Lya (Margoulis) Lys (1908 - 1986)

Born 18 May 1908 in Berlin, Germany

Wife of Charles Morton — married Aug 1931 (to 1931) in Mexico

Wife of Percy Stanley Montague — married 25 Apr 1932 in Santa Ana, Orange, California, United States

Wife of John Marshall Gunnerson — married 11 Jan 1940 in Las Vegas, Clark, Nevada, United States

Wife of George Feit — married 1954 in Dade, Florida, United States

Died 2 Jun 1986 at age 78 in Newport Beach, Orange, California, United States

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Biography

Lya (Margoulis) Lys is Notable.

"To be a success in this business you've got to be popular. And to be popular you'd better be just as nice to the least important people as to the great ones. Why, the man who brings you a drink of water today may be your director next week." – Lya Lys ^[1]

Lya Lys: Los Angeles Times Obituary:^[2]

"Lya Lys, a film actress of the late 1930s and early '40s whose best-known movie appearance probably was in the pre-World War II "Confessions of a Nazi Spy," died Monday at 78."^[3]

"Miss Lys, who also had a small role in the Humphrey Bogart horror film, "The Return of Dr. X," died of a heart ailment at Hoag Memorial Hospital in Newport Beach, said her grandson, Randy Caruso."

"Miss Lys, whose real name was Natalia Lyecht, came to Hollywood from France in 1930. She got her start in films in the surrealistic "The Andalusian Dog" by director Luis Bunuel and artist Salvador Dali, Caruso said."

""Confessions of a Nazi Spy" remains a widely praised semi-documentary film, which, when it was made in 1939, was among the first pictures with an anti-Hitler theme. Miss Lys left show business in 1943 after a series of financial reversals."

According to her naturalization papers, she was born in Berlin on 18 May 1908. She stated that her parents were Jewish. ^[4] According to her marriage records, her parents were Solomon Margoulis and Alexandra Blumenfeld. Her father was a Russian banker and her mother, during the war, served at a French field hospital, and her fate after the German occupation is unclear.^[5]

Lya Lys was married four times. Her first husband was the silent film star Charles Morton, whom she married August 1931 in Ensenada, Mexico. The marriage only lasted a few months. There were several newspaper accounts of Ms. Lys suing her ex-husband's new girlfriend, though this might have been studio hype. This union produced her only child, a daughter named Joyce. In the first few years after the divorce, Lys had difficulty in getting child support from Charles Morton, and he was briefly jailed as a result.

Her second husband was Percy Stanley Montague, whom she married 25 April 1932.^[6] Her naturalization papers stated that her then-husband, Percy Montague, was naturalized 23 August 1928. She stated that they had been married 25 April 1932 in Santa Ana, California. Her husband had been born in Lithuania on 17 March 1905.^[7]

Her third husband was a wealthy shoe manufacturer and former husband of silent screen start Anna Q. Nilsson, John Marshall Gunnerson, whom she married 11 January 1940 in Las Vegas, Nevada.^[8] Lys later described their marriage as the worst mistake of her life.^[9] They were divorced in Mexico in 1943.^[10]

Finally, she seemed to have found her life-partner when she married George Feit in 1954 in Dade County, Florida.^[11] The couple were married until her death in 1986.^[12] George died just two years later.

Sources

1. ↑ Hollywood by Paul Harrison - The Frederick Post - June 15, 1939 pg. 4.
2. ↑ Los Angeles Times (CA) - Sunday, June 8, 1986
3. ↑ "California Death Index, 1940-1997," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VPJ4-BY3 : 26 November 2014), Lya Lys Feit, 02 Jun 1986; Department of Public Health Services, Sacramento.
4. ↑ Nathalie Margoulis Montague "Lya Lys", Actress, Petition for Citizenship, USA, No. 40699 dated 7 August 1933.
5. ↑ Lya Lys on Wikipedia.
6. ↑ "California, County Marriages, 1850-1952," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8FD-S7V : 8 December 2017), Percival Stanley Montague and Nathalie Margoulis Lya Lys, 25 Apr 1932; citing Orange, California, United States, county courthouses, California; FHL microfilm 2,051,086.
7. ↑ Nathalie Margoulis Montague "Lya Lys", Actress, Petition for Citizenship, USA, No. 40699 dated 7 August 1933.
8. ↑ Plain Dealer, Friday, January 12, 1940, Cleveland, OH, page 20.
9. ↑ Watch Me Soar Again - San Antonio Light, - June 6, 1943 – pg. 67.
10. ↑ Lya Lys on Wikipedia.
11. ↑ Florida Marriage Collection.
12. ↑ "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVVC-HMMZ : 27 July 2019), Lya Lys, 1986; Burial, , ; citing record ID 13940825, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.