Actress. Born Eugenia Popoff in Dearborn, Michigan to parents of Russian-Jewish descent, she studied ballet under Bronislava Nijinska and moved to Los Angeles at age 16 while touring with the American Ballet Theatre. Warner Brothers first put her under contract to appear as a dancer. Paul made her small screen debut in the program "Schlitz Playhouse of Stars" in 1954, and was tutored in acting by Michael Chekhov, later finding substantial acting roles while with 20th Century Fox. Throughout the 1950s, she had a busy television career with scores of guest roles in "Death Valley Days", "Waterfront", "The Gene Autry Show", "Medic", "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", "Broken Arrow", "The Thin Man", and achieved the pinnacle of her success with a featured recurring part as Elena Torres opposite Guy Williams in the series "Zorro" (1957). She alternated between TV and the silver screen with roles in the films "The Adventures of Hajji Baba" (1954), "The Ten Commandments" (1956), "Apache Warrior" (1957), "The Disembodied" (1957) and "Man on the Prowl" (1957). Following her role in the picture "Gunfighters of Abilene" (1960), she retired from the entertainment industry to raise her family with Robert Strauss, the heir to the Pep Boys auto store fortune whom she married during the 1950s.
Actress. Born Eugenia Popoff in Dearborn, Michigan to parents of Russian-Jewish descent, she studied ballet under Bronislava Nijinska and moved to Los Angeles at age 16 while touring with the American Ballet Theatre. Warner Brothers first put her under contract to appear as a dancer. Paul made her small screen debut in the program "Schlitz Playhouse of Stars" in 1954, and was tutored in acting by Michael Chekhov, later finding substantial acting roles while with 20th Century Fox. Throughout the 1950s, she had a busy television career with scores of guest roles in "Death Valley Days", "Waterfront", "The Gene Autry Show", "Medic", "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", "Broken Arrow", "The Thin Man", and achieved the pinnacle of her success with a featured recurring part as Elena Torres opposite Guy Williams in the series "Zorro" (1957). She alternated between TV and the silver screen with roles in the films "The Adventures of Hajji Baba" (1954), "The Ten Commandments" (1956), "Apache Warrior" (1957), "The Disembodied" (1957) and "Man on the Prowl" (1957). Following her role in the picture "Gunfighters of Abilene" (1960), she retired from the entertainment industry to raise her family with Robert Strauss, the heir to the Pep Boys auto store fortune whom she married during the 1950s.
Bio by: C.S.
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