Eugenia Popoff, a talented American actress and dancer, was born in Dearborn, Michigan, to a family of Russian descent. Her unique surname has been reported as Popoff, Popov, Popova, or Popoffon, depending on the source. According to a fanciful story that circulated in the mid-1950s, Eugenia's ancestry included a connection to Genghis Khan on her father's side and a tribe of Gypsies on her mother's.
Eugenia began her career as a ballet dancer in New York and later joined the American Ballet Theatre, touring with the company to Los Angeles in 1952. Warner Brothers promptly signed her to a three-year contract as a dancer. She continued her acting studies with Michael Chekhov and further honed her ballet skills under the guidance of Bronislava Njinska.
In 1955, Eugenia signed with 20th Century Fox, initially cast in low-budget films featuring exotic characters. She played the role of Liwana, a chief's daughter, in the B-western Apache Warrior (1957) and an African native in the C-grade zombie flick The Disembodied (1957). However, she found more success in television, particularly as Señorita Elena Torres in Walt Disney's Zorro (1957).
Unfortunately, Eugenia struggled with typecasting, and the majority of her roles during the remainder of the decade were limited to Hispanic or Native American characters in TV westerns. She appeared in shows such as Death Valley Days (1952),Broken Arrow (1956),and The Adventures of Jim Bowie (1956).
In 1952, Eugenia married Bob Strauss, heir to the Pep Boys Auto Supply Company fortune. The couple had a family and Eugenia retired from the film industry in 1960 to focus on her personal life.
