Valeska Suratt
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| Valeska Suratt | |
|---|---|
 from The Girl with the Whooping Cough Broadway play 1910 |
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| Born | June 28, 1882 Owensville, Indiana, U.S. |
| Died | July 2, 1962 (aged 80) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Other names | Valeska Surratt |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1906–1922 |
| Spouse |
Billy Gould (m. c.1905–c.1911) |
Valeska Suratt (June 28, 1882 – July 2, 1962) was an American stage and silent film actress. No copies of Suratt's films have survived but still photos taken on sets during productions remain extant.
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[edit] Early life
Born in Owensville, Indiana, she moved with her family to Terre Haute when she was six years old. In 1913 Suratt became noted for the New York Casino musical success, The Kiss Waltz. Suratt was known as The Vampire Woman of the silent screen.[1]
[edit] Career
[edit] Stage
An actress and singer, Suratt appeared in a few Broadway plays, mostly musicals: The Belle of Mayfair (1906), Hip! Hip! Hooray! (1907), The Girl With the Whooping Cough (1910, the French farce was closed due to charges of indecency), The Red Rose (1911) and Spice of 1922 (1922).
A famous pose of Suratt from The Red Rose had her left breast exposed with her hand and a rose placed over the left nipple.
[edit] Films
Suratt made her film debut in The Soul of Broadway (1915). The same year she made The Immigrant followed by The Straight Way (1916), Jealousy (1916), The Victim (1916), The New York Peacock (1916), and She (1917).
[edit] Image
During her early years on Broadway, Valeska was noted for the high fashion clothes she wore on stage. Among the items which were most commented about was an $11,000 Cinderella cloak. She was sometimes called Empress of Fashions. Her name became synonymous worldwide for brilliant gowns. She possibly was another model for the famous Gibson Girl sketchings. In the Fox Film drama, The Soul of Broadway, Suratt wore more than 150 gowns.
[edit] Lawsuit
In 1928, Suratt and scholar Mirza Ahmad Sohrab sued DeMille for stealing the scenario for The King of Kings from them.[2] The case went to trial in February 1930 but eventually settled without publicity.[3] Suratt, who had left films in 1917, appeared to be unofficially blacklisted after the suit.[4]
[edit] Personal life
Surratt married twice and had no children. Her first husband was William J. Flannery (1869–1950), aka Billy Gould, a vaudeville comedian known for his minstrel roles. She reportedly married him circa 1904 and later divorced. In 1911, she married actor Fletcher Norton to whom she remained married until Norton's death in 1941.
She was a member of the Bahá'í Faith.[5]
[edit] Death
Valeska Suratt died in a nursing home in Washington, D.C. in 1962. She was 80 years old. Suratt is interred in Highland Lawn Cemetery in Terre Haute, Indiana.
[edit] Broadway credits
| Date | Production | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 3, 1906 – March 30, 1907 | The Belle of Mayfair | Duchess of Dunmow | |
| October 10 – December 7, 1907 | Hip! Hip! Hooray! | Mrs. Vera Shapeleigh | |
| April 25 – May 1910 | The Girl with the Whooping Cough | ||
| June 2 – September 1911 | The Red Rose | Lola | Costume and scenic design |
| July 6 – September 9, 1922 | Spice of 1922 |
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1915 | The Soul of Broadway | Grace Leonard, aka La Valencia |
| The Immigrant | Masha | |
| 1916 | The Straight Way | Mary Madison |
| Jealousy | Anne Baxter | |
| The Victim | Ruth Merrill | |
| 1917 | The New York Peacock | Zena |
| She | Ayesha, aka "She" | |
| The Slave | Caroline | |
| The Siren | Cherry Millard | |
| Wife Number Two | Emma Rolfe | |
| A Rich Man's Plaything | Marie Grandon |
[edit] References
- ^ Frank Cullen,; Hackman, Florence; McNeilly, Donald (2007). Vaudeville, Old & New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America. 1. Routledge. p. 1076. ISBN 0-415-93853-8.
- ^ The Helena Independent (Helena, Montana), 25 Feb 1928
- ^ Terre Haute Tribune Star website (March 14, 2009)
- ^ Terre Haute Tribune Star website (March 14, 2009)
- ^ Julie Chanler (1956). From Gaslight to Dawn: an autobiography. New York: New History Foundation. pp. 152–153. http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/A-E/C/Chanler/FGTD.htm.
[edit] References
- "Startling Secrets of the World's Most Famous Self-Made Beauty." Cedar Rapids Republican. June 16, 1912, Page 13.
- "Valeska Suratt Thursday." Fort Wayne Journal. July 29, 1917, Page 37.
- "A Journey Through Queen of Night's Apartment." Oakland Tribune. April 5, 1914, Page 10.
- "The Kiss-Waltz." Racine Journal-News. February 5, 1913, Page 10.
- "Star In The Soul of Broadway." Wichita Falls Daily Times. Page 16.
[edit] External links
- Valeska Suratt at the Internet Broadway Database
- Valeska Suratt at the Internet Movie Database
- Valeska Surratt Genealogy Page
- Valeska Suratt photographs
- 1916 portrait of Valeska Surratt by Benjamin Strauss and Homer Peyton
- Surratt's stage portraits & silent film stills
- "Oh, You Dream" 1910 song recording by Eddie Morton whose lyrics mention several Broadway actresses including Surratt
- Valeska Suratt at Find a Grave
