fiction.wikisort.org - Actor

Vola Vale (born Vola Smith; February 12, 1897 – October 17, 1970) was a silent film actress.

This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2021)

Vola Vale
Publicity photo from Motion Picture Magazine (August, 1915)
Born	Vola Smith (1897-02-12)February 12, 1897 Buffalo, New York, U.S.
Died	October 17, 1970(1970-10-17) (aged 73) Hawthorne, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Spouse(s)	Albert Russell ​ ​ (m. 1918; div. 1926)​ John. W. Gorman ​ (m. 1926)​ Lawrence McDougal ​ ​ (m. 1932; died 1970)​
Children	1

Early career

Vale was born in Buffalo, New York and educated in Chevy Chase, Maryland.^{[citation needed]} Her high school friends in Rochester, New York, where she was raised, knew her as Vola Smith. She began her career in amateur theatricals in Rochester.[1] Then she played in stock companies for a while.

After working under Bert Lytell on stage, in 1916 Vale began working in film for Biograph,[1] under the tutelage of the film director D.W. Griffith. After a month of playing atmosphere parts, Vola was offered a genuine role. She wore a velvet gown with a train and a feathered hat. Soon she was appearing in short reel films for Biograph. Among the actors she was cast with were William S. Hart, Sessue Hayakawa, Tsuru Aoki, William Haines, Harry Carey, Tully Marshall and William Russell.

She was adept in playing Spanish, Italian, French, and Gypsy roles. Aside from Biograph Vola worked for Fox Film, Famous Players-Lasky, Universal Pictures, and Paramount Pictures.

Serious Actress

Her ambition was to play Madame Butterfly with an actual Japanese company, as well as to act as Lorna Doone. She was most inspired by Hayakawa and hoped to learn to act inside, as he did. With Sessue Hayakawa she made Each To His Kind (1917). Before filming began it was decided that the name Smith was too common to be used by a motion picture star. She changed her professional name to Vola Vale.

Vale reflected in the early 1920s about observation, particularly its power in attaining one's acting proficiency. It is the ability of the actress to see and note of the little things in life and then store them in her subconscious mind where they await her call to use at the psychological moment before the camera that enables her to either register success in her chosen work, or be merely mediocre. She began this process as a youth acting with D.W. Griffith. She observed how the director took notice of everything the actors did.

Model

Vale modeled clothes for the Broadway Department Store in Los Angeles, California. A 1916 photo from the Los Angeles Times shows her in an exclusive Betty Wales frock from Broadway. This was a very popular dress among college women of the era.

Private life

Vale was married to film director and producer Al Russell. They had a son.^{[citation needed]} On December 8, 1926, Vale married director John. W. Gorman in Santa Ana, California. They kept the wedding secret until they told friends on February 2, 1927.[2] She married a second time to Lawrence McDougal, with whom she remained until his death in February 1970.

She was a member of Our Club, a group of seventeen of Hollywood's baby cinema stars. Mary Pickford served as honorary president. Fellow members were Mildred Davis, Helen Ferguson, Patsy Ruth Miller, Clara Horton, Gertrude Olmstead, Laura La Plante, Virginia Fox, Colleen Moore, ZaSu Pitts, Lois Wilson, May McAvoy, Gloria Hope, Virginia Valli, Carmel Myers, Edna Murphy, and Carmelita Geraghty.

Vale died in Hawthorne, California in 1970, aged 73, of heart disease. She is interred at Roosevelt Memorial Park in Los Angeles County, California.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1916	Timothy Dobbs, That's Me	Mary Clarkson
1916	The Eagle's Wings	Kitty Miles
1916	The Price of Silence	Aline Urmy
1917	Each to His Kind	Amy Dawe
1917	The Winning of Sally Temple	Lady Pamela Vauclain
1917	Mentioned in Confidence	Marjorie Manning
1917	Perils of the Secret Service	Minna Ober	(Episode #1)
1917	The Bond Between	Ellen Ingram
1917	The Secret of Black Mountain	Miriam Vale	Short
1917	The Son of His Father	Hazel Mallinsbee
1917	The Lady in the Library	Mildred Vandeburg
1917	Zollenstein	Princess Fulvia / Princess Zenia
1917	The Silent Man	Betty Bryce
1918	Wolves of the Rail	Faith Lawson
1918	The Locked Heart	Ruth Mason
1919	Happy Though Married	Diana Ramon
1919	A Heart in Pawn	Emily Stone
1919	Hearts Asleep	Virginia Calvert
1919	Hornet's Nest	Muriel Fletcher
1919	Six Feet Four	Winifred Waverly
1919	Someone Must Pay	Molly Brent
1920	Overland Red	Louise Alacarme
1920	Alias Jimmy Valentine	Rose Lane
1920	A Master Stroke	Minnie Patton
1920	The Purple Cipher	Jeanne Baldwin
1920	Someone in the House	Molly Brent
1920	The Iron Rider	Mera Donovan
1920	Common Sense	Violet Manners
1921	Singing River	Alice Thornton
1921	The Duke of Chimney Butte	Vesta Philbrook
1921	White Oak	Barbara
1922	Good Men and True	Georgie Hibbler
1923	Crashin' Thru	Diane
1923	Soul of the Beast	Jacqueline
1923	The Man Between	Rosie (Joe Cateau's bride)
1923	Mothers-in-Law	Ina Phillips
1923	The Midnight Flower	Myra
1924	The Mirage	Betty Bond
1925	Who Cares	Tootles
1925	The Phantom of the Opera	Ballerina / Christines Maid	Uncredited
1925	Little Annie Rooney	Mamie
1925	Heartless Husbands	Mrs. Jackson Cain
1926	Her Big Adventure	Countess Fontaine
1926	Two Can Play	Mimi
1926	The Sky Pirate
1926	Home Sweet Home
1927	Black Tears
1932	Tomorrow and Tomorrow	Townswoman	Uncredited
1936	One Rainy Afternoon	Minor Role	Uncredited, (final film role)

References

• Los Angeles Times, "New Types, Delicate Hues at Dahlia Show", Page II3.
• Los Angeles Times, "Star Says Keep Eyes Working", September 9, 1923, Page III27.
• Los Angeles Times, "Our Club Initiates Trio", October 23, 1923, Page II1.
• Newark Daily Advocate, "Tonight and Tomorrow", Friday, March 2, 1917, Page 9.
• Olean Evening Herald, "News Notes from Movieland", Friday Evening, May 9, 1919, Page 4.
• Sandusky Star-Journal, "News Notes from Movieland", Friday, November 2, 1917, Page 11.

External links

Vola Vale at IMDb

---