French dancer and actress, who emigrated to the United States where she lived for the rest of her life. Her father, Joseph Bradna, was a Bohemian Czech and her mother, Jana Bradna, was Austrian German. They were circus performers before Olympe began her career, as a young child.
Her parents accompanied her to Sweden, Norway, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and France as she danced. She performed “an acrobatic dance” in the Paris, France, production of Hit the Deck. Later she joined the Folies Bergère. She was with that group for eight months and danced at the French Casino in New York City for eight more months. She also danced in Stockholm and other world capitals.
Bradna started her film career in France, then, in 1934, moved to Hollywood, California where she saw her greatest success, signing a seven-year contract with Paramount Pictures. Her screen debut came in Three Cheers for Love (1936). During her career she appeared in more than a dozen films and was seen opposite such notable film stars as Ronald Reagan, George Raft and Gary Cooper.
On 14 May 1941 in Los Angeles, Bradna married socialite and singer Douglas Woods Wilhoit, at which point she retired from acting. Together, she and Douglas would have four children. They were married for over seventy years, with Douglas passing away on 23 February 2012, just nine months prior to Olympe’s death. She died on 5 November 2012 in Stockton, California at age 92.
Link to Wikipedia biography