Rouben Mamoulian — director (dr. jekyll) with roots in the Russian Empire
Rouben Mamoulian was an Armenian-American film and theatre director born in Tiflis (Russian Empire, now Georgia) who became one of Hollywood's most innovative directors. He directed the first Technicolor feature film (Becky Sharp, 1935), pioneered moving camera techniques, and directed landmark musicals including Oklahoma! and Carousel on Broadway.
Tracing the roots — Tiflis (Georgia)
Born in Tiflis (Russian Empire) in 1897 into an Armenian family, Mamoulian trained at the Moscow Art Theatre before emigrating to the United States. His Russian Empire origins — the multicultural Caucasian city of Tiflis — gave him an outsider's eye and an experimentalist's courage that transformed both Broadway and Hollywood.
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Tiflis (Georgia). At the time, this region lay within the Russian Empire, which spanned from Poland to the Pacific.