Viola Dana (born Virginia Flugrath; June 26, 1897 – July 3, 1987) was an American film actress who was successful during the era of silent films. She appeared in over 100 films, but was unable to make the transition to sound films.

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Thursday, December 16, 2021. 10:00. AM.
Viola Dana - Actress ( Dana in 1922 )

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Profile :

Born Virginia Flugrath, June 26, 1897, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, U.S.

Died July 3, 1987 (aged 90), Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, U.S.

Resting place Hollywood Forever Cemetery

Nationality    -   American

Years active 1900–1933

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Spouse(s)

1.John H. Collins  -  ​(m. 1915; died 1918)​

2.Maurice "Lefty" Flynn - ​(m. 1925; div. 1929)​

3.Jimmy Thomson - ​(m. 1930; div. 1945)​

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Relatives Edna Flugrath (sister)

Shirley Mason (sister)

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Introduction :

Viola Dana (born Virginia Flugrath; June 26, 1897 – July 3, 1987) was an American film actress who was successful during the era of silent films. She appeared in over 100 films, but was unable to make the transition to sound films.

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Early life :

Born Virginia Flugrath on June 26, 1897 in Brooklyn, New York City, where she was raised, she was the middle sister of three siblings who all became actresses. Her sisters were known as Edna Flugrath and Shirley Mason. Dana appeared 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 in Manhattan. Between 1910 and 1912, she made four small appearances in the emergent film industry in New York, using the name Viola Flugrath. A particular favorite of audiences was her performance in Eleanor Gates' Poor Little Rich Girl when she was 16.

She began performing in vaudeville with Dustin Farnum in The Little Rebel and played a bit part in The Model by Augustus Thomas.

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Film career :

Metro Pictures advertisement for the filmmaking team of Viola Dana and John H. Collins (1916)

Robert D. Walker and Viola Dana in a publicity still for Aladdin's Other Lamp (1917)

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With the stage name of Viola Dana, she entered films in 1910, including A Christmas Carol (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 the Edison Manufacturing Company, working at their studio in the Bronx. She fell in love with Edison director John Hancock Collins, 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 producer B.A. Rolfe to offer the couple lucrative contracts with his company, Rolfe Photoplays, which released through Metro Pictures Corporation. Dana and Collins accepted Rolfe's offer in 1916 and made several films for Rolfe/Metro, notably The Girl Without a Soul and Blue Jeans (both 1917). Rolfe closed his New York-area studio in the face of the 1918 flu pandemic and sent most of his personnel to California. Dana left before Collins, who was finishing work at the studio; however, Collins contracted influenza and died in a New York hotel room on October 23, 1918.

Dana remained in California acting for Metro throughout the 1920s, but her popularity gradually waned. One of her latter roles was in Frank Capra's first film for Columbia 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 Leonie Flugrath, better known as Shirley Mason (years earlier she had appeared with her older sister, Edna Flugrath, in the 1923 film The Social Code), in The Show of Shows (1929). By the time she made her final film appearance in 1933, she had appeared in over 100 films. She briefly came out of retirement to appear in her first and only television role in a small part on Lux Video Theatre in 1956.[2]

More than 50 years after her retirement from the screen, Dana appeared in the Kevin Brownlow/David Gill documentary series Hollywood (1980), discussing her career as a silent film star during the 1920s. Footage from the interview was used in the later documentary series Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow (1987) from the same team.

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Personal life :

Dana's first husband was Edison director John Collins who died in the influenza pandemic of 1918. In 1920, she began a relationship with Ormer "Lock" Locklear, an aviator, military veteran and budding film star. Locklear died when his aircraft crashed on August 2, 1920 during a nighttime film shoot for The Skywayman. Although married, Locklear had been dating Dana, and on the night before his death, in a premonition, gave her some of his personal effects. Dana witnessed the 1920 crash and did not fly again for 25 years.

Locklear was reputed to be the prototype for the character of Waldo Pepper played by Robert Redford in The Great Waldo Pepper (1975). Dana was an honored guest at its premiere.

Dana was married to Yale football star and actor Maurice "Lefty" Flynn in June 1925. They divorced in February 1929. Her third and final marriage was to golfer Jimmy Thomson from 1930 to March 1945. In later years, she volunteered at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital, and she moved there permanently in 1979.[9]In 1986, one year before her death, she was the subject of a documentary short by Anthony Slide titled Vi: Portrait of a Silent Star, in which she talks of her life and career.

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Death :

Dana died on July 3, 1987 at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles at the age of 90. Her urn at Hollywood Forever Cemetery lists her as Viola Dana as well as her birth name Flugrath.

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Viola Dana has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It is located at 6541 Hollywood Boulevard.

