Mimi Aguglia

Mimi Aguglia was an Italian actress who moved from stage work to Hollywood character roles, often as immigrant matriarchs. Born Girolama Aguglia in Palermo in 1884 to actor parents, she started performing young and toured Europe, North Africa, and South America. In 1908 she appeared in London in La zolfara, Cavalleria rusticana, and Morte civile, then later that year made her American stage debut in the Sicilian tragedy Malia. In 1913 she went back to New York, where she and her company staged Salome and Electra in Italian. She learned English to broaden her American stage opportunities. Her career also took in a Broadway part in The Whirlwind from 1919 to 1920, two Italian songs for Columbia in 1926, and radio work. She acted on The Goldbergs on CBS in the early 1940s, broadcast in Italian at WOV, and worked steadily as a Hollywood character actress from the 1930s until she died in 1970.