Feodor Chaliapin Jr.

Chaliapin was the son and namesake of the great operatic bass Feodor Chaliapin. He was born in Moscow, Russian Empire, and had a distinguished career in acting throughout Europe, mainly in Italy. His mother was Iola Tornaghi, a ballerina who abandoned a promising ballet career to care for Feodor and his five siblings. When the Russian Revolution occurred in October 1917, the Chaliapins attempted to continue living in Russia, but this became impossible, especially after the Bolsheviks reputedly confiscated his wealthy father's money and property. Along with many other Russian émigrés, part of the family emigrated to Paris in 1924, via Finland. The senior Chaliapin used this as his world base, like other emigres and members of their families who often ended up living in the United States such as Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff and, for a while, Sergei Prokofiev.
Chaliapin grew up in…