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(Vera Helena Hruba)
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| 12 July 20 / 23 |
is born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, to a catholic family. Later she will jubilantly shave three years off her age by giving her birthday as July 12th, 1923. Her father, Rudolf Hruba, is a jeweler and president of the Jewels Association.
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grows up on the Berounka River, on the outskirts of Prague
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enrolls in ballet classes
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| Summer 32 |
goes to a German convent in Doksi, Czechoslovakia. She begins smoking.
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| Winter 32 |
learns to ice skate; brother Rudy provides her with basic instructions
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| Summer 34 |
spends her summer vacation in London, indoor skating
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| 35 |
wins the British gold medal
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| 36 |
is her country's entry to the Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Nazi Germany. She comes place 17.
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| 37 |
tours the States in ice revues. RKO offers a screen test, but she refuses because she's getting married. Her engagement to a half-Jewish boy dissolves when his parents don't consent to his wedding a Catholic.
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| 15 March 39 |
she and her mother embark on the last plane before Nazi troops take over Prague. Via Paris, they go to New York by ship.
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tours the States with the Ice Vanities
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| January 41 |
gets 2,400 proposals when a Chicago newspaper runs the story that she may have to return to occupied Czechoslovakia after expiration of her visitor's permit
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| Summer 41 |
Herbert J. Yates, president of Republic Pictures, casts her and the Ice Capades for his upcoming movie, Ice-Capades. He advises her to slim down and improve her English.
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| 43 |
Yates offers her a long-term movie contract. She chooses Ralston, from the breakfast cereal, as her screen name.
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| 45 |
to star with her in his upcoming Dakota, Yates promises actor John Wayne a percentage of the profits from his next movie starring Wayne. The success of Wake of the Red Witch will make Wayne a millionaire.
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| Early 46 |
with her father flown in from Czechoslovakia, she reunites her family and makes her home in Sherman Oaks, California
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| 4 June 46 |
becomes an American citizen
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| 47 |
becomes lifelong friends with co-stars John Carroll and Blanche Yurka while filming The Flame
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| Late 47 |
Yates leaves his wife and four adult children to be with her. He's 67; she's 27. Her father doesn't approve of the relationship and returns to Prague.
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can't get rid of her Czech accent, no matter how hard she tries
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| Christmas 48 |
visits Prague with Yates and her mother, never to return to her homeland again
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| 15 March 52 |
marries Yates at the Little Brown Church in the Valley in North Hollywood. They honeymoon in Europe for three months.
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| 54 |
on their annual European trip with her mother, they obtain a special audience with Pope Pius XII in Vatican City
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lives with Yates on a small estate in Santa Barbara, California, overlooking the sea
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| 55 |
Sterling Hayden is paid a special "bonus" inducement to appear opposite her in Timberjack
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| October 56 |
two Republic stockholders file suit against Yates for having used company assets to promote his wife as a star and having given her brother producer status at salary far beyond industry worth
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| Summer 58 |
she and her husband are off to Abano, Italy, for hot springs treatment for Yates
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| 58 |
Yates relinquishes his $178,000-a-year Republic post
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| May 62 |
she and Yates separate
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| June 62 |
they reunite after a domestic estrangement suit at the Santa Monica Superior Court and are off on a second honeymoon
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| 63 |
her father dies in Prague
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| 65 |
Yates suffers the first of nine heart attacks aboard the S.S. Columbo bound for Italy
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| 2 February 66 |
Yates dies at their Sherman Oaks home, age 85. He leaves her half of his estate, valued at more than $10 million. Soon after, she suffers a nervous breakdown.
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goes to Hawaii to recuperate from Yates's death
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| January 73 |
her mother dies in Los Angeles
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| 16 June 73 |
marries Charles L. Alva, a Santa Barbara businessman, at San Raque Chapel. He's 41; she's 52.
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| ? |
lives in Santa Barbara, California
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| 9 February 03 |
as Vera Ralston Alva, she dies at her Santa Barbara, California, home of cancer
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Sources:
The Glamour Girls by James Robert Parish and Don E. Stanke, Movie Stars of the '40s by David Ragan, www.Ancestry.com |
Recommended Books:
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Links:
Filmography |
