The passions and pitfalls of a lifetime as actress and teacher, from the Russian Civil War through World War II, are shown from the exploits of Maria Ouspenskaya, who was born in Tula, Tsarist Russia in 1876 and died in Los Angeles, U.S. in 1949. Touched by her versatile performance of domination, care and otherness, my family and I unexpectedly find a new sense of belonging in Maria’s queer transcultural hybridity.