Vola Vale
From Wikipedia She was born Vola Smith in Buffalo, New York. Vale was educated in Chevy Chase, Maryland. She began her career in amateur theatricals in Rochester, New York. Then she played in stock companies for a while. Her first movie experience was with Biograph, under the tutelage of the great 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. 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.
Known For
Credits
- 2002 · Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story as Self (uncredited)
- 1926 · Home Sweet Home as
- 1926 · Two Can Play as Mimi Allen
- 1926 · Her Big Adventure as Countess Fontaine
- 1925 · Little Annie Rooney as Mamie
- 1925 · The Phantom of the Opera as Ballerina / Christines Maid (uncredited)
- 1923 · The Midnight Flower as Mary — a foundling
- 1923 · Soul of the Beast as Jacqueline
- 1923 · Crashin' Thru as Diane
- 1922 · Good Men and True as Georgie Hibbler
- 1921 · White Oak as Barbara
- 1920 · The Iron Rider as Mera Donovan
- 1920 · Common Sense as Violet Manners
- 1920 · Overland Red as Louise Alacarme
- 1920 · Alias Jimmy Valentine as Rose Lane
- 1919 · Six Feet Four as Winifred Waverly
- 1919 · A Heart in Pawn as Emily Stone
- 1918 · Wolves of the Rail as Faith Lawson
- 1917 · The Silent Man as Betty Bryce
- 1917 · Zollenstein as Princess Fulvia / Princess Zenia
- 1917 · The Son of His Father as Hazel Mallinsbee
- 1917 · The Lady in the Library as Mildred Vandeburg
- 1917 · The Bond Between as Ellen Ingram
- 1917 · Perils of the Secret Service as Minna Ober (Episode #1)
- 1916 · The Price of Silence as Aline Urmy (as Vola Smith)
- 1916 · The Eagle's Wings as Kitty Miles (as Vola Smith)
- 1916 · The Woman He Feared as May Clive
- 1916 · A Great Love as Nell Woodward
- 1915 · The Soul of Pierre as
- 1914 · The Iron Master as The Iron Master's Sister (as Viola Smith)
- 1914 · Liberty Belles as Boarding Schoolgirl