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Families of America (SFA) Valeska SURATT, 1882-1962 |
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(This Photo from the personal collection of Mike McCORMICK [REF: Mike #3]
Valeska SURRATT; The Actress
(1st d/o Ralph M. & Mrs. Anna (MATTHEWS) STRICKLAND, SURATT)
b. 28 Jun 1882 Terre Haute, Vigo Co. IN. [REF: LDS-IGI Film #1903785 ]
d. 02 Jul 1962 a80y in a retirement home, in Washington, DC. [REF: Mike #1]
Her ashes a buried next to her mother's headstone in the Highland Lawn Cemetery, Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. Specific Interment Location: See: Section 14, lot 475.5.
She married twice, 1st to Billy GOULD; "Vaudeville Comic"
No Children?
She married 2nd to Fletcher NORTON; "Actor" [REF: poll.imdb.com
b. 04 Aug 1877, San Francisco, California, USA
d. 03 Oct 1941, a64y Hollywood, California, USA
Buried: Location Unknown (to me)
No Children?
Suratt, Valeska
b. June 28, 1882. d. July 2, 1962. She moved from Terre Haute, Indiana to New York City in 1905 [a23y] hoping to make it big as an actress. It is said that in 1906 [a24y] she was walking down a hotel staircase one evening wearing a backless gown. Producer Edward Edelston saw this 'beauty' and cast her as a Gibson Girl in 'The Belle of Mayfield' on Broadway. Perfecting her song and dance routines, Miss SURATT teamed up with vaudeville comic Billy Gould for which Oscar Hammerstein paid her $2500 a week. Meanwhile, she secured a 'femme fatale' image in several Broadway comedies. Cosmopolitan featured her as the 'Belle of the Boulevards' in 1910. [a28y] The New York Dramatic Mirror called her 'Vaudeville's greatest star.'
Miss SURATT's popularity engendered a syndicated beauty and skin care column. In 1915, Jerry Lasky and Samuel Goldwyn cast Miss SURATT [a33y] in the title role in 'The Immigrant', her first silent movie. Later that same year, Fox Studios outbid Paramount for her services, converting her into a lustful 'Vamp' She made a dozen popular films before returning to the New York vaudeville scene. During the world war, she quietly donated $500 a week to the American Red Cross and was generous to other charities. Her popularity endured through the Twenties.
[REF: FindAGrave.com Bio
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(Terre Haute Newspaper Feb. 1905) [REF: Mike #3]  It might interest the Terre Haute to know that a former Terre Haute girl Miss Valeska SURRATT, is making a great hit on the stage in South Africa this season. She has never been before the public on the stage, and it is very complimentary to her natural ability and her training? that she should have been such an instantaneous success. The papers from South Africa was enthusiastic in praise of her work and predict a great future for the artist. She is with her husband William GOULD, well-known to stage to the stage folks in this country. Miss SURRAT has always been amired here for her beauty, grace and demurring manner, but it was not known that she had an ambition to shine in the limelight of a theater? She makes an impressive figure, in artistic in dress, vivacious and attractive in manner, and is possessed of a voice that is responsible for her success. When she left Terre Haute, she went to Chicago, where she began preparing for her present work by studying music and voice culture. She remained in the School up until a short time ago, when she left with her husband for South Africa. Mr. GOULD is a well-known in stageland. He is a good all round comedian and has long been prominent be-for the public with the best complements. It is the attention of the GOULDS to go direct to London after finishing their tour in South Africa and they will be seen together in England before they again see America. The cities of South Africa are greedy for entertainment and it is said that their is no field more lucrative for first class artists. Miss SURATT is enthusiastic about her work and her friends claim that she has the timber?, the perserverence, the energy and the daring necessary to win recognition upon the stage. She has all the advantages that go with the making of a success. It is thought that a woman who is so dashing, impressive and graceful off the stage as to stand out from the crowd, can hardly fail of success when artistic talent is added. [REF: Mike #3] |
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This piece of sheet music by L. Wolfe Gilbert and Lewis F. Muir is ©1913. There is a picture of Valeska Suratt [a31y] on the cover. Tias.com Pg1210098 |
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as per ©1996 by Diane MacIntyre. Which is a terrific compilation of sources that are readily available to fans and researchers. You'll find the very well known, like Chaplin, Garbo and Valentino, to the obscure, such as Mabel Ballin (wife of director Hugo Ballin who occasionally stared in his films and supported larger stars like Tom Mix) and Valeska Suratt (who happened to be a Theda Bara "vamp" clone in the mid teens). |
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WEDNESDAY, JULY 26, 1961(Terre Haute Newspaper) DO YOU REMEMBER -- Valeska SURRATT was a Terre Haute woman who was a star in vaudeville, on the stage and in silent movies at the turn of the century. She once appeared here on the stage of the Hippodrome Theater in "The Red Rose" (Photo by Underwood and Underwood) Star Valeska SURRATT of Vaudeville And Silent Pictures Lives in East. By Frances E. HUGHES | ||||||||||||
| In retirement in Washington, D.C. with many memories of the glamor
of being a star in silent pictures, vaudeville and musical comedy is Valeska SURRATT,
who left Terre Haute many years ago for her rise to stardom. Among the last appearances of "the toast of Broadway" in 1924, was when she appeared in "Spice" at the Winter Garden. In this she broke records and reached the top as a comedieanne. The Broadway revue was writen by Jack LAIT, in whose one character she had appeared for years. At the Winter Garden, the show topped all high marks that had been set there by Al JOLSON. Miss SURRATT was brought to Terre Haute when she was five years old from Owensville, a small town in southern Indiana where she was born. Since they did not register births in those days, her sister, Mrs. Leah HINCHLIFFE of Hollywood, Cal. says she thinks it was 1884 HER MOTHER'S PARENTS had come from England, buying land in Owensville from the government, and her father's parents had come from France. Prefering to roam the wide open spaces, Valeska loathed school. By the time she was 12 or 13 years old, she had definitely made up her mind to be an actress. Every night she would make wishes on the stars. After graduating from public school, she went to work for the Clare Sisters photograph shop on South Seventh Street. She saved her money until she had enough to go to Indianapolis. There she learned the milliners' | trade and became a buyer in a wholesale house. By that time, when Leah SURRATT was about 12 years old, she bought a Honduras lottery ticket for 25-cents and won $1,000 When Valeska SURRATT read of it in the paper, she hurried home, took her sistor's money and went to New York to make a career as an actress. Her only public appearance had been singing in the choir of the old Presbyterian Church on Cherry Street. HER EFFORTS to become a chorus girl in one of the Broadway shows came to no avail for they would have nothing to do with this tall, thin girl with her hair combed straight back and her shirtwaist and skirt style. |
At the time, casting was being done for a show called
"The Belle of Mayfair," a show already playing in London.
