Marika Aba

Marika Aba (November 12, 1929 — November 12, 1972) was a dancer and journalist born in Budapest, Hungary. After World War II, she and her mother, Georgina Maros, escaped to Austria, where she trained as a ballerina. She was a prima ballerina in Rome when she landed the role of the Assyrian Dancer at Nero's banquet in the 1951 movie Quo Vadis,[1] after which she moved her residence to Sherman Oaks, California. In 1952 she appeared as the flower girl in the MGM musical film Lovely to Look At. In 1961 she appeared as a contestant on the TV quiz show, You Bet Your Life, hosted by Groucho Marx. She was escorted on stage by Harpo Marx.[2][3]

After her brief film career she became a journalist, writing for the Los Angeles Times about the arts.[4] She returned to Italy and focused her reporting on the Italian movie industry. Film critic Charles Champlin noted the "ebullience and wit" of her writing.[5]

At the time of her death Aba was publicity director for Verona Film, and production and publicity liaison for Paramount Pictures and Cinema International Corporation. She died in Paris, France.[6] Her funeral and burial were in Rome.

Aba was the second wife of Norman Nathan Semler.[7] The couple had one child, a son named Gary.