Emily Vass (1922 - 2015)

Singer, Actress. A child star of the 1930s, she is remembered as one of the last links to ‘old-time radio’. Raised in the itinerant lifestyle of the entertainment milieu, she broke into show business at nine by performing with her parents’ ensemble, the Vass Family Singers. Dr. Vass, a Baptist minister and Furman University professor, […]

Elena Varzi (1926 - 2014)

Actress. A pretty brunette, she is remembered for her performances in several ‘neorealist’ Italian films of the early 1950s, over her short career working with most of the leading cinematic personalities of her day. Raised in Rome, not much is recorded of her early years save that she had little or no formal training. Elena […]

Rosy Varte (1923 - 2012)

Actress. A comedic specialist with hundreds of appearances on the French stage and screen over a 60 year career, she shall probably be remembered for her award-winning eight year run on the Antenne 2 series “MaGuy”. Born Nevarte Manouelian to Armenian parents, she was raised in Paris from infancy though little is recorded of her […]

Diane Marie Antonia Varsi (1938 - 1992)

Movie and TV Actress. Diane Varsi was in the late 1950s a very promising and competent rising screen star. Her first starring roll was the portrayal of Allison MacKenzie in ‘Peyton Place’. For this work Diane received an Academy Award nomination and was the winner of a Golden Globe as New Star of the Year. […]

Varduhi Varderesyan (1928 - 2015)

Armenian Actress. Varderesyan was a well known actress in both film and the theater stage. She went to Armenia in 1946 and studied acting at the Leninakan Dramatical Theater.  Varderesyan worked at the theater until 1958 when she moved over to the Sundukyan Drama Theatre of Yerevan where she became a leading actress.   She […]

Norma Varden (1898 - 1989)

Actress. Born and raised in England, she had a distinguished Hollywood film career in supporting roles. The daughter of a retired sea captain, she trained as a concert pianist in Paris, France and performed in England before deciding to pursue an acting career. She studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, […]

Renata Vanni (1909 - 2004)

Actress. A native of Italy, she appeared in American films beginning in the 1950s, including noted movies like “Three Coins In The Fountain,” “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” “A Patch of Blue,” and “Jacqueline Susann’s Once Is Not Enough.” She was also a familiar face on television, playing Marlo Thomas’s landlady on “That Girl,” as […]

Marda Vanne (1896 - 1970)

Actress. Born Margaretha van Hulsteyn in Johannesburg, South Africa, she moved to England in 1918, where she began her career performing at the Fortune Theatre London. For the next 20 years she was primarily a stage performer. She entered feature films appearing in “Strange Boarders” (1938). Her other film credits included “The Great Adventure” (1939), […]

Jean Vander Pyl (1919 - 1999)

Actress. Born in Philadelphia, her career spanned many decades on both radio and television. She is most fondly remembered for the role and voice of ‘Wilma’ on the animated TV series “The Flinstones”. Her many credits included appearances on “Father Knows Best”, “Leave It to Beaver”, “Top Cat”, “The Fireside Thearte”, “The Donna Reed Show”, […]

Vivian Vance (1909 - 1979)

Vivian Vance Veteran Broadway actress fondly remembered for playing Lucille Ball’s landlady, ‘Ethel Mertz’ in the hit 1950s television sitcom “I Love Lucy.” She was born Vivian Roberta Jones on 26 July 1909 in Cherryvale, Kansas, the second of six children. After her family moved to Independence, Kansas, she was able to study drama under […]

Danitra Vance (1954 - 1994)

American motion picture and television actress of the 1980s and 90s. Best known as being a cast member on “Saturday Night Live” in the mid-1980s. (bio by: A.J. Marik) Cause of death: Breast Cancer

Irene Barnes Vanbrugh (1872 - 1949)

Actress. Born in Exeter,  England, she made her first stage appearance at the age of fifteen in Margate theatre, playing Phoebe in “As You Like it”. After moving to London, she first appeared on the West End stage, when she was only sixteen, playing the White Queen and Jack of Hearts in a revival of […]

Jo Van Fleet (1914 - 1996)

Actress. She won an Academy Award in 1955 for “East of Eden”. She also won a Tony award for her role in “Trip to Bountiful”. (bio by: Ron Moody)

Dora Van Der Groen (1927 - 2015)

Belgian Actress. Van der Groen was considered one of the greatest actresses in Belgium for her work in television and film. She came from a musical family, but chose to go to the Studio of the National Theatre to learn acting. Van der Groen started her acting career at the Royal Dutch Theatre in Antwerp, […]

Mabel Van Buren (1878 - 1947)

Actress. Born in Chicago, Illinois, she began her career as a theatrical performer playing the leading lady in both “The Virginian” and “The Squaw Man” (1909). A veteran of over 80 films, she made her screen debut in “Serious Sixteen” (1910). Among her credits are “The Probationer” (1913), “Elizabeth’s Prayer” (1914), “The Girl of the […]

Virginia Valli (1898 - 1968)

Silent Film Actress. She was the star of several 1920s Hollywood features. Born Virginia McSweeney, she was raised in Chicago and got her acting start as a teenager with a Milwaukee-based stage troupe. After making some films for Essanay Studios in her home city starting around 1915, she moved on to Hollywood, where she was […]

