Acquanetta

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Acquanetta
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Acquanetta in 1944
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Ahwatukee, Arizona, U.S.
Resting place
Paradise Memorial Gardens, Scottsdale, Arizona
Other nameTemplate:Pluralize from textThe Venezuelan Volcano
OccupationTemplate:Pluralize from textActress
Years active1942–1953
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Luciano Bashuk
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(m. 1948; div. 1950)​
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​
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(m. 1950; div. 1953)​
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Acquanetta (born July 17, 1921 – August 16, 2004),[a] nicknamed "The Venezuelan Volcano", was an American B-movie actress during the 1940s and 1950s. Acquanetta was most known for her "exotic" beauty.

Early years

The facts of Acquanetta's origins are not known with certainty.[3][4] Although accounts differ (some giving her birth-name as Mildred Davenport, from Norristown, Pennsylvania),[3][5][6] Acquanetta claimed she was born Burnu Acquanetta, meaning "Burning Fire/Deep Water", in Ozone, Wyoming. Orphaned from her Arapaho parents when she was two (or three),[7] she lived briefly with another family before being taken in by an artistic couple with whom she remained until she made the choice to live independently at the age of fifteen.[4] Other accounts suggest she was a light-skinned African American who concealed her heritage due to the racial discrimination of the era.[8][9] Her career was followed closely by the African American press. In 1942, Life magazine noted her mysterious origins, but reported that she had lived with a Spanish family in Spanish Harlem posing as a Venezuelan before moving to Mexico, then Venezuela to obtain citizenship. The article suggests that the Arapaho orphan story was invented because she was unable to produce any identification for the Screen Actors Guild.[7]

According to the 1940 US Census, she had five siblings, including a sister, Kathryn Davenport,[5][10] and a brother, Horace Davenport, who was, according to the Pennsylvania Bar Association, "the first African-American judge in Montgomery County."[5][11]

Film career

Acquanetta started her career as a model in New York City[3][6] with Harry Conover and John Robert Powers.[5] She signed with Universal Studios in 1942 and acted mostly in B-movies, including Arabian Nights, The Sword of Monte Cristo, Captive Wild Woman and Jungle Woman,[12] in which Universal attempted to create a female monster movie series with Acquanetta as a transformative ape. After her contract with Universal expired, Acquanetta signed on with Monogram Pictures but did not appear in any movies; she then signed with RKO where she acted in her only big-budget movie, Tarzan and the Leopard Woman.[5]

Personal life

In 1947, Acquanetta and "Mexican-Jewish millionaire" Luciano Baschuk had a son, Sergei (variously Sergio), who died of cancer in 1952 at age five,[13][14] after the couple's bitter divorce in 1950,[15] where she lost her suit for half his fortune when no record of their marriage could be produced.[5] In 1950, Acquanetta married painter and illustrator Henry Clive, who was 40 years her senior, and returned to acting.[5][6] The couple were divorced in 1953.[16] That year she retired from films and became a disk jockey for radio station KPOL (AM) in Los Angeles.[5]

By 1955 she had married Jack Ross,[17][18] a car dealer who later ran for governor of Arizona in 1970 and 1974. The couple settled in Mesa, Arizona,[19] and she returned to a degree of celebrity by appearing with Ross in his local television advertisements,[12] and also by hosting a local television show called Acqua's Corner that accompanied the Friday late-night movies.[5] The couple were prominent citizens, donating to the Phoenix Symphony and the construction of Mesa Lutheran Hospital and founding Stagebrush Theatre.[3] She and Ross had four sons together, Lance, Tom, Jack Jr. and Rex, before divorcing in the early 1980s.[19][20] In 1987, Acquanetta sold the Mesa Grande ruins to the city of Mesa.[3] An apocryphal Phoenix legend has Acquanetta, upon learning of her husband's infidelity, filling the interior of his Lincoln Continental convertible with concrete.[3][21]

Acquanetta wrote a book of poetry, published in 1974, titled The Audible Silence.[3][5][22] She did not smoke, and did not drink alcohol, tea, or coffee.[5]

Acquanetta succumbed to complications of Alzheimer's disease on August 16, 2004, at Hawthorn Court in Ahwatukee, Arizona. She was 83.[23] She is buried in Paradise Memorial Gardens in East Shea, Scottsdale, Arizona.[24]

In 1987, the all-female band The Aquanettas adopted (and adapted) their name from hers.

Acquanetta's obituary inspired the composer Michael Gordon to collaborate with librettist Deborah Artman on the opera Acquanetta (2005/2017). Produced by Beth Morrison Projects, the chamber version received its world premiere at the Prototype Festival in Brooklyn, New York, in January 2018.