Ernest Edelston was searching all over New York for a "Gibson Girl" for
a special number. He was sent to London to try to find the
right type, and there, one night at the Savoy Hotel, he saw his
"Gibson Girl" coming down the steps into the dining room with
a party of friends. It was Valeska SURRATT and she was wearing a black velvet princess sheath gown, not low in front but to the waistline in back, that she had made. "There," cried Mr. Edelston, "There is my Gibson Girl." But she is not an actress, friend told him, "That's some society dame." "Well," returned Edelston, "she is going to be in actress if I have to drag her by the hair of the head back to New York on the next boat" NATURALLY, Valeska SURRATT jumped at the offer. She was a sensation overnight with her throaty, vibrant voice which thrilled millions. Although she was originally a singer and dancer, she also was clever in her portrayals of drama and high comedy. After her original success, several managers called to offer her starring roles. Oscar Hammerstein offered to star her in vaudeville at $2,500 a week. She started at $2,500 a week but after the first night was raised to $3,000. When "The Belle of Mayfair" closed, Valeska put together an act and started on her vaudeville career, which she played in off and on for almost 40 years. Her bookings were with the Keith-Orpheum Circuit. She also co-starred with Weber and Fields in "The Kiss Waltz," produced, directed and starred in "The Red Rose" which she played in Terre Haute, and one of her last appearances was in the Frolics of 1929 at the Winter Garden in New York. VALESKA SURRATT WENT Into the movies as a Fox Star and made 11 moving pictures in the days of silent pictures, with Jesse LASKY, Cecil DeMILLE and Herbert BRENNAN among her directors. Her summer vacations were spent in Europe and partley in Terre Haute with her family. She married twice, first to William GOULD and after his death to Fletcher NORTON, who is also dead. Suffenly she gave up all the glamour and devoted years to studuing and writing on religious subjects. Her charities to relatives and frends had always been outstanding, and during World War I she gave $500 a week of her salary for war effort and a large sum to the Red Cross. She had made a lot of money and much of it in line with her religious beliefs, she had given away. | |||||||||||
| Source: [REF:#005] | ||||||||||||
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Source & Reference Notes! Suratt, Valeska 1882-1962 | [REF:#001] | Biography and Genealogy Master Index | (BGMI) 1114130 Is listed in the following: Encyclopedia of Vaudeville. By Anthony Slide. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1994. (EncVaud) |
[REF:#002] | Filmarama. Volume I: |
"The Formidable Years, 1893-1919." Compiled by John Stewart. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1975. (Film 1) | [REF:#003] | Silent Film Performers. | An annotated bibliography of published, unpublished, and archival sources for over 350 actors and actresses. By Roy Liebman. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 1996. (SilFlmP) | [REF:#004] | Twenty Years of Silents, 1908-1928. | Compiled by John T. Weaver. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1971. "The Players" section begins on page 27. (TwYS) | [REF:#005] | Who Was Who on Screen. | Second edition. By Evelyn Mack Truitt. New York: R.R. Bowker Co., 1977. (WhScrn 77) | [REF:#006] | Who Was Who on Screen. | Third edition. By Evelyn Mack Truitt. New York: R.R. Bowker Co., 1983. (WhScrn 83) | [REF:#007] | Who's Who in Hollywood, | 1900-1976. By David Ragan. New Rochelle, NY: Arlington House, 1976. The "Late Players (1900-1974) section begins on page 539. (WhoHol B) | [REF:#008] | Silent Ladies | http://silent-movies.com/Ladies/annex/SLAnnex22.html | [REF:#009] | Theda Featured Book; | http://www.mdle.com/ClassicFilms/FeaturedBook/book23.htm | [REF:#010] | Theda Featured Star | http://www.mdle.com/ClassicFilms/FeaturedStar/star56.htm |
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Paul R. Sarrett, Jr. Auburn, CA.Text - Copyright © 1996-2003 Paul R. Sarrett, Jr.
Created: Dec. 01, 1996;
Feb. 06, 2003