Desni was born in Berlin as
Tamara Brodsky, the daughter of actress
Xenia Desni (1897-1962). Her mother was born in
Kyiv,
Russian Empire, and during the Russian Revolution, she fled first to
Constantinople, where she worked as a variety dancer, from there to
Berlin and during the
silent era she became a star of German cinema. As a child, Desni studied ballet. While a teenager, director
Erik Charell accepted her into his ensemble at the
Großes Schauspielhaus in 1930. Desni enjoyed great success in his productions of
Die lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow) and the legendary premiere of
Ralph Benatzky's
White Horse Inn, she married a dentist and appeared in her first three films. After the separation in 1931, she moved to Great Britain with her mother. She made her stage debut in Great Britain in 1931 in the operetta
The White Horse Inn. She followed this up with another leading role in Benatzky's operetta
Casanova at
London Coliseum, featuring music by
Johann Strauss, Jr. Desni's film career took off in 1933 with
Falling for You, and continued through 1950. Other film credits include
Dick Barton at Bay,
The Torso Murder Mystery,
Fire Over England, and ''Hell's Cargo
. In 1946, she appeared in the Durbridge film adaptation Send for Paul Temple''. ==Marriages==