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Filmography :

Short subject :

A Christmas Carol (1910)

Children Who Labor (1912) as The Immigrant's Older Daughter

The Butler and the Maid (1912) as The Statue

How Father Accomplished His Work (1912) as The Second Daughter

The Lord and the Peasant (1912) as Mary's Sister

The Third Thanksgiving (1912)

Molly the Drummer Boy (1914) as Molly Mason

My Friend from India (1914) as Gertie Underholt

Treasure Trove (1914) as Cora Fairfield

The Blind Fiddler (1914) as The Fairy

The Adventure of the Hasty Elopement (1914) as Ruth

Seth's Sweetheart (1914) as Sally

Who Goes There? (1914) as Kate - Toppy's Sweetheart

Lena (1915) as Euphemia Miggles

A Thorn Among Roses (1915)

The Stone Heart (1915) as Nan Cowles

The Glory of Clementina (1915) as Etta Concanna

A Spiritual Elopement (1915) as Evelyn Banks

The Portrait in the Attic (1915) as Thelma

A Theft in the Dark (1915) as Lady Genevieve

The Stoning (1915) as Ruth Fenton

The Slavey Student (1915) as Alma Picket

Her Happiness (1915) as Viola Winters

The Strange Case of Poison Ivy (1933)

File:The Adventure of the Hasty Elopement 1914 Octavius Amateur Detective Thomas Edison.webm

The Adventure of the Hasty Elopement (1914)

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Features :

Lobby card from Naughty Nannette-1927

The House of the Lost Court (1915, lost film) as Dolores Edgerton

Cohen's Luck (1915, lost film) as Minnie Cohen

On Dangerous Paths (1915, lost film) as Eleanor Thurston

Gladiola (1915, lost film) as Gladiola Bain

Children of Eve (1915) as Fifty-Fifty Mamie

The Innocence of Ruth (1916) as Ruth Travers

The Flower of No Man's Land (1916, lost film) as Echo

The Light of Happiness (1916, lost film) as Tangletop

The Gates of Eden (1916, lost film) as Eve / Evelyn

The Cossack Whip (1916) as Darya Orlinsky

Threads of Fate (1917) as Dorothea

Rosie O'Grady (1917, lost film) as Rosie O'Grady

The Mortal Sin (1917, lost film) as Jane Anderson

God's Law and Man's (1917, lost film) as Ameia

Lady Barnacle (1917, lost film) as Lakshima

Aladdin’s Other Lamp (1917, lost film) as Patricia Smith (Patsy)

The Girl Without A Soul (1917) as Unity Beaumont / Priscilla Beaumont

Blue Jeans (1917) as June

The Winding Trail (1918, lost film) as Audrey Graham

A Weaver of Dreams (1918, lost film) as Judith Sylvester

Breakers Ahead (1918, lost film) as Ruth Bowman

Riders of the Night (1918) as Sally Castleton

The Only Road (1918) as Nita

Opportunity (1918) as Mary Willard

Flower of the Dusk (1918, print, Bois d'Arcy) as Barbara North

The Gold Cure (1919, lost film) as Annice Paisch

Satan Junior (1919) as Diana Ardway

The Parisian Tigress (1919, lost film) as Jeanne

False Evidence (1919) as Madelon MacTavish

Some Bride (1919, lost film) as Patricia Morley

The Microbe (1919, lost film) as Happy O'Brien, The Microbe

Please Get Married (1919, lost film) as Muriel Ashley

The Willow Tree (1920) as O-Riu

Dangerous to Men (1920, lost film) as Eliza

The Chorus Girl's Romance (1920) as Marcia Meadows

Blackmail (1920, lost film) as Flossie Golden

Cinderella's Twin (1920, lost film) as Connie McGill

The Off-Shore Pirate (1921, lost film) as Ardita Farnam

Puppets of Fate (1921) as Sorrentina Palombra

Home Stuff (1921) as Madge Joy

Life's Darn Funny (1921, lost film) as Zoe Roberts

The Match-Breaker (1921, lost film) as Jane Morgan

There Are No Villains (1921, lost film) as Rosa Moreland

The Fourteenth Lover (1922) as Vi Marchmont

Glass Houses (1922, lost film) as Joy Duval

Seeing's Believing (1922) as Diana Webster

They Like 'Em Rough (1922, lost film) as Katherine

The Five Dollar Baby (1922, lost film) as Ruth

June Madness (1922) as Clytie Whitmore

Love in the Dark (1922, lost film) as Mary Duffy

Crinoline and Romance (1923, lost film) as Miss Emmy Lou

Her Fatal Millions (1923) as Mary Bishop

Hollywood (1923) as Viola Dana

Rouged Lips (1923) as Norah MacPherson

The Social Code (1923, lost film) as Babs Van Buren

In Search of a Thrill (1923) as Ann Clemance

A Noise in Newboro (1923, lost film) as Martha Mason

The Heart Bandit (1924, lost film) as Molly O'Hara

Don't Doubt Your Husband (1924, lost film) as Helen Blake

The Beauty Prize (1924, lost film) as Connie Du Bois

Revelation (1924) as Joline Hofer

Merton of the Movies (1924, lost film) as Sally Montague, 'Flips'

