Vito Scotti (1918 - 1996)

Vito Scotti entered movies and television by the late 1940s. He made his film debut, playing an uncredited role as a Mexican youth in Illegal Entry (1949), with Howard Duff and George Brent. By 1953, Scotti replaced J. Carrol Naish as Luigi Basco, an Italian immigrant who ran a Chicago antique store, on the television version […]

Vittorio Alfieri (1749 - 1803)

Italian poet.

Vittorio De Sica (1901 - 1974)

Born into poverty in Sora, Lazio (1901), Vittorio De Sica began his career as a theatre actor in the early 1920s and joined Tatiana Pavlova’s theatre company in 1923. In 1933 he founded his own company with his wife Giuditta Rissone and Sergio Tofano. The company performed mostly light comedies, but they also staged plays […]

Vittorio Gassman (1922 - 2000)

Renowned stage and screen Italian actor. He appeared in more than 100 films. (bio by: José L Bernabé Tronchoni)  Family links:  Spouse:  Shelley Winters (1920 – 2006)

Vittorio Ghiberti (1970 - 1970)

Sculptor,  Entrepreneur.  The son of pioneer Renaissance artist Lorenzo Ghiberti.  Born in Florence,  Italy,  he studied sculpting and goldsmithing with his father and by 1437 was working as his assistant on the great “Gates of Paradise” for the Florence Baptistery.  He was closely involved in the casting and gilding of that masterpiece and Lorenzo made […]

Vittorio Gui (1885 - 1975)

Vittorio Gui (14 September 1885 – 16 October 1975) was an Italian conductor, composer, musicologist and critic. Gui was born in Rome in 1885. He graduated in humanities at the University of Rome and also studied composition at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia; his principal composition teachers were the noted composers Giacomo Setaccioli and Stanislao […]

Viveca Lindfors (1920 - 1995)

Actress. Known for roles in “Backstreet Justice,” “Adventures of Don Juan,” “Stargate,” “A Question of Guilt,” and “Natural Enemies.” (bio by: Ron Moody)  Family links:  Spouse:  George Tabori (1914 – 2007)Cause of death: Complications of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Viveca Lindfors (1920 - 1995)

Actress. Known for roles in “Backstreet Justice,” “Adventures of Don Juan,” “Stargate,” “A Question of Guilt,” and “Natural Enemies.” (bio by: Ron Moody)  Family links:  Spouse:  George Tabori (1914 – 2007)Cause of death: Complications of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Vivian Austin (1920 - 2004)

Actress. Best remembered for her role as the female lead in the serial “The Adventures of Red Ryder”. Her big break came in 1940 when she was selected to play along side Don Barry in “Red Ryder”. Soon after, she signed a contract with Universal Pictures and her first movie was “Moonlight in Vermont”. She […]

Vivian Blaine (1921 - 1995)

Actress and Singer.  Vivian Blaine is best remembered as ‘Miss Adelaide,’ the young woman with a heart of gold in the 1955 Musical “Guys and Dolls,” opposite Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, and Jean Simmons.  Vivian Blaine worked in every aspect of show business from movies to nightclubs.  She was already an accomplished nightclub performer and […]

Vivian Duncan (1897 - 1986)

Actress. American motion picture figure of the 1920s. She performed with her sisters Rosetta and Evelyn (“Topsy and Eva” of radio and film fame) as “The Duncan Sisters”. Married to Nils Asther, she died in 1986 as the result of Alzheimer’s disease.  Family links:  Spouses:  Valentín Parera (1894 – 1986)*  Nils Asther (1897 – 1981)* […]

Vivian Farren (1926 - 1990)

American motion picture and television actress of the 1970s and 80s. Appeared in the popular 1979 Blake Edwards comedy “10.” Married to producer Jack Farren. (bio by: A.J. Marik)

Vivian Fields (1884 - 1975)

American stage and motion picture actress of the 1920s and 30s. (bio by: A.J. Marik)

Vivian Martin (1891 - 1987)

Vivian Martin was born in Sparta, Michigan and began her career as a child actress on the stage with comedian Lew Fields. Her early theatrical appearances included Stop Thief, Officer 666, The Only Son and with Richard Mansfield in Cyrano de Bergerac. A winsome and pretty blonde, Martin entered the motion pictures industry in 1914. With […]

Vivian Nathan (1916 - 2015)

Actress. Born Vivian Firko, (some sources state she was born in New York City and her year of birth is 1921), she chose to pursue a career as a performer and was the winner of the John Golden auditions for new talent. This led to her Broadway debut in the production “Montserrat” (1949) which she […]

