Maria Ouspenskaya (1867-1949) was a Russian actress who was a leading figure in the Moscow Art Theatre, before emigrating to the United States of America. In America, she ran a prestigious New York acting school, but played character roles in Hollywood films to support it. Described by film historian James Robert Parish as "a tiny, very wrinkled actress, with a commanding presence," Ouspenskaya re-created her stage role as the Baroness in the 1936 film Dodsworth, earning an Academy Award-nomination for Best Supporting Actress, and as Countess Pelagia in Conquest (1937), she played cards with Napoleon Bonaparte.