| Ruth
Roland
Foto: Albert Witzel (1879-1929)
1892
- 1937 |
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The actress Ruth Roland was one of the most successul silent movie
actresses of the 10's. She succeeded to appear on the Top 10 list of Western
stars uninterrupted from 1911 to 1915 - a normally absolute men domain.
A phenomenon she shared with the actress Pearl White who also belonged
to the top actresses of the early 10's.
Ruth Roland was born into an artistic family and her way was soon marked
in the direction of show business. Her father was a theater manager and
her mother a professional singer.
Ruth Roland made her stage debut at the age of three and became soon
an active child actress and singer with the name Baby Ruth.
After the divorce of her parents and the early death of her mother
in 1900 she grew up by her aunt. There she created her own vaudeville act.
One day she was spotted by a director of Kalem and was signed on for the
film.
This was the begin of a very busy time for the film business which
made her a star and a rich woman.
She played regular in movies from 1909, especially in westerns and comedies,
and she filled the audience with enthusiasm with movies like "The Old Soldier's
Story" (09), "Her Indian Mother" (10), "Arizona Bill" (11), "I Saw Him
First" (12), "Strong Arm Nellie" (12), "A Mountain Tragedy" (12), "Jones'
Jonah Day" (13), "Bill's Board Bill" (13), "The Tenderfoot's Luck" (13),
"The Kidnapped Conductor" (13), "The Black Hand" (13), "The Family Skeleton"
(14), "Reaping for the Whirlwind" (14), "Sherlock Bonehead" (14) and "The
Peach at the Beach" (14).
She left Kalem in 1915 and changed to Balboa where she shot her first
serial. It followed eleven serials at all which all cemented her fame.
She attained such a great popularity that she was able to found her own
production company in 1919.
To her well-known movies of that time belong "The Red Circle" (15),
"The Disappearance of Henry Warrington" (15), "The Sultana" (16), "The
Devil's Bait" (17), "A Message from Reno" (17), "Hands Up!" (18), "The
Tiger's Trail" (19) and "The Adventures of Ruth" (19).
Her movie appearances became rarer in the 20's, in 1923 she decided
to devote to the vaudeville again. In the next years she normally worked
on stages, her movie appearances were very sporadic.
To her well-known movies of the 20's belong "The Avenging Arrow" (21),
"The Timber Queen" (22), "White Eagle" (22), "Dollar Down" (25) and "The
Masked Woman" (27).
When the talkies revolutionized the fim business she tried the new medium.
But her first sound film "Reno" (30) wasn't successful and after a second
talky called "From Nine to Nine" (35) she retired from the film business
for good..
Ruth Roland died of cancer two years later.
She was married two times, so with the actor Ben Bard.
Other movies with Ruth Roland:
The Cardboard Baby (09) The Indian Scout's Vengeance
(10) A Chance Shot (11) Wages of Sin (11) The Desert Trail (12) Stenographers
Wanted (12) The Pasadena Peach (12) The Trail of Gold (12) Ranch Girl on
a Rampage (12) Hypnotic Nell (12) The Bugler of Battery B (12) The Soldier
Brothers of Susannah (12) Saved from Court Martial (12) The Beauty Parlor
of Stone Gulch (12) Queen of the Kitchen (12) Fat Bill's Wooing (12) The
Peace Offering (12) Walk, You, Walk! (12) Things Are Seldom What They Seem
(12) The Schoolma'm of Stone Gulch (12) The Romance of a Dry Town (12)
Pulque Pete and the Opera Troupe (12) The Pugilist and the Girl (12) The
Mummy and the Cowpuncher (12) The Mission of a Bullet (12) The Landlubber
(12) How Jim Proposed (12) A Hospital Hoax (12) The Hoodoo Hat (12) Death
Valley Scotty's Mine (12) The Belle of the Beach (12) The Chaperon Gets
a Ducking (12) One on Willie (13) The Horse That Wouldn't Stay Hitched
(13) Absent Minded Abe (13) While Father Telephoned (13) Why Women Are
Police (13) General Bunco's Victory (13) The Troublesome Telephone (13)
The Speed Limit (13) The Raiders from Double L Ranch (13) The Phony Singer
(13) Percy's Wooing (13) The Manicurist and the Mutt (13) The Laundress
and the Lady (13) An Indian Maid's Warning (13) The Indestructible Mr.
Jenks (13) Hoodooed on His Wedding Day (13) The Hobo and the Myth (13)
The Hobo and the Hobble Skirt (13) The Hash House Count (13) The Good Old
Summer Time (13) The Fired Cook (13) The Fickle Freak (13) The Captivating
Widow (13) Fatty's Deception (13) Entertaining Uncle (13) A Coupon Courtship
(13) Able-Minded Abe (13) The Joke on Jane (14) The Medecine Show at Stone
Gulch (14) Hiram's Hotel (14) Only One Shirt (14) And the Villain Still
Pursued Her (14) McBride's Bride (14) Hubby's Night Off (14) Gertie Gets
the Cash (14) Tight Shoes (14) An Elopement in Rome (14) Wanted: An Heir
(14) The Deadly Battle at Hicksville (14) Ham the Lineman (14) Don't Monkey
with the Buzz Saw (14) A Substitute for Pants (14) Si's Wonderful Mineral
Spring (14) When Men Wear Skirts (14) Ham the Lineman (14) The Tattered
Duke (14) The Slavery of Foxicus (14) Lizzie the Life Saver (14) Ham and
the Villain Factory (14) Bud, Bill and the Waiter (14) Cupid Backs the
Winners (14) Ham, the Piano Mover (14) The Affair of the Deserted House
(15) The Price of Fame (15) Who Pays" (15) Houses of Glass (15) Today and
Tomorrow (15) The Fruit of Folly (15) Toil and Tyranny (15) The Tip-Off
(15) Comrade John (15) Unto Herself Alone (15) The Pursuit of Pleasure
(15) House of Glass (15) Old Isaacson's Diamond (15) Mystery of the Tea
Dansant (15) The Girl Detective (15) Following a Clue (15) Blue Blood and
Yellow (15) The Apartment House Mystery (15) The Matrimonial Martyr (16)
The Neglected Wife (17) The Stolen Play (17) The Fringe of Society (17)
Cupid Angling (18) Love and the Law (19) Ruth of the Rockies (20) Ruth
of the Range (23) The Haunted Valley (23) Where the Worst Begins (25) |
