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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.
Birth Name
Violet Irene Smith
Born
Friday, 12 February 1897
Died
Saturday, 17 October 1970
Actress Filmography
Title | Character | Year |
---|
One Rainy Afternoon | Bit Role | 1936 |
Tomorrow and Tomorrow | Townswoman | 1932 |
Two Can Play | Mimi | 1926 |
Her Big Adventure | Countess Fontaine | 1926 |
The Sky Pirate | 1926 | |
Little Annie Rooney | Mamie | 1925 |
Heartless Husbands | Mrs. Jackson Cain | 1925 |
The Phantom of the Opera | Ballerina / Christines Maid | 1925 |
The Midnight Flower | Mary - a foundling | 1923 |
Soul of the Beast | Jacqueline | 1923 |
Actress Filmography
Title | Character | Year |
---|
One Rainy Afternoon | Bit Role | 1936 |
Tomorrow and Tomorrow | Townswoman | 1932 |
Two Can Play | Mimi | 1926 |
Her Big Adventure | Countess Fontaine | 1926 |
The Sky Pirate | 1926 | |
Little Annie Rooney | Mamie | 1925 |
Heartless Husbands | Mrs. Jackson Cain | 1925 |
The Phantom of the Opera | Ballerina / Christines Maid | 1925 |
The Midnight Flower | Mary - a foundling | 1923 |
Soul of the Beast | Jacqueline | 1923 |
Good Men and True | Georgie Hibbler | 1922 |
The Duke of Chimney Butte | Vesta Philbrook | 1921 |
White Oak | Barbara | 1921 |
Singing River | Alice Thornton | 1920 |
Someone in the House | Molly Brent | 1920 |
The Purple Cipher | Jeanne Baldwin | 1920 |
Common Sense | Violet Manners | 1920 |
Overland Red | Louise Alacarme | 1920 |
Alias Jimmy Valentine | Rose Lane | 1920 |
A Master Stroke | Minnie Patton | 1920 |
Six Feet Four | Winifred Waverly | 1919 |
Hearts Asleep | Virginia Calvert | 1919 |
A Heart in Pawn | Emily Stone | 1919 |
Happy Though Married | Diana Ramon | 1919 |
The Locked Heart | Ruth Mason | 1918 |
The Silent Man | Betty Bryce | 1917 |
Zollenstein | Princess Fulvia / Princess Zenia | 1917 |
The Son of His Father | Hazel Mallinsbee | 1917 |
The Lady in the Library | Mildred Vandeburg | 1917 |
The Secret of Black Mountain | Miriam Vale | 1917 |
The Bond Between | Ellen Ingram | 1917 |
Perils of the Secret Service | Minna Ober (Episode #1) | 1917 |
Mentioned in Confidence | Marjorie Manning | 1917 |
The Winning of Sally Temple | Lady Pamela Vauclain | 1917 |
The Eagle's Wings | Kitty Miles / Kitty Miles (as Vola Smith) | 1916 |