Get a closer look at some of Hollywood's perfect pairs.

Hollywood Power Couples

Get a closer look at some of Hollywood&#39;s perfect pairs.

"The Gentlemen" and "Slow Horses" return this fall, while the "Reacher" spin-off series "Neagley" makes its debut. See our guide of the biggest Fall TV and streaming releases.

2026 Fall TV and Streaming Watch Guide

&quot;The Gentlemen&quot; and &quot;Slow Horses&quot; return this fall, while the &quot;Reacher&quot; spin-off series &quot;Neagley&quot; makes its debut. See our guide of the biggest Fall TV and streaming releases.

Get a closer look at these actors from their many TV and streaming series roles.

Streaming Stars, Then and Now

Finnish-American actress and dancer Taina Elisabeth Elg was born in 1930 in Helsinki but later her family moved and lived in and around Finland, including Turku. Taina's mother was a Russian immigrant, pianist Helena Doroumova, and her father was pianist Åke Elg (a.k.a. Åke Ludwig). Her home later became a target during the Finnish-Soviet wars between 1939 and 1944 and when it became part of the Soviet Union, the family was forced to leave. After WWII they evacuated from Viipuri and returned to Helsinki.

At a very young age Taina trained in both ballet and acting. When the family returned to Helsinki, Taina continued with her dance and acting training and eventually she was invited to join the Finnish National Ballet. She appeared in a few homeland movies as early as age 10 and found a couple of obscure film roles as a teenager, one in which she danced. Her international reputation began to grow when she joined the famed Sadler's Wells ballet dance company (The Royal Ballet) in London and then the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas, in Paris. A serious injury forced her to rethink her dancing career.

Fortunately, Elg was discovered in London by American film producer Edwin H. Knopf and, on the heels of the spectacular Hollywood success fellow Scandinavian Anita Ekberg was having, MGM decided to sign Elg to a customary seven-year Hollywood contract. She made her American debut for MGM with the secondary role of Elissa in the Lana Turner biblical costumer The Prodigal (1955). The following year MGM utilized her acting talents in their films Diane (1956), again starring Turner, and Gaby (1956) with Leslie Caron.

For the aforementioned work she was honored with a Golden Globe award for female "foreign newcomer". She was subsequently handed her best all-around opportunity by MGM to display her sublime dancing, sexy figure and comedic acting skills when asked to portray Angèle Ducros in Cole Porter's musical Les Girls (1957) opposite Gene Kelly and alongside fellow dazzlers Mitzi Gaynor and Kay Kendall. Receiving her second consecutive Golden Globe (tying with Kendall) for "Best Actress" in a musical, Les Girls (1957) also won the Golden Globe for "Best Picture - Musical" and an Oscar for its costume design.

More films came her way with Imitation General (1958) starring Glenn Ford and Red Buttons; the remake of the classic The 39 Steps (1959) opposite Kenneth More; the African adventure Watusi (1959) with George Montgomery and David Farrar and the war story Mission of Danger (1960), which was actually culled from a few TV episodes. None, however, could match the quality of Les Girls (1957). Elg's Hollywood film career went into a steep decline at this juncture and she began focusing on TV projects, foreign films and especially theatre roles. Appearing on stage in such 1960s productions as "Redhead," "Silk Stockings", "Irma La Douce", "West Side Story", "The Sound of Music", and "There's a Girl in My Soup", she finally made her Broadway debut with the musical "Look to the Lilies" in 1970, which was based on the Oscar-winning film Lilies of the Field (1963). She never found a strong footing again in films and has appeared in less than a handful since. Other than the 1961 Italian spectacle The Bacchantes (1961), she showed up in the musclebound Arnold Schwarzenegger's vehicle Hercules in New York (1970), Liebestraum (1991), and the Barbra Streisand feature The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996).

Her love for the stage was obvious and she remained as colorful than ever gracing such musicals as Sondheim's "A Little Night Music" (1973) in which she sang the haunting "Send in the Clowns." She also returned to Broadway in later years with the musicals "Where's Charley?", for which she earned a Tony nomination, "Nine" and "Cabaret". She appeared in the national tour of the musical "Titanic" in 1998-1999. On the non-musical stage she had strong roles in "Uncle Vanya", "I Hate Hamlet", "O Pioneers!", and, more recently, "Requiem for William" and Memory of a Summer" (both 2003).

In 2004, the actress received a special honor from her native Finland, when she was knight by the Order of the Lion of Finland. She is a naturalized American citizen. Jazz guitarist Raoul Björkenheim is Taina's son from her first marriage (1953-1958) to Carl "Poku" Björkenheim. In 1985, she married Rocco Caporale, an Italian educator and professor of sociology. The couple lived in New York City until his death in 2008.

Awards

Taina Elg

Golden Globes, USA

Laurel Awards

Photoplay Awards

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