuberculosis and was forced to cut short her dance career. Devastated that her dreams would no longer be fulfilled and wanting to escape poverty, Pola auditioned for the Warsaw Imperial Academy of Dramatic Arts and became a stage actress. By the time she was 17, Pola was a stage star in Poland. That was to change her life again with the advent of World War I. Once again Pola and her mother were plunged into poverty again, so she turned to film to make a go of it. Her first role was in the film, DIE BESTIE in 1915. By the time the war ended she had starred in the Polish production of SLAVE OF SIN in 1918. Her film career was becoming established. Her next film, later that year, was the highly acclaimed MADAME DU BERRY in 1919. It became an absolute sensation in Europe. The film was later released in the US under the name of PASSION. The film was so well received that she was given a contract to make films in Hollywood. Her USA career was off and running. In 1923 she landed the role of Maritana in THE SPANISH DANCER. The film was popular with filmgoers and they equally liked the productions of BELLA DONNA and THE CHEAT that same year. Her vamp roles were highly popular and she was a direct rival of Theda Bara. But her popularity was to be short lived. Pola made a spectacle of herself when she threw herself on the late Rudolph Valentino's coffin. The fans felt she was acting in public and began to turn away from her. The Hays Office, which regulated film content, would not allow her to portray the vamp roles that had made her famous elsewhere. Then the "talkie" revolution started. With her heavy accent, her dialogue did not come across well. Pola decided to return to Europe to continue her flagging career. However, she felt the Nazi regime would not allow her creativity so she returned to the US in 1941. She made _Hi Diddle Diddle (1943)_ in 1943 and became a US citizen in 1951. Her final film was as Madame Habib in 1964's Moon-Spinners, The (1964). Retiring to San Antonio, Texas she died on August 1, 1987 at the age of 93.