Vicki Vola

Victoria Vola (August 27, 1916 – July 21, 1985) was an actress who used Vicki Vola as her professional name. She was best known for her portrayal of Edith Miller on both the radio and television runs of Mr. District Attorney.

Vicki Vola
Vola in a 1937 radio publicity photo.
Born	Victoria Vola August 27, 1916 Denver, Colorado
Died	July 21, 1985, aged 68
Nationality	American
Occupation	Actress

Early years

Vola was born in Denver, Colorado. Living with an Italian mother and a French father who spoke five languages, she grew up in Denver and was herself fluent in five languages at age 14.[1] She attended a Denver ballet school and studied the violin as a pupil of Hungarian violinist Leopold Auer. She paid for acting lessons by working summer vacations as a grocery store cashier. After appearing in a high school play, she joined a stock company touring in the Denver area. [2] She graduated from a Colorado Springs, Colorado, high school in 1931.[3]

Early career

Vola began a Little Theater, and they presented "A Child Is Born", a Christmas program, on KVOR in 1931.[3] After seeking an audition with a Denver radio station in 1932,[2] she began working on KLZ there in 1933.[4] She acted on Gloria Gale and Doctor Kate on KGO in San Francisco in addition to performing in theater there and in radio and theater in Los Angeles.[5] While in Los Angeles, Vola assembled a company of actors that gained a six-month contract with KFI. That success led to a three-year contract with a syndicator of transcribed radio program to produce religious dramas.[3]

Life in Hollywood

Arriving in Hollywood during the mid-1930s, she was heard on a variety of shows, including The First Nighter Program, Bing Crosby's Kraft Music Hall, Radio Theater, Calling All Cars, Strange as It Seems and the Joe Penner Show. She played opposite Boris Karloff in NBC radio adaptations of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Death Takes a Holiday. During those same years, she appeared on stage in several productions, including Romeo and Juliet. Saturday Murder and White Collars.[2]

She played Carol Manning on Foreign Assignment on Mutual (1943-1944).[6]^:258

NBC in San Francisco

Relocating to San Francisco in 1936, she was heard from NBC's San Francisco studios on such shows as Hal Burdick's Dr. Kate, Winning the West, Junior News and Tales of California.[2] From 1939–40 she had the title role in the daytime drama Brenda Curtis[6] while also appearing in another soap opera, Manhattan Mother. During the 1940s, she was heard in The Adventures of Christopher Wells and as Shanghai Lil on Jungle Jim, plus roles on The Cisco Kid, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar and The Fat Man.

Films and television

In 1945, she was a narrator for Universal Newsreel. On television, she appeared in Search for Tomorrow, Mr. District Attorney, Armstrong Circle Theatre, Omnibus,[7] Escape (1950) and Love Is a Many Splendored Thing (1970).

Other professional activities

Vola served four consecutive terms as vice president of the New York local of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, after which she was elected president of the national organization for 1963-1965.[5]

References

1. "Speech Specialists". The Morning News. April 23, 1945. p. 3. Retrieved August 25, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
2. Burroughs, Jack. "You Can't Miss Her", Oakland Tribune, June 13, 1937.
3. "The Bible Comes To Life -- Over The Air". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. Tennessee, Knoxville. September 27, 1936. p. 28. Retrieved December 14, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
4. Reinehr, Robert C.; Swartz, Jon D. (2010). The A to Z of Old Time Radio. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 271. ISBN 978-0-8108-7616-3. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
5. "Vicki Vola". SAG-AFTRA. Archived from the original on December 14, 2019. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
6. Dunning, John. (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3. P.118.
7. "Vicki Vola To Appear Here". Anderson Herald. April 28, 1968. p. 15. Retrieved August 24, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.