Linda Christian has died on the 22nd July in California, aged 87.
Born to a Dutch father and Mexican mother, Linda Christian spent much of her early life travelling to where here father’s work took her: South America, the Middle East, Africa and Europe. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, she became an accomplished polyglot, speaking six languages fluently and others less so.
Although she wanted to be a doctor while growing up, she was persuaded by Errol Flynn to move to Hollywood and become an actress. She was soon spotted by Louis B. Mayer’s secretary and offered a seven year contract with MGM. Her debut came with the musical Up in Arms (44), and other roles rapidly followed. Perhaps her best known film of this period was Tarzan and the Mermaids (48).
She was better known, though, for her marriage to Tyrone Power than any of her performances. It lasted between 1949 and 1956 and resulted in two children (Taryn and Romina Power, both of whom also became actresses) and acres of press coverage before their divorce. She was still a tabloid favourite, and her relationships with Alfonso de Portago (who died in a car accident while they were involved with each other) and Edmund Purdom only bought more attention.
She spent a lot of time in Rome and Spain, and appeared regularly in Spanish and Italian films. She was in Mario Mattoli’s comedy Appuntamento a Ischia and Mario Gariazzo’s interesting early thriller, Passport for a Corpse (62), not to mention Francesco Rosi’s bullfighting movie The Moment of Truth (65). But none of her European films were particularly succesful, and she gave up the profession apart from making a brief return with performances in a couple of Sergio Pastore / Giovanna Lenzi films, Delitti and Amore inquieto di Maria (87)