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Ruth Roland

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Ruth Roland
Photographic portrait, c. 1920
Born(1892-08-26)August 26, 1892
San Francisco, California,U.S.
DiedSeptember 22, 1937(1937-09-22)(aged 45)
Hollywood,Los Angeles,California,U.S.
Occupation(s)Actress, producer
Years active1911–1936
Spouses
Lionel T. Kent
​
​
(m.1917;div.1919)​
​
(m.1929)​

Ruth Roland(August 26, 1892 – September 22, 1937) was an American stage and film actress and film producer.[1]

Early life and career[edit]

Roland was born inSan Francisco,California to Elizabeth Lillian Hauser and Jack Roland. Her father managed atheatre,and she became achild actresswho went on to work invaudeville.At age 12, she was the youngest student atHollywood High School,having attended the school around 1904 or 1905 (there is debate on this date). Roland was Hollywood High School's first homegrownmovie star.[2]

She was hired by directorSidney Olcottwho had seen her on stage in New York City. She appeared in her first film,A Chance Shot,forKalem Studiosin 1911, becoming theleading actressof their new West Coast studio.[3]

Roland left Kalem and went on to even more fame atBalboa Films,where she was under contract from 1914 to 1917. In 1915 she appeared in a 14-episodeadventure filmserialtitledThe Red Circle.A shrewd businessperson, she established her ownproduction company,Ruth Roland Serials, and signed adistributiondeal withPathéto make seven new multi-episode serials that proved very successful.[citation needed]

Between 1909 and 1927, Roland appeared in more than 200 films. She appeared in an earlycolor feature filmCupid Angling(1918) made in the Natural Color process invented byLeon F. Douglass,and filmed in theLake Lagunitasarea ofMarin County, California.[citation needed]

Roland worked the film business until 1930 when she made her firsttalkie.Although her voice worked well enough on screen, now entering her forties she returned to performing inlive theatre,making only one more film appearance in 1936.[citation needed]

Personal life and death[edit]

Roland was married to Lionel T. Kent on May 16, 1917.[4]The marriage was short-lived: they separated on September 2, 1918, and divorced on April 2, 1919.[5][6]

On February 14, 1929, she married fellow actorBen Bard,who also had a stage acting background, and ran aHollywoodacting schoolafter they married.[7]They were together until the end of Roland's life.

Ruth Roland died ofcancerin 1937, aged 45, in Hollywood and is interred near her husband in theForest Lawn Memorial Park CemeteryinGlendale, California.[8]

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Ruth Roland received a star on theHollywood Walk of Fameat 6220Hollywood Boulevardon February 8, 1960.[9][10]In 1979, a concrete box containing Roland's personal film collection was discovered buried in the backyard of Roland's house, and donated to the UCLA Film Archives by her heirs in 1980.[11]

Selected filmography[edit]

  • A Matrimonial Martyr (1916)
    A Matrimonial Martyr(1916)
  • The Sultana (1916)
    The Sultana(1916)
  • The Neglected Wife (1917)
    The Neglected Wife(1917)
  • Hands Up (1918)
    Hands Up(1918)
  • The Tiger's Trail (1919)
    The Tiger's Trail(1919)
  • The Timber Queen (1922)
    The Timber Queen(1922)
The Red Circleserial (1915), Roland's portrait byAlonzo Myron Kimball
Roland in 1916
Roland portrait byBenjamin Eggleston,Motion Picture Classic,January 1922[12]

References[edit]

  1. ^Staff writer (September 28, 1937). Morrison, John L. (ed.)."Ruth Roland, Serial Star, Left Real Estate Fortune".The Record-Argus.Vol. 89, no. 227.Greenville, Pennsylvania:Advance Argus Company. p. 3 – viaNewspapers.com.
  2. ^silent-movies.com Ruth Roland profileArchivedOctober 20, 2006, at theWayback Machine,silent-movies.com; accessed May 6, 2014.
  3. ^Staff writer (1924).Stars of the Photoplay.Chicago, Illinois: Photoplay Magazine. p. 206 – viaInternet Archive.
  4. ^Staff Writer (June 7, 1917)."Ruth Roland".Detroit Free Press.Vol. 82, no. 253.Detroit,Michigan. p. 8 – viaNewspapers.com.
  5. ^Staff Writer (April 2, 1919)."Ruth Roland is Divorced from Lieut. Kent".Los Angeles Evening Herald.Vol. 44, no. 130 (Night ed.). Los Angeles, California. pp. 1, 7.
  6. ^Staff Writer (April 19, 1919)."Picture Patter".The Seattle Star.Vol. 22, no. 51. Seattle, Washington. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^Staff Writer (February 11, 1929)."Ruth Roland and New Hubby-to-Be".The News Journal.Vol. 62, no. 36. Wilmington, Delaware. p. 20 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^Ellenberger, Allan R. (May 1, 2001).Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory.McFarland. p. 68.ISBN978-0-7864-0983-9.
  9. ^"Ruth Roland".Hollywood Walk of Fame.Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.RetrievedFebruary 4,2014.
  10. ^"Ruth Roland".Los Angeles Times.RetrievedJune 26,2016.
  11. ^Staff writer (March 14, 1980)."UCLA Acquires Roland Films".The Indianapolis Star.Vol. 77, no. 283. p. 32 – viaNewspapers.com.
  12. ^Platnick, Norman I. (February 2017)."Lady of Mystery: A Collector's Guide to Edward Eggleston version 3.5".p. 5.those Motion Picture Classic covers, published from at least July, 1921 through August, 1922, were actually done by Benjamin Eggleston...

Bibliography[edit]

  • Balboa Films – A History and Filmography of the Silent Film StudioISBN0-7864-0496-5

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toRuth Roland.
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