Vola Vale

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Vola Vale
Publicity photo from Motion Picture Magazine (August, 1915)
Born
Vola Smith

(1897-02-12)February 12, 1897
Buffalo, New York, U.S.
DiedOctober 17, 1970(1970-10-17) (aged 73)
Hawthorne, California, U.S.
OccupationActress
Spouses
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1918; div. 1926)​
      John. W. Gorman
      ​
      (m. 1926)​
        Lawrence McDougal
        ​
        ​
        (m. 1932; died 1970)​
        Children1

        Vola Vale (born Vola Smith; February 12, 1897 – October 17, 1970) was a silent film actress. She was active in the film industry from 1916 through 1936.

        Early career

        Vale was born in Buffalo, New York and educated in Chevy Chase, Maryland. 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, Vale worked for Fox Film, Famous Players–Lasky, Universal Pictures, and Paramount Pictures.

        Acting Career

        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.[2] With Sessue Hayakawa, she made Each To His Kind (1917).[3] 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.[4]

        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

        In the summer of 1917, Vale began living in an Ocean Bluff home in the city of Long Beach.[5] Vale was married to film director and producer Al Russell. They had a son. 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.[6] She married a third 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
        1916Timothy Dobbs, That's MeMary ClarksonLost film
        1916The Eagle's WingsKitty MilesLost film
        1916The Price of SilenceAline Urmy
        1917Each to His KindAmy DaweLost film
        1917The Winning of Sally TempleLady Pamela Vauclain
        1917Mentioned in ConfidenceMarjorie Manning
        1917Perils of the Secret ServiceMinna Ober(Episode #1)
        1917The Bond BetweenEllen IngramLost film
        1917The Secret of Black MountainMiriam ValeShort
        Incomplete film
        1917The Son of His FatherHazel Mallinsbee
        1917The Lady in the LibraryMildred Vandeburg
        1917ZollensteinPrincess Fulvia / Princess Zenia
        1917The Silent ManBetty Bryce
        1918Wolves of the RailFaith Lawson
        1918The Locked HeartRuth MasonLost film
        1919Happy Though MarriedDiana RamonLost film
        1919A Heart in PawnEmily StoneLost film
        1919Hearts AsleepVirginia CalvertLost film
        1919Hornet's NestMuriel FletcherLost film
        1919Six Feet FourWinifred Waverly
        1919Someone Must PayMolly BrentLost film
        1920Overland RedLouise AlacarmeLost film
        1920Alias Jimmy ValentineRose LaneLost film
        1920A Master StrokeMinnie PattonLost film
        1920The Purple CipherJeanne BaldwinLost film
        1920Someone in the HouseMolly BrentLost film
        1920The Iron RiderMera DonovanLost film
        1920Common SenseViolet MannersLost film
        1921Singing RiverAlice ThorntonLost film
        1921The Duke of Chimney ButteVesta PhilbrookLost film
        1921White OakBarbara
        1922Good Men and TrueGeorgie HibblerLost film
        1923Crashin' ThruDianeLost film
        1923Soul of the BeastJacqueline
        1923The Man BetweenRosie (Joe Cateau's bride)Lost film
        1923Mothers-in-LawIna PhillipsLost film
        1923The Midnight FlowerMyraLost film
        1924The MirageBetty BondLost film
        1925Who CaresTootles
        1925The Phantom of the OperaBallerina / Christines MaidUncredited
        1925Little Annie RooneyMamie
        1925Heartless HusbandsMrs. Jackson CainLost film
        1926Her Big AdventureCountess FontaineLost film
        1926Two Can PlayMimiLost film
        1926The Sky PirateLost film
        1926Home Sweet Home
        1927Black TearsLost film
        1932Tomorrow and TomorrowTownswomanUncredited
        1936One Rainy AfternoonMinor RoleUncredited

        References

        1. "Rochester Actress Vola Vale Appears in Piccadilly Film". Democrat and Chronicle. New York, Rochester. February 12, 1922. p. 42. Retrieved June 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
        2. Rogers, Allison (February–July 1919). "A Potential Madame Butterfly". Motion Picture Magazine: 64. Retrieved November 22, 2025.
        3. "Sessue Hayakawa and Mrs. Castle at Imperial". Vol. 101, no. 35. San Francisco Call. February 12, 1917. Retrieved November 22, 2025.
        4. Price, Guy (October 27, 1916). "Facts and Fables of the Foyer". Vol. XLII, no. 310. Los Angeles Herald. Retrieved November 22, 2025.
        5. "TAKES SUMMER HOME". Vol. XLII, no. 95. Los Angeles Herald. February 20, 1917. Retrieved November 22, 2025.
        6. "J. W. Gorman secretly wed". The New York Times. Associated Press. February 3, 1927. p. 18. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
        • 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.

        Vola Vale at IMDb