Opera

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Acquanetta, based on her life,[25] premiered as a Grand Opera in 2006 in Aachen, Germany.[26] The chamber version of Acquanetta had its world premiere at the 2018 Prototype Festival,[27] followed by a subsequent run at Bard SummerScape in 2019.[28]

Filmography

Acquanetta filmography
Year Film Role Notes
1942 Arabian Nights Ishya (uncredited)
1943 Rhythm of the Islands Luani as Burnu Acquanetta
Captive Wild Woman Paula Dupree – the Gorilla Girl
1944 Jungle Woman Paula Dupree – the Gorilla Girl
Dead Man's Eyes Tanya Czoraki
1946 Tarzan and the Leopard Woman Lea, the High Priestess
1951 The Sword of Monte Cristo Felice
Lost Continent Native Girl
Callaway Went Thataway Native Girl with Smoky Uncredited
1953 Take the High Ground! Bar Girl Uncredited
1989 Grizzly Adams – The Legend Never Dies[29] Direct-to-video release

Notes

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  1. ^ Some sources, including Social Security records, give her year of birth as 1920.[1][2]

References

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  1. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007". Ancestry.com. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  2. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Wollstein, Hans J. "Acquanetta: Biography". AllMovie. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Acqua Blues". Phoenix New Times. September 2, 2004. Archived from the original on May 12, 2015. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
  4. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Billed As Venezuela Beauty,' Indian Girl Hoaxed Filmdom". The Milwaukee Journal. July 20, 1942. Archived from the original on March 12, 2016. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Richard Beland (October 15, 2009). "Jungle Frolics: Acquanetta". Junglefrolics.blogspot.com. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
  6. ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Hollywood Jungle Girl - The Actress Aquanetta". Jet Magazine. February 14, 1952. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
  7. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Venezuelan Volcano". LIFE. Vol. 13, no. 8. Time, Inc. August 24, 1942. pp. 57–59. ISSN 0024-3019. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  8. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Freulich, Roman; Abramson, Joan (1971). Forty Years in Hollywood: Portraits of a Golden Age. New York: Castle Books. pp. 73-74. ISBN 978-0-498-07804-0.
  9. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Bojarksi, Richard (September 1971). "John Carradine, the Master Villain". For Monsters Only. 1 (9): 52–53.
  10. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Annonces, Vieilles (June 2, 2009). "Actress Acquanetta's Sister Marries in Tokyo - Jet Magazin…". Flickr. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
  11. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Horace Davenport, groundbreaking Montgomery County senior judge, dies at 98". The Pottstown Mercury. April 5, 2017.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  12. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Acquanetta, Movie Actress". Beaver County Times. August 18, 2004. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
  13. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994". FamilySearch. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
  14. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Annonces, Vieilles (December 26, 2008). "Actress Acquanetta to Collect $4,000 in Son's Death - Jet …". Flickr. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
  15. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Annonces, Vieilles (June 2, 2009). "Actress Acquanetta Has Child - Jet Magazine Aug 5, 1954". Flickr. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
  16. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Actress is Sued by Insurance Company". Argus-Leader. South Dakota. March 15, 1953 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Acquanetta Wins Lawsuit Over Death of Her Son". Los Angeles Times. November 29, 1955. p. 39 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Stanley, John (April 7, 2013). "B-movie Star was A-list Arizonan". Arizona Republic. p. T2 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Cone Sexton, Connie (February 15, 2013). "A Life Remembered: Jack Ross, iconic Arizona car dealer". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  20. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Acquanetta, Actress known as 'The Venezuelan Volcano'". The Independent. August 19, 2004. Archived from the original on November 11, 2010.
  21. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Best of Phoenix 2014: Legend City / The Many Mysteries of Acquanetta (and Jack Ross)". Phoenix New Times. September 25, 2015. Archived from the original on May 12, 2015. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  22. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Acquanetta; Illustrated by Emilie Touraine (1974). The Audible Silence (1st ed.). Flagstaff: Northland Press. ISBN 9780873581196.
  23. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Acquanetta, 83, A Star of B Movies". The New York Times. August 23, 2004. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
  24. ^ Resting Places: The Burial Places of 14,000 Famous Persons, by Scott Wilson
  25. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Brantley, Ben (July 14, 2019). "Review: In 'Acquanetta,' a Cult Movie Star's Eyes to Die For". The New York Times. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
  26. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."ACQUANETTA | Beth Morrison Projects". bmp-opera-music. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
  27. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Acquanetta". Prototype Festival. January 9, 2018. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  28. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Acquanetta at Bard College". Fisher Center at Bard. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
  29. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Mank, Gregory William (2015). Women in Horror Films, 1940s (illustrated ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 218. ISBN 9781476609553.

Further reading

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