Fernanda Eliscu

Fernanda Eliscu (April 24, 1880 – September 27, 1968) was a Romanian-born actress who worked in English and Yiddish productions across stage and screen in the United States. Born in Romania — sources cite both Iași and Bucharest as her birthplace — she relocated to the United States as a child with her parents. She pursued formal training at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and at Cooper Union.

Eliscu's stage career spanned several decades, with Broadway appearances from 1899 to 1936. Early in her professional life she was associated with prominent actresses Minnie Maddern Fiske and Maude Adams. Her stage credits from the turn of the century include Cyrano de Bergerac and Beau Brummel, both in 1899, followed by Her Majesty in 1900, Don Caesar's Return in 1901, and Romeo and Juliet and Marta of the Lowlands in 1903. She also appeared in The Little Minister, The Smoldering Flame, Pickpockets, Jacque Duval, The Light from Saint Agnes in 1906, and Ruth in 1907. Her run in The Third Degree extended through the 1909–1910 season. She returned to The Outsider in both 1924 and 1928, and continued performing on Broadway into the 1930s with If I Were You in 1931, Triplets in 1932, Creeping Fire in 1935, and Winterset in 1936.

Eliscu also built a career in film. Her screen credits include the 1936 film adaptation of Winterset, Background to Danger in 1943, Berlin Express in 1948, Harbor of Missing Men in 1950, and Charge of the Lancers in 1954.

In her personal life, Eliscu married actor Carl Anthony Pfeil, with whom she had three children. Pfeil died in 1930. Eliscu died in Los Angeles, California in 1968 at the age of 88.