Aida Mulieri-Dagort

Biography

Aida Mulieri-Dagort at age three, was cast in A Tale of Two Worlds playing the lead character, Sui Sen (Leatrice Joy) as a baby girl. Her scenes are all in the early part of the story. Due to family members working as extras in Hollywood at the time (1921), her mother was encouraged to audition her daughter for the role. Even though she had no training, Aida got the part due to her dark eyes and hair, perfect to match Leatrice Joy's dark-haired beauty. Her mother accompanied her daughter to Goldwyn Studios (later Metro Goldwyn Meyer) in Culver City for the filming. Aida can be seen first with E. Alyn Warren (Ah Wing) as he amuses her in the garden of the Carmichael home. This scene was shot on the grounds of what is now the Yamashiro restaurant in the Hollywood, which was a private residence and garden at the time. Soon after, she is seen crying hysterically, as her parents are being murdered by Boxer rebels, but the baby girl is rescued from danger by Ah Wing, the faithful family servant. As an adult, Aida became a professional harpist under contract in the orchestras of Warner Brothers, Disney and Paramount studios from the early 1940's to the early 1960's. She can be heard on the soundtracks of Mildred Pierce, Treasure of Sierra Madre, Bambi, Sunset Boulevard, and The Ten Commandments, to name a few. In 1997, she wrote, Harps are Not for Angels, about her career as a studio musician in Hollywood.