Gina Malo

Gina Malo, born Janet Flynn on June 1, 1909, in Cincinnati, Ohio, was an American actress and singer who built her career across Broadway, London's West End, and British cinema before her death on November 30, 1963. Despite her Ohio origins, Malo cultivated a Parisian persona early in her career, presenting herself to casting directors as a French actress and speaking to interviewers in a heavy French accent.

Her stage career began with a stint as a showgirl for Florenz Ziegfeld, after which she secured the role of prima donna in Sigmund Romberg's operetta The New Moon during its 1928–1929 run. When a Paris production of the same Romberg musical was mounted, Malo reprised the part, and her fluency in French enabled her to take on an additional stage role in Paris singing in Broadway. Returning to New York, she stepped in as a replacement for Lili Damita in Sons o' Guns in 1930, earning particular praise for her singing.

Malo's Broadway credit came in 1931 with the drama The Gang's All Here, in which she took over as the singing lead after Ruby Keeler departed during the Philadelphia tryout. The production was further complicated by Ted Healy's dominating presence, and the show closed after 23 performances.

Following the show's failure, Malo crossed the Atlantic and appeared in the London production of Victoria and Her Hussar, then joined the cast of Jerome Kern's The Cat and the Fiddle, which starred Peggy Wood and proved a substantial hit. Her British film career gained momentum when Gaumont cast her as Adele, the singing maid, in Waltz Time, an adaptation of Johann Strauss's Fledermaus that found success in both England and the United States. She subsequently starred in The Bride of the Lake, based on Dion Boucicault's Irish melodrama The Colleen Bawn. After an unsuccessful screen test for the role of Anna Held in The Great Ziegfeld, she returned to London for the French importation Toi C'est Moi and the musical Leave It to Love in spring 1935. Her film work during this period also included My Song for You, a vehicle for Jan Kiepura, as well as The Private Life of Don Juan, Windbag the Sailor, Where There's a Will, and a screen adaptation of The Gang Show.

Through the late 1930s Malo remained a consistent presence on the English stage, appearing in The Gang Show, On Your Toes, Diversion, and The Gentle People. In 1937 she married actor and dramatist Romney Brent.

As war approached, Malo and Brent left London for New York in March 1940. Her American opportunities were limited during this period, and she appeared in the film Chamber of Horrors while sustaining her stage work through regional summer theater across the war years. She eventually settled in Toronto, where she received recognition for repertory performances including a 1944 production of Hamlet. After the war concluded, she toured in Brent's production of The Merry Wives of Windsor.