In August of 1920, European circus performers Jeanne and Joseph Bradna — at that time putting on a trained-dog act at the Olympia theater in Paris — welcomed a baby girl.
The baby — born “in dressing room No. 13,” “between the matinee and evening shows” — was named Antoinette Olympe, middle name in honor of the venue.
Little Olympe made her stage debut at the age of 18 months.
She was starred as an acrobatic dancer in a circus at 8 years. She was a featured dancer on the stage at the age of 12. She “stopped the show” in a New York night club at 14, and is now starred in Hollywood at 17.
From the mid-1930s until the early 1940s, Olympe Bradna — whose first name was pronounced o-lamp — appeared in a dozen American movies. (Her final film, International Squadron, starred future president Ronald Reagan.)
She retired from acting upon getting married in 1941.
Sources:
- Olympe Bradna – Wikipedia
- Percy, Eileen. “Wampas dropped, studios picking own ‘baby stars’.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 4 Nov. 1935: 12.
- “Olympe Begins Early.” Prescott Evening Courier 17 Dec. 1935: 15.
- Ferguson, Betty June. “New starlet thinks films have it over circus like a tent.” Sheridan Press 10 Jun. 1938.
- “Bradna’s Birth” [Letter to the Editor]. Time 13 Sept. 1937.
- Sobol, Louis. “Here is Bradna.” Photoplay Aug. 1938: 14.
Image: Clipping from the cover of Movie and Radio Guide (27 Jul. 1940)
[Latest update: Sept. 2025]