Virginia Vale

Virginia Vale
Born Dorothy Howe
(1920-05-20)May 20, 1920
Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Died September 14, 2006(2006-09-14) (aged 86)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale), California
Occupation Actress, U.S. Figure Skating Association Judge, Executive Secretary
Years active 1937-1945

Virginia Vale (born Dorothy Howe, 20 May 1920 – 14 Sep 2006) was an American film actress. She starred in a number of B-movie Westerns but took a variety of other roles as well, notably in Blonde Comet (1941), in which she played a race car driver.

Early years

Vale was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H. H. Howe.[1] Before becoming a professional actor, she was a switchboard operator in Dallas, Texas, and honed her acting skills in productions at a little theater in Dallas. After a representative of Paramount Pictures saw her in a leading role, he invited her to make a screen test, which led to a contract.[2] (Another source says that Howe was working at the switchboard in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Dallas office, where a talent scout for Paramount found her and signed her to a contract.)[3]

Career

Several of Vale's early films were made using her birth name. The name Virginia Vale had been chosen in advance for the female winner of the 1939 Gateway to Hollywood contest, a nationwide talent search sponsored by producer Jesse Lasky—as noted (somewhat indignantly) then by another Virginia Vale[4] a syndicated columnist covering the film industry.[5] Vale edged out Rhonda Fleming in the 1939 contest.[6]

After her film career, she became an executive secretary at Lockheed and also a competition judge for the US Figure Skating Association. She was eventually honored by the USFSA for 50 years of service in that role.[7][8] Before becoming a judge, she'd also briefly been a competition skater.[7] Her life in film and skating was featured at the 2002 U.S. figure skating championships[9] and a memorial trophy for "most outstanding performance" was given in her name at the 2007 California Championships.[10]

Partial filmography

Bibliography

  • Boyd Magers, Michael G. Fitzgerald (1999), Westerns Women: Interviews With 50 Leading Ladies Of Movie And Television Westerns From The 1930s To The 1960s, Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland and Co., ISBN 0-7864-2028-6
  • Herb Fagen (1996), White Hats and Silver Spurs: Interviews With 24 Stars of Film and Television Westerns of the Thirties Through the Sixties, Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland and Co., ISBN 0-7864-0200-8

References

  1. ↑ "News and Views of the Shows". Harrisburg Sunday Courier. Pennsylvania, Harrisburg. November 14, 1937. p. 10. Retrieved July 9, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ↑ "Wanted: New Faces!". The Lincoln Star. Nebraska, Lincoln. July 10, 1938. p. 34. Retrieved July 9, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ "Switchboard Operator in Movies". The Edwardsville Intelligencer. Illinois, Edwardsville. August 10, 1937. p. 3. Retrieved July 9, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "Star Dust", Virginia Vale, June 17, 1939
  5. ↑ Fleming, E.J. (2005). Carole Landis: A Tragic Life in Hollywood. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland and Co. ISBN 978-0-7864-2200-5, p.275
  6. ↑ "Virginia Vale is alive and well". Los Angeles Times. 1 Aug 1976.
  7. 1 2 "LAFSC Mourns the Passing of Virginia Vale", The Ice Monitor, v.62, #3, Dec 2006, p.3 Archived 2011-07-27 at the Wayback Machine.
  8. ↑ "Friday's News from the 2004 Governing Council - (5/8/04)", US Figure Skating Association website Archived 2011-06-13 at the Wayback Machine.
  9. ↑ Josephine Lawless (2007). Introduction to Vale's 1982 "History of the Los Angeles Figure Skating Club" Archived 2009-01-05 at the Wayback Machine.
  10. ↑ "And Now the News", 2007, ShaferSports.com
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