Open All Night (1924) as Thérèse Duverne

Along Came Ruth (1924, lost film) as Ruth Ambrose

As Man Desires (1924, lost film) as Pandora La Croix

Forty Winks (1925, lost film) as Eleanor Butterworth

The Necessary Evil (1925, lost film) as Shirley Holmes

Winds of Chance (1925) as Rouletta Kirby

The Great Love (1925, lost film) as Minette Bunker

Wild Oats Lane (1926, lost film) as Marie, the Girl

Bigger Than Barnum's (1926) as Juanita Calles

Kosher Kitty Kelly (1926, incomplete film, missing one reel) as Kitty Kelly

The Ice Flood (1926) as Marie O'Neill

The Silent Lover (1926) as Scadsza

Bred in Old Kentucky (1926) as Katie O'Doone

Home Struck (1927) as Barbara Page

Salvation Jane (1927) as Salvation Jane

Naughty Nanette (1927) as Nanette Pearson

Lure of the Night Club (1927) as Mary Murdock

That Certain Thing (1928) as Molly Kelly

Two Sisters (1929, lost film) as Jean / Jane

One Splendid Hour (1929) as Bobbie Walsh

The Show of Shows (1929, black-and-white version is extant, and the technicolor version is partially extant) as Performer in 'The Pirate,' 'Meet My Sister' & 'Ladies of the Ensemble' Numbers

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The Silent Collection : Tammy Stone

#Tammy Stone is a freelance writer and journalist based in Toronto.  

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One of the lesser known divas of the silent screen, Viola Dana is perhaps most remarkable for the fact that she led a rather unglamorous life – especially compared to many of her contemporaries who became more famous and scandalous starlets of the day. Still Viola entered the movie industry when the movies were young, the time was ripe, and above all, when another gorgeous face was always welcome. From here, a legacy was born.

Many of the early film stars, and even up to the Technicolor era, emerging actors and actresses were advised to change their names to more ordinary, less foreign or hard-to-pronounce surnames (often the first names were kept). Viola Dana was no exception to this rule. She was born Virginia Flugrath on June 26, 1897, just two years after the earliest Lumiere Brothers documentary shorts screened in Paris to mark the occasion of the first public motion picture screenings ever. Again like many of her acting peers, she was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, where a vital movie industry was blooming.

Viola was the middle sister of three actresses; her sisters were known as Edna Flugrath and Shirley Mason. Little Virginia’s upbringing was fairly “normal”, and certainly without the poverty and tragedy that marked the early years of so many other young men and women who ultimately turned to the escapist world of the movies. Between 1910 and 1912, Viola made four small appearances in the movies, using the name Viola Flugrath – her transitional name. And then, at the age of 17, she had attracted the attention of the important film producers in New York, and made her “Viola Dana” film debut in the movie “Molly and the Drummer Boy”, in 1914. With just this project under her belt, she was chosen to play the leading, top-billing role in 1915’s “Gladiola” – she played the eponymous Gladiola Bain.

Although less has been written about Viola’s life than other starlets of the silent screen, some notable facts emerge: remarkably, Viola stood at just 4 feet, 11 ½ inches tall. But her exotic dark hair and jovial, piercing eyes gave her the screen presence and aura of a giant. What’s more, gossip about her aside, Viola’s acting credentials speak for themselves. In 1916, she was given another title, starring role, playing Ruth in “The Innocence of Ruth.” From here, she played great role after great role. One of Viola Dana Fan Photo from the 1920'sViola Dana as the Ace of Clubs on a MJ Moriarty Playing Cardthe most memorable was as Katie O’Doone in “Bred in Old Kentucky” (1926), although there were many other memorable films: “The Match-Breaker” (1921), “Love in the Dark” (1922), “Revelation” (1924), and “Winds of Chance” (1925).

By 1923, she was famous enough, and had made enough star vehicle movies, to be included in the cameo cast of the wildly popular comedy, “Hollywood”, where she appeared alongside the likes of Charles Chaplin and Mary Pickford. As a big player at the height of the silent era, she also acted alongside many other names who are known today as legendary figures of the era, among them:  Charles Sutton, Edward Earle (I), George D. Melville, Augustus Phillips, Grace Williams, Robert Walker (II), Emmett King, Jack Perrin, Jack Mulhall, Gloria Swanson and Will Rogers.

