- Viola Dana
Viola Dana, sometimes credited as Viola Flugrath, (born
June 26 ,1897 inBrooklyn, New York ; diedJuly 3 ,1987 inWoodland Hills, California ) was an Americanfilm actress who was successful during the era ofsilent movies .Career
Born Virginia Flugrath, Dana was a child star, appearing on the stage at the age of three. She read
Shakespeare and particularly identified with the teenage "Juliet". She enjoyed a long run at the Hudson Theater inNew York City . A particular favorite of audiences was her performance in David Belasco's "Poor Little Rich Girl", when she was 16. She went intovaudeville withDustin Farnum in "The Little Rebel" and played a bit part in "The Model" by Augustus Thomas.Dana entered films in 1910. Her first motion picture was made at a former
Manhattan (New York) riding academy on West 61st Street. The stalls had been transformed to dressing rooms. Dana became a star with theEdison Company , working at their studio in theBronx . She fell in love with Edison directorJohn Hancock Collins (1889 - 1918) and they married in 1915. Dana's success in Collins's Edison features such as "Children of Eve" (1915) and "The Cossack Whip" (1916) encouraged producerB. A. Rolfe to offer the couple lucrative contracts with his company,Rolfe Photoplays , which released throughMetro Pictures Corporation . Dana and Collins accepted Rolfe's offer in 1916 and made several important films for Rolfe/Metro, notably "The Girl Without A Soul" and "Blue Jeans" (both 1917). Rolfe closed his New York-area studio down in the face of the 1918 influenza epidemic and sent most of his personnel to California. Dana left before Collins, who was finishing work at the studio; however, Collins contracted influenza which rapidly turned into pneumonia and died in a New York hotel room on October 23, 1918.Dana remained in California acting for Metro. In 1920 she became engaged to
Ormer Locklear , a daring aviator and military veteran. Locklear died when his plane crashed on August 2, 1920 during a nighttime film shooting. (Dana witnessed the crash. She would not fly again for 25 years.) Locklear was theprototype for theRobert Redford movie, "The Great Waldo Pepper" (1975), and Dana was an honored guest for the premiere of "The Great Waldo Pepper".Dana continued to act throughout the 1920s, but her popularity gradually waned. One of her last important roles was in
Frank Capra 's first film forColumbia Pictures , "That Certain Thing" (1928). She retired from the screen in 1929. Her final screen credits are roles in "Two Sisters" (1929), "One Splendid Hour" (1929), and (with her sister Shirley Mason, nee Leonie Flugrath) "The Show of Shows" (1929). By the time she made her final film appearance, she had appeared in over 100 films. More than 50 years after her retirement from the screen she appeared in the documentary "Hollywood" (1980), discussing her career as a silent film star during the 1920s. Footage from the interview sessions was used in the 1987 documentary "Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow."Viola Dana died in 1987 from
heart failure , aged 90. She is interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery under her original name of Virginia Flugrath.Viola Dana has a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to motion pictures. It is located at 6541 Hollywood Boulevard.References
*
Greeley, Colorado Daily Tribune, "Viola Dana Loved the Real Waldo Pepper", April 28, 1975, Page 23.
*Indianapolis Star, "Little Viola Dana Ambitious to Become Grown-Up Actress", January 15, 1914, Page 13.
*Lima, Ohio News, "Viola Dana In Person at Faurot", March 23, 1930, Page 24.
*Ogden, Utah Standard, "From the Movies to Stardom", January 10, 1914, Page 27.External links
* [http://silent-movies.com/Ladies/PDana.html Viola Dana photo gallery]
*imdb name|id=0199087|name=Viola Dana
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