Evelyn Venable
Encyclopedia
Evelyn Venable was an American actress. In addition to starring in several films in the 1930s and 1940s, she is notable as the voice and model for the Blue Fairy in the Walt Disney
's Pinocchio
.
For her work in motion pictures, Venable has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
at 1500 Vine Street.
, the only child of Emerson and Dolores Venable. She graduated from Walnut Hills High School (class of 1930) where her father taught English. Her grandfather William Henry Venable
also taught English there. She performed in several plays at Walnut Hills, as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet
, the Dream Child in Dear Brutus and Rosalind in As You Like It
. She attended Vassar College
for a short time before returning to the University of Cincinnati
. She performed in Walter Hampden
's touring productions, including Roxanne in Cyrano de Bergerac
and Ophelia in Hamlet
.
During a performance in Los Angeles
, she was recognized and offered several film contracts. After initially turning down the offers, she signed a contract with Paramount
in 1932. Her contract was unique in that she would not have to cut her hair, pose for leg art, or perform in bit parts. A long-believed apocryphal story sprang up that she was forbidden by her father to engage in any kissing scenes in her films, and although this eventually proved to be false, she indeed does not have any kissing scenes in her most memorable films, not even in Death Takes a Holiday
, in which she falls in love with Fredric March
, or The Little Colonel
, in which she plays Shirley Temple
's mother. She played the lead or second lead in a series of films in the 1930s, and was the original model for the Columbia Pictures
logo.
She met cinematographer Hal Mohr
on the set of the Will Rogers
film David Harum. They married on December 7, 1934. They had two daughters, Dolores and Rosalia.
In 1943 Venable retired from acting so that she could spend time with her family. She resumed her studies at UCLA
and became a faculty member there, teaching ancient Greek and Latin and organizing the production of Greek plays within the Classics department.
Her husband, Hal Mohr, died on May 10, 1974. She died of cancer in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
, on November 15, 1993, aged 80 and was cremated.
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
's Pinocchio
Pinocchio (1940 film)
Pinocchio is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the story The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. It is the second film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics, and it was made after the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and was released to theaters by...
.
For her work in motion pictures, Venable has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
at 1500 Vine Street.
Life and career
Evelyn Venable was born in Cincinnati, OhioCincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
, the only child of Emerson and Dolores Venable. She graduated from Walnut Hills High School (class of 1930) where her father taught English. Her grandfather William Henry Venable
William Henry Venable
William Henry Venable was an American author and educator.-Biography:He was born in Warren County, Ohio. He began to teach at seventeen years of age, and during his vacations attended teachers' institutes in Oxford, Ohio, being one of the first teachers in the state upon whom the Ohio board of...
also taught English there. She performed in several plays at Walnut Hills, as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
, the Dream Child in Dear Brutus and Rosalind in As You Like It
As You Like It
As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
. She attended Vassar College
Vassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
for a short time before returning to the University of Cincinnati
University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati is a comprehensive public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a part of the University System of Ohio....
. She performed in Walter Hampden
Walter Hampden
Walter Hampden is the artist name of Walter Hampden Dougherty was a U.S. actor and theatre manager. He was the younger brother of the American painter Paul Dougherty ....
's touring productions, including Roxanne in Cyrano de Bergerac
Cyrano de Bergerac (play)
Cyrano de Bergerac is a play written in 1897 by Edmond Rostand. Although there was a real Cyrano de Bergerac, the play bears very scant resemblance to his life....
and Ophelia in Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
.
During a performance in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, she was recognized and offered several film contracts. After initially turning down the offers, she signed a contract with Paramount
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
in 1932. Her contract was unique in that she would not have to cut her hair, pose for leg art, or perform in bit parts. A long-believed apocryphal story sprang up that she was forbidden by her father to engage in any kissing scenes in her films, and although this eventually proved to be false, she indeed does not have any kissing scenes in her most memorable films, not even in Death Takes a Holiday
Death Takes a Holiday
Death Takes a Holiday is a 1934 romantic drama starring Fredric March, Evelyn Venable and Guy Standing, based on the Italian play La Morte in Vacanze by Alberto Casella.-Synopsis:...
