Virginia Vale
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
Vale was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H. H. Howe. 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. (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.
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 a syndicated columnist covering the film industry. Vale edged out Rhonda Fleming in the 1939 contest.
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. Before becoming a judge, she'd also briefly been a competition skater. Her life in film and skating was featured at the 2002 U.S. figure skating championships and a memorial trophy for "most outstanding performance" was given in her name at the 2007 California Championships.
Known For | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 1.592 |
Birthday | 1920-05-20 |
Place of Birth | Dallas, Texas, USA |
Also Known As | Dorothy Howe, |
1937
True Confession
5.8/20
A writer takes a job as a secretary because her scrupulous husband isn't bringing in the dough as an attorney. When her new employer is murdered, she...
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True Confession
1945
Crime, Inc.
4.2/4
A crime reporter writes book to expose names and methods of the criminal leaders. He is held on a charge after refusing to explain how he got his info...
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Crime, Inc.
1940
Bullet Code
5.6/5
Protecting himself in an attack by rustlers, Rancher Steve Holden believes he has killed one of the attackers, young Bud Mathews, who in reality has w...
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Bullet Code
1942
Broadway Big Shot
0/0
This drama chronicles the extreme measures taken by a determined young crime reporter to get an interview with a notorious convict. The zealous journa...
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Broadway Big Shot
1941
Blonde Comet
5.2/4
A tire manufacturer's daughter becomes a champion auto racer.
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Blonde Comet
1940
You Can't Fool Your Wife
4.5/4
Longtime school sweethearts discover married life, thanks to a disagreeable live-in mother-in-law and pressing business obligations, is more rocky tha...
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You Can't Fool Your Wife
1938
Cocoanut Grove
0/0
Band tries to get an audition for a job at a prestigious nightclub.
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Cocoanut Grove
1938
Her Jungle Love
6.2/2
While searching the South Pacific for a missing aviator, Bob Mitchell and Jimmy Wallace are caught in a typhoon and crack up on an island, escaping un...
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Her Jungle Love
1939
Disbarred
6/1
The Bar Association disbars attorney Tyler Cradon when it appears he was implicated in the murder of a prominent vice crusader. Cradon, not wishing to...
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Disbarred
1938
The Big Broadcast of 1938
5.9/17
The Bellows family causes comic confusion on an ocean liner, with time out for radio-style musical acts.
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The Big Broadcast of 1938
1940
Millionaires in Prison
6/6
A crop of millionaire inmates struggle to get accustomed to prison life, while inmate Nick Burton watches out for everyone's interests on the inside.
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Millionaires in Prison
1941
Red Skins and Red Heads
0/0
Whitley and his singing group want to make time with young ladies at a finishing school...and vice-versa. However, the old matron in charge threatens...
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Red Skins and Red Heads
1940
Triple Justice
6/1
Brad Henderson arrives in Star City just in time to witness three men rob a bank of $30,000 and kill a teller. Charged for the crime and jailed, Brad...
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Triple Justice
1939
The Marshal Of Mesa City
8/1
A retired lawman gets back into action to fight political corruption.
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The Marshal Of Mesa City
1941
Robbers of the Range
7/2
Railroad agents frame a landowner who wont sell out to them.
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Robbers of the Range
1937
Night Club Scandal
4/3
When Dr. Ernest Tindal's wife is murdered, evidence mounts to convict her lover, Frank Marian. But Frank knows he didn't do it.....
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Night Club Scandal
1939
Unmarried
3/1
Pals Pat Rogers and Slag Bailey try to collect a debt from Slag's recently deceased boxing promoter but wind up collecting his child, instead, and rai...
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Unmarried
1940
Legion of the Lawless
5.2/5
Residents of a small frontier town take up arms when vigilantes try to block a railroad right-of-way.
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Legion of the Lawless
1941
South of Panama
6/1
Secret agent Roger Pryor is dispatched below the border to protect an important scientific formula. Believe it or don't, this mixture has the ability...
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South of Panama
1939
Three Sons
3.2/2
A shop owner tries to interest his heirs in the family business.
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Three Sons
1941
A Panic in the Parlor
0/0
Leon goes partying in Tiajuana with a friend,and his wife gets wise and makes plans to each him a lesson. She pretends to have a couple of lovers, inc...
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A Panic in the Parlor
1939
Persons in Hiding
3.5/2
During a stick-up, a woman is excited by the criminal and joins him on his crime spree.
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Persons in Hiding
1941
Repent at Leisure
5.7/3
Everyone in a large department store knows that a rising star is married to the owner's daughter, except her husband.
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Repent at Leisure
1940
Stage to Chino
4.8/3
To investigate a gold-shipping scam, a postal inspector goes undercover and tries to infiltrate the gang he believes is responsible.
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Stage to Chino
1938
King of Alcatraz
5.7/3
A convict who has just escaped from Alcatraz Prison takes over a passenger ship. Two of the ship's crew hatch a plot to overpower him and rescue the s...
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King of Alcatraz
1940
Prairie Law
5.5/2
Judge Curry is selling Austin's land to nesters and his men are rustling his cattle to provide beef. When the Sheriff accuses butcher Gore of possessi...
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Prairie Law
1941
The Gay Falcon
6.2/21
Having forsaken the detective business for the safer confines of personal insurance, Gay Laurence is compelled to return to his sleuthing ways. Along...
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