Olga von Root

Baroness Olga Vadimovna von Root (Russian: Ольга Вадимовна фон Рот; 2 December 1901 – 28 June 1967) was a Russian stage actress and singer. Born into a noble family of German, Polish, and Greek background, Root was educated at the Smolny Institute of Noble Maidens in Russia. As a teenager, she ran away from home and travelled with a Romani family, studying their music and dance. During the Russian Revolution, while her father served in the White Army, Root performed in cabarets and nightclubs to help support her family. After the war, she performed in Russia and other European countries as a stage actress and singer under the stage name Olga Vadina. She later married the American industrialist Armand Hammer and moved to the United States, taking up residence in Manhattan. While living in New York, she worked to transcribe numerous Romani ballads. Root is the grandmother of American businessman Michael Armand Hammer and the great-grandmother of American actor Armie Hammer.