Eugenia Paul

Paul was born Eugenia Popoff in Dearborn, Michigan, of Russian heritage.^[1][3] Her parents were Mr. and Mrs. Frederick K. Popoff.^[4] Her father was an employee of Ford Motor Company; her mother, Monica, taught piano and violin after having been a concert violinist. She had one older brother and two younger brothers.^[5]

Paul initially wanted to be a ballet dancer. When she was 14 years old, she was invited to join the Ballet Theater company, but her mother preferred to have her continue her education.^[5]

Paul signed as a dancer with Warner Bros. when she was just 17 years old, while participating on a tour with the American Ballet Theatre and the Ballet Sketchbook television show. Paul danced in lead roles on screen. She also studied ballet with Bronislava Nijinska and drama and acting under Michael Chekhov. Paul departed Warner Bros. and signed with 20th Century Fox as an actor in 1955.^[1]

Paul's television debut occurred in 1954 in an episode of Cavalcade of America.^[5] Her other television credits included Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Medic, The Lone Ranger, Death Valley Days, The Adventures of Jim Bowie and the Playhouse 90 adaptation of The Great Gatsby and Sky King).^[1][2]

Paul's film credits including Lost in Alaska, Man on the Prowl, Apache Warrior and The Ten Commandments.^[1] Her last feature film role was in the western Gunfighters of Abilene in 1960.^[1]

Paul met her husband, Pep Boys heir Robert Strauss, at a Hollywood Bowl party. The couple married and Paul quit professional show business soon after her marriage. They remained married for 52 years, until her death in 2010.^[1]

Paul died of complications of edema^[6] on May 24, 2010, at Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, at the age of 75.^[2]