RIP Taina Elg

 

Finland's first Hollywood star Taina Elg dies aged 95

Elg's silver screen success made her a superstar back home, and her visits to Finland in the 1950s became major media events.

Yle

5/26/2025

 

Finland's first (and arguably only) genuine Hollywood movie star, Taina Elg, has died at the age of 95, newspaper Helsingin Sanomat reported on Monday.

Elg died at a nursing home in Helsinki on 15 May, HS said.

The future star was born in Helsinki in 1930 and started her Hollywood career in the 1950s. She studied ballet and first went abroad to find work as a dancer, before an injury cut that career short.

She was then invited to audition as an actor in Hollywood, and ended up signing a seven-year contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) studios when she was just over the age of 20. At the time, MGM was one of the most powerful studios in Hollywood.

As the new technology of television was starting to draw audiences away from the cinema, MGM started to make big musicals, and Elg landed her biggest role in one of them.

Released in 1957 and directed by George Cukor, the musical comedy Les Girls starred Gene Kelly, Mitzi Gaynor and Kay Kendall alongside Elg. The legendary Cole Porter was behind the film's music and lyrics.

The film won an Academy Award for best costume design and was also nominated in two other categories.

Elg won a Golden Globe award for that film, and also won a Golden Globe in the 'Female Foreign Newcomer' category in 1957 for her work in the film Gaby.

In an interview in the early 1990s, Elg told Yle how she became friends with Hollywood stars like Elizabeth Taylor and Lana Turner, saying the latter taught her a lot about acting on the big screen.

Elg's Hollywood success made her a superstar back home, and her visits to Finland became major media events in the 1950s.

After a career in Hollywood that lasted until the end of the 1950s, Elg moved to New York City. There, in the 1960s, she appeared in Broadway musicals and also had a starring role in the western TV series Wagon Train.

Her career in theatre, film and television continued until the 1990s.

ELG, Taina (Taina Elizabeth Elg)

Born: 3/9/1930, Helsinki, Finland

Died: 5/15/2025, Helsinki, Finland

 

Taina Elg’s westerns – actress:

Northwest Passage (TV) – 1959 (Audrey Bonay)

Mission of Danger – 1960 (Audrey Bonay)

Wagon Train (TV) – 1960 (Countess Baranof)