{{Short description|Hungarian-American dancer and journalist (1929–1972)}} {{Infobox person | name = Marika Aba | birth_name = Marika Wolff | birth_date = {{Birth date|1929|11|12}} | birth_place = Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary | death_date = {{Death date and age|1972|11|12|1929|11|12}} | death_place = Bichat–Claude Bernard Hospital, Paris, France | burial_place = Protestant Cemetery, Rome, Italy | other_names = Marika Aba Semler | citizenship = American {{small|(1956–1972)}} | occupation = {{startflatlist}} * Dancer * journalist {{endflatlist}} | spouse = {{marriage |Norman Nathan Semler|1954|1966|end=div}} | children = 1 }}

'''Marika Aba''' (né Marika Wolff; 1929&ndash;1972) was a Hungarian born, Hungarian-American dancer and journalist.<ref name="Champlin"/>

Aba's father was an engineer who disappeared while working in Turkey at the outbreak of World War II. After the war, during the Soviet occupation of Hungary, she and her mother, Georgina Maros, escaped to Austria by swimming across a river at night. Having trained as a ballerina in Austria, she was a prima ballerina in Rome when she landed the role of the "Assyrian Dancer at Nero's banquet" in the 1951 movie ''Quo Vadis''.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Richard Lindsay |title=Hollywood Biblical Epics: Camp Spectacle and Queer Style from the Silent Era to the Modern Day: Camp Spectacle and Queer Style from the Silent Era to the Modern Day |date=June 19, 2015 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uPzWCQAAQBAJ&q=marika&pg=PA74 |publisher=Praeger |accessdate=April 21, 2019 |page=74|isbn=9781440837531 }}</ref> After this role, she and her mother moved to Sherman Oaks, California.

In 1952, she appeared as the flower girl in the MGM musical film ''Lovely to Look At''. In 1961, she appeared as a contestant on the TV quiz show, ''You Bet Your Life'', hosted by Groucho Marx. She was escorted on stage by Harpo Marx.<ref>{{cite web |title=Marika Aba |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1014337/ |website=Internet Movie Database |accessdate=April 21, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Harpo meets Groucho on "You Bet Your Life" | website=YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdFgzZBhU7Y |accessdate=April 21, 2019}}</ref>

After her brief film career she became a journalist, writing for the Los Angeles Times about the arts.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Axel Madsen |title=John Houston: A Biography |date=March 17, 2015 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tG7kBgAAQBAJ&q=marika+aba+los+angeles+times&pg=PT314 |publisher=Open Road Media |isbn=9781504008587 |accessdate=April 21, 2019}}</ref> She returned to Italy and focused her reporting on the Italian movie industry. Film critic Charles Champlin noted the "ebullience and wit" of her writing.<ref name="Champlin"/> At the time of her death, Aba was publicity director for Verona Film, and production and publicity liaison for Paramount Pictures and Cinema International Corporation.

==Personal life and death== In June 1954, Aba married Norman Nathan Semiet.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Marika A Wolff and Norman N Semler |journal=California, U.S., Marriage Index, 1949-1959 |date=1954 |publisher=California Department of Health and Welfare |location=Pleasanton, California}}</ref> The couple had one son before later divorcing in March 1966.<ref name="Champlin"/><ref>{{cite journal |title=Marika Aba and Norman Semler |journal=State of California. California Divorce Index, 1966-1984 |date=1966 |publisher=Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services |location=Sacramento, California}}</ref> Aba became a naturalised American citizen in April 1956.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Marika Aba Semler |journal=Naturalization Index Cards of the U.S. District Court For the Southern District of California, Central Division (Los Angeles), 1915-1976 (M1525); Microfilm Serial: M1525; Microfilm Roll: 97 |date=1956 |publisher=The National Archives |location=Washington, D.C.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Marietta Semler [Marika Aba Semler] |journal=Petitions For Naturalization, U.s. District Court For the Central District of California (Los Angeles), 1940-1991; NAI Number: 594890; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009 |date=1956 |publisher=The National Archives |location=Washington, D.C.}}</ref>

Aba died at Bichat–Claude Bernard Hospital on her 43rd birthday following what was described as "a long illness", and was Aba was buried at the Protestant Cemetery in Rome.<ref name="Champlin"/><ref name="SFS">{{cite journal |title=Marika Aba Semler |journal=Department of State Foreign Service of the United States of America, Reports of the Death of an American Citizen |date=1972 |volume=NAI Number: 613857; Record Group Title: General Records of the Department of State |publisher=National Archives at College Park |location=Maryland}}</ref>

==Filmography== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes !Ref(s) |- |1951|| ''Quo Vadis'' || Assyrian Dancer at Nero's Banquet || Uncredited ||style="text-align:center;"|<ref>{{cite web |title=Quo Vadis |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150031992 |website=Collections Search {{!}} BFI {{!}} British Film Institute |publisher=British Film Institute |access-date=5 July 2025 |location=London}}</ref><ref name="Champlin">{{cite news |last1=Champlin |first1=Charles |title=Marika Aba Dies After Long Illness |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-obituary-for-marik/37412027/ |access-date=5 July 2025 |work=The Los Angeles Times |date=November 14, 1972 |location=Los Angeles, California |page=75}}</ref> |- |1952|| ''Lovely to Look At'' || Flower Girl || Uncredited, (final film role) || |}

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aba, Marika}} Category:1929 births Category:1972 deaths Category:Journalists from California Category:Hungarian emigrants to the United States Category:20th-century American dancers Category:Los Angeles Times people Category:Hungarian expatriates in Austria Category:Hungarian expatriates in Italy Category:20th-century American journalists Category:20th-century American women journalists Category:American expatriates in Austria Category:American expatriates in Italy

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