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 […]

Vivien Leigh (1913 - 1967)

Vivien Leigh After finishing her primary education she decided to pursue acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art when she was 18. For the next few years her career consisted of stage work and small film roles. In 1937 her first marriage with dissolved and she took up residence with actor Laurence Olivier. It […]

Vivien Mary Leigh (1913 - 1967)

Actress. After finishing her primary education she decided to pursue acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art when she was 18. For the next few years her career consisted of stage work and small film roles. In 1937 her first marriage with Leigh Holman was dissolved and she took up residence with actor Laurence […]

Vivien Merchant (1929 - 1982)

Vivien Merchant took her stage name as a composite of the actress Vivien Leigh and her brother, who was a merchant seaman (cited by Michael Billington). She began acting professionally in 1942, with supporting juvenile roles in repertory, progressing to West End roles in such works as Noël Coward’s Sigh No More and Ace of […]

Vivien Oakland (1895 - 1958)

Vivien Oakland (born Vivian Andersen, May 20, 1895 – August 1, 1958), was an American actress best known for her work in comedies in Hollywood in the 1920s and 1930s, most notably with the Hal Roach Studios. Oakland appeared in 142 films between 1915 and 1951.  Her siblings’ names were Edward, Herbert (née Hagbart), and […]

Vivienne Burgess (1914 - 1999)

Actres. She was born in Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset, England and died in Richmond upon Thames, Surrey, England. Her motion pictyre and television credits include “Oliver Twist,” “Love On a Branch Line,” “Agatha Christie’s Poirot: The ABC Murders,” “Boon,” “Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense,” “Cover Her Face,” “Angels,” “Juliet Bravo,” “Hazell,” “Rooms,” and “Crossroads.” She was […]

Vivienne Osborne (1896 - 1961)

Actress. Appeared in motion pictures from the 1920s through the 1940s. Appeared with Gene Tierney and Walter Huston in the 1946 drama “Dragonwyck.” (bio by: A.J. Marik)

Vivienne Segal (1897 - 1992)

Actress. An acclaimed Broadway musical and comedy figure, she appeared in four motion pictures and in two episodes of the television series “Alfred Hitchock Presents” in 1955.  Family links:  Spouse:  Robert Ames (1889 – 1931)* *Calculated relationship

Vladimir Ivanovich Dahl (1801 - 1872)

Lexicographer. Author of the first dictionary of the Russian language. (bio by: Graveaddiction)  Family links:  Children:  Lev Vladimirovich Dahl (1835 – 1878)*  Yulia Vladimirovna Dahl (1838 – 1864)* *Calculated relationship

Vladimir Komarov (1927 - 1967)

Shortly after beginning his training Vladimir Komarov was hospitalised for a minor operation in May 1960, which left him medically unfit for physical training for approximately 6 months. At the time, the selection criteria placed a heavy emphasis on the physical condition of cosmonauts and any imperfection led to instant disqualification. Since Komarov already held […]

Vladislav Volkov (1935 - 1971)

Vladislav Volkov graduated from the Moscow Aviation Institute, 1959. As an aviation engineer at Korolyov Design Bureau, he was involved in the development of the Vostok and Voskhod spacecraft prior to his selection as a cosmonaut. He flew aboard Soyuz 7 in 1969. Volkov, on his second space mission in 1971, was assigned to Soyuz 11. […]

Vlatko Dulic (1943 - 2015)

Croatian Actor. Dulic was an actor whose career spanned five decades in the areas of the theater, film, and television. He studied acting at the University of Zagreb Academy of Drama Arts and started in the theater.  Dulic got his start in television on the series “Vrijeme za bajku” in 1974 and later appeared in […]

Vola Vale (1897 - 1970)

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 […]

Vondell Darr (1919 - 2012)

Actress. A child performer in Hollywood films of the late silent period. She was brought to the screen at age five by director James Cruze, who cast her in “The City That Never Sleeps” (1924) and her most important film, the epic western “The Pony Express” (1925). The success of the latter got her a […]

Vonetta McGee (1945 - 2010)

Born in San Francisco, California, to Lawrence McGee and Alma McGee (née Scott), McGee graduated from San Francisco Polytechnic High School in 1962. She enrolled at San Francisco State University and became involved in acting groups on campus. McGee landed her first role in 1967, when she performed alongside Jean-Louis Trintignant and Klaus Kinski in Sergio […]