Valda Valkyrien (1895 - 1956)

Although she wasn’t born with it, during the height of her fame, the woman once dubbed the most beautiful woman in Denmark was known by just one name: Valkyrien. Her beauty and nobility made her desirable to film companies across the world, but her star fell faster and sooner than many of her contemporaries. What […]

Grace Valentine (1882 - 1964)

Actress. Her film roles include “The New Adam and Eve” (1915), “ The Unchastened Woman” (1918), and “ Her Secret” (1933). Some of the original Broadway productions she appeared in were “The Yellow Jacket” (1912), “Trial Marriage” (1927), “The American Way” (1939), “A Story for Strangers” (1948), and “A Season in the Sun” (1950). (bio […]

Sigrid Valdis (1935 - 2007)

Actress.  Best known for her role as Colonel Klink’s secretary “Hilda” on the televsion series “Hogan’s Heroes.”  She married the show’s star Bob Crane on the set in 1970, the couple had two children.  Crane was murdered in 1978.  Though of Swedish decent she was born Patricia Olson in Bakersfield, California.  She grew up in […]

Minerva Urecal (1894 - 1966)

Actress. Born Minerva Holzer in Eureka, California, she was a radio and stage performer making her film debut in “Her Bodyguard” (1933). A veteran of over 250 films, her credits include “It Happened in New York” (1935), “Son of the Pioneer” (1942), “Block Busters” (1944), “Apache Rose” (1947), “The Raging Tide” (1951), “Miracle in the […]

Misty Anne Upham (1982 - 2014)

America Actress. Upham, a Native-American who grew up in south Seattle as a member of the Blackfoot Tribe, began her career at the age of thirteen when she joined the Red Eagle Soaring community theater group and by the following year, she was writing and directing short skits and performing on tours throughout the northwest. […]

Miyoshi Umeki (1929 - 2007)

Actress. She is best remembered for her role as Katsumi,  the doomed Japanese wife of an American serviceman played by Red Buttons, in the 1957 film “Sayonara”.  It earned her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress,  making her the first Asian performer to win an Oscar.  She was also  nominated for a Golden Globe […]

Lenore Ulric (1892 - 1970)

Actress. Born in New Ulm, Minnesota, she was a star of the Broadway stage making her silent screen debut in “The First Man” (1911), followed by “A Polished Burglar” (1911). Her many film credits included “Kilmeny” (1915), “The Better Woman” (1915), “The Intrigue” (1916), “Her Own People” (1917), “Tiger Rose” (1923), “South Sea Rose” (1929), […]

Luise Ullrich (1910 - 1985)

Austrian Film and Stage Actress, Singer, Writer. She made more than 50 film and television appearances during her long career. She was famous for singing the song “Waiting.” Her films include Nora (1944), Nachtwache (1949) and Ein Student ging vorbei (1960). (bio by: Rudi Polt)

Marian Sorenson Uhlman (1922 - 2003)

Actress. Known as “The Polka Dot Girl” of World War II pinups, using the name of Chili Williams, later appearing as a Goldwyn Girl. A graduate of the Marshall High School, she was discovered by a modelling agent in 1943 at Fire Island in New York. The modelling agent’s photographer took her picture while she […]

Gisela Uhlen (1919 - 2007)

Actress. Original name Gisela Friedlinde Schreck. Her career spanned more than seven decades and nearly 100 roles, starting with UFA Film in the late 1930s, and she made numerous TV appearances in recent years. She was not related to “Nosferatu” actor Max Schreck but to avoid confussion adopted the moniker Uhlen soon after she started […]

Margaret Tyzack (1931 - 2011)

Award Winning Actress. Noted throughout her career for portraying ladies older than herself, she was a respected star of British stage, screen, and television for more than 50 years. Raised in West Ham, she studied at a private girls’ school and at London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts prior to her 1951 professional debut as […]

Billie Nelson Tyrrell (1970 - 1970)

American Actress, Memorabilia Collector. Born Billie Nelson on the east coast, the aspiring actress arrived in Hollywood during the early  1940s, where she met and married actor David Tyrrell. The couple became close friends with Hollywood luminaries of the era ranging from Margaret O’Brien to Jackie Coogan. In the 1940s, she starred in off-Broadway plays, […]

Judy Tyler (1932 - 1957)

Actress. Killed with second husband, Greg Lafayett, in an auto accident in Billy the Kid, Wyoming, three days after shooting was finished on ‘Jailhouse Rock’ with Elvis Presley. They had been married in May of the same year. First husband was Colin Romoff, from 1950-1956. Also appeared in ‘Bop Girl Goes Calypso’ and was Princess […]

Ginny Tyler (1925 - 2012)

Actress. A popular Mouseketeer from the 1960s, she shall be remembered for providing the voices of numerous Disney cartoon characters. Born Merrie Virginia Erlandson, she was raised in Seattle from infancy and early-on evidenced a talent for story telling and animal mimicry. As a young girl she became a fixture on the local kids’ radio […]