Virginia Vale (20 May 1920 - 14 Sep 2006) was an American film actress. She starred in a number of B-movie Westerns but took a variety of other roles as well, notably in Blonde Comet (1941), in which she played a race car driver.

Life and career

Vale was born Dorothy Howe, and was credited under that name in several of her earlier films. The name Virginia Vale had been chosen in advance for the female winner of the 1939 "Gateway to Hollywood" contest, a nationwide talent search sponsored by producer Jesse Lasky -- as noted (somewhat indignantly) then by another Virginia Vale a syndicated columnist covering the film industry. Vale edged out Rhonda Fleming in the 1939 contest.

After her film career, she became an executive secretary at Lockheed and also a competition judge for the US Figure Skating Association. She was eventually honored by the USFSA for 50 years of service in that role. Before becoming a judge, she'd also briefly been a competition skater. Her life in film and skating was featured at the 2002 U.S. figure skating championships and a memorial trophy for "most outstanding performance" was given in her name at the 2007 California Championships.

Partial filmography

• Marshal of Mesa City (1939)
• King of Alcatraz (1938)
• Her Jungle Love (1938)
• Disbarred (1939)
• Three Sons (1939 film)
• Unmarried (1939)
• Legion of the Lawless (1940)
• Triple Justice (1940)
• Bullet Code 1940
• Blonde Comet (1941)
• Broadway Big Shot (1942)
• Crime, Inc. (1945)

Bibliography

• Boyd Magers, Michael G. Fitzgerald (1999), Westerns Women: Interviews With 50 Leading Ladies Of Movie And Television Westerns From The 1930s To The 1960s, Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland and Co., ISBN 0-7864-2028-6
• Herb Fagen (1996), White Hats and Silver Spurs: Interviews With 24 Stars of Film and Television Westerns of the Thirties Through the Sixties, Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland and Co., ISBN 0-7864-0200-8

[ Source: Wikipedia ]