Films were made a much faster pace in the silent era than they are today. Still, Viola’s filmography is impressive. Throughout her career, she appeared in a total of 95 films, including a 1980 documentary mini series called “Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film”. Her last real film role, however, came in 1929. She went out with a bang in “The Show of Shows”, before the coming of sound destroyed her career as it did so many of her friends and colleagues.

Romance, drama, comedy … Viola did it all. What’s more, she survived. A life un-rocked by turbulence probably contributed to her longevity. She died in California on July 3, 1987, at the age of 90. The year of her death, she made one final appearance, in a documentary about one of the most famous of her acting contemporaries: the hilarious genius Buster Keaton. The film, also featuring Eleanor Keaton, Louise Dresser, Charles Lamont, Lindsay Anderson, and many more, was called “A Hard Act to Follow”. Keaton may indeed have been a hard act to follow, but Viola did a splendid job of carrying all her films with gusto and pizzazz. She will not be forgotten.

one of the lesser known divas of the silent screen, Viola Dana is perhaps most remarkable for the fact that she led a rather unglamorous life – especially compared to many of her contemporaries who became more famous and scandalous starlets of the day. Still Viola entered the movie industry when the movies were young, the time was ripe, and above all, when another gorgeous face was always welcome. From here, a legacy was born.

Many of the early film stars, and even up to the Technicolor era, emerging actors and actresses were advised to change their names to more ordinary, less foreign or hard-to-pronounce surnames (often the first names were kept). Viola Dana was no exception to this rule. She was born Virginia Flugrath on June 26, 1897, just two years after the earliest Lumiere Brothers documentary shorts screened in Paris to mark the occasion of the first public motion picture screenings ever. Again like many of her acting peers, she was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, where a vital movie industry was blooming.

Viola was the middle sister of three actresses; her sisters were known as Edna Flugrath and Shirley Mason. Little Virginia’s upbringing was fairly “normal”, and certainly without the poverty and tragedy that marked the early years of so many other young men and women who ultimately turned to the escapist world of the movies. Between 1910 and 1912, Viola made four small appearances in the movies, using the name Viola Flugrath – her transitional name. And then, at the age of 17, she had attracted the attention of the important film producers in New York, and made her “Viola Dana” film debut in the movie “Molly and the Drummer Boy”, in 1914. With just this project under her belt, she was chosen to play the leading, top-billing role in 1915’s “Gladiola” – she played the eponymous Gladiola Bain.

Although less has been written about Viola’s life than other starlets of the silent screen, some notable facts emerge: remarkably, Viola stood at just 4 feet, 11 ½ inches tall. But her exotic dark hair and jovial, piercing eyes gave her the screen presence and aura of a giant. What’s more, gossip about her aside, Viola’s acting credentials speak for themselves. In 1916, she was given another title, starring role, playing Ruth in “The Innocence of Ruth.” From here, she played great role after great role. One of Viola Dana Fan Photo from the 1920'sViola Dana as the Ace of Clubs on a MJ Moriarty Playing Cardthe most memorable was as Katie O’Doone in “Bred in Old Kentucky” (1926), although there were many other memorable films: “The Match-Breaker” (1921), “Love in the Dark” (1922), “Revelation” (1924), and “Winds of Chance” (1925).

By 1923, she was famous enough, and had made enough star vehicle movies, to be included in the cameo cast of the wildly popular comedy, “Hollywood”, where she appeared alongside the likes of Charles Chaplin and Mary Pickford. As a big player at the height of the silent era, she also acted alongside many other names who are known today as legendary figures of the era, among them:  Charles Sutton, Edward Earle (I), George D. Melville, Augustus Phillips, Grace Williams, Robert Walker (II), Emmett King, Jack Perrin, Jack Mulhall, Gloria Swanson and Will Rogers.

Films were made a much faster pace in the silent era than they are today. Still, Viola’s filmography is impressive. Throughout her career, she appeared in a total of 95 films, including a 1980 documentary mini series called “Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film”. Her last real film role, however, came in 1929. She went out with a bang in “The Show of Shows”, before the coming of sound destroyed her career as it did so many of her friends and colleagues.

Romance, drama, comedy … Viola did it all. What’s more, she survived. A life un-rocked by turbulence probably contributed to her longevity. She died in California on July 3, 1987, at the age of 90. The year of her death, she made one final appearance, in a documentary about one of the most famous of her acting contemporaries: the hilarious genius Buster Keaton. The film, also featuring Eleanor Keaton, Louise Dresser, Charles Lamont, Lindsay Anderson, and many more, was called “A Hard Act to Follow”. Keaton may indeed have been a hard act to follow, but Viola did a splendid job of carrying all her films with gusto and pizzazz. She will not be forgotten.

END.

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