维娅·阿尔特马内，Vija Artmane has been called the legend of Latvian theatre and cinema. She was born Alida Fritsevna Artmane, on July 21, 1929, in a village near Tukums, Latvia. Her father, Fritsis Artmane, was of Batic German ancestry, and he died four months before she was born. Her Polish mother, Anna Zaborska, survived by doing seasonal agricultural jobs.