, in which she falls in love with Fredric March
Fredric March
Fredric March was an American stage and film actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1932 for Dr. Jekyll and Mr...
, or The Little Colonel
The Little Colonel
The Little Colonel is a 1935 American comedy drama film directed by David Butler. The screenplay by William M. Conselman was adapted from a novel of the same name by Annie Fellows Johnston, and focuses on the reconciliation of an estranged father and daughter in the years following the American...
, in which she plays Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia...
's mother. She played the lead or second lead in a series of films in the 1930s, and was the original model for the Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
logo.
She met cinematographer Hal Mohr
Hal Mohr
Hal Mohr, A.S.C. was a famed movie cinematographer.-Career:In 1915, in an early example of an exploitation film peddled directly to theater owners, Mohr and Sol Lesser produced and directed a film The Last Night of the Barbary Coast...
on the set of the Will Rogers
Will Rogers
William "Will" Penn Adair Rogers was an American cowboy, comedian, humorist, social commentator, vaudeville performer, film actor, and one of the world's best-known celebrities in the 1920s and 1930s....
film David Harum. They married on December 7, 1934. They had two daughters, Dolores and Rosalia.
In 1943 Venable retired from acting so that she could spend time with her family. She resumed her studies at UCLA
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
and became a faculty member there, teaching ancient Greek and Latin and organizing the production of Greek plays within the Classics department.
Her husband, Hal Mohr, died on May 10, 1974. She died of cancer in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
Coeur d'Alene is the largest city and county seat of Kootenai County, Idaho, United States. It is the principal city of the Coeur d'Alene Metropolitan Statistical Area. Coeur d'Alene has the second largest metropolitan area in the state of Idaho. As of the 2010 census the population of Coeur...
, on November 15, 1993, aged 80 and was cremated.
Partial filmography
- Get It (1943)
- He Hired the Boss (1940)
- Lucky Cisco Kid (1940)
- PinocchioPinocchio (1940 film)Pinocchio is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the story The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. It is the second film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics, and it was made after the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and was released to theaters by...
(1940) - The Headleys at Home (1939)
- Heritage of the Desert (1938)
- Hollywood Stadium MysteryHollywood Stadium MysteryHollywood Stadium Mystery is a 1938 American film directed by David Howard.- Cast :*Neil Hamilton as Bill Devons*Evelyn Venable as Pauline Ward*Jimmy Wallington as Nick Nicholls*Barbara Pepper as Althea Ames*Lucien Littlefield as Watchman...
(1938) - Female Fugitive (1938)
- The Frontiersman (1938)
- My Old Kentucky Home (1937)
- Racketeers in Exile (1937)
- North of Nome (1937)
- Happy-Go-Lucky (1936)
- Star for a Night (1935)
- Alice AdamsAlice Adams (film)Alice Adams, also known as Booth Tarkington's Alice Adams, is a 1935 romantic film made by RKO. It was directed by George Stevens and produced by Pandro S. Berman from a screenplay by Dorothy Yost, Mortimer Offner adapted by Jane Murfin from the novel, Alice Adams, by Booth Tarkington...
(1935) - The Little ColonelThe Little ColonelThe Little Colonel is a 1935 American comedy drama film directed by David Butler. The screenplay by William M. Conselman was adapted from a novel of the same name by Annie Fellows Johnston, and focuses on the reconciliation of an estranged father and daughter in the years following the American...
(1935) - The County Chairman (1935)
- Streamline ExpressStreamline Express- Cast :*Victor Jory as Jimmy Hart*Evelyn Venable as Patricia Wallace*Esther Ralston as Elaine Vincent*Erin O'Brien-Moore as Mary Forbes*Ralph Forbes as Fred Arnold*Sidney Blackmer as Gilbert Landon*Vince Barnett as Mr...
(1935) - Harmony Lane (1935)
- Vagabond Lady (1934)
- Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage PatchMrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage PatchMrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch is a 1934 comedy-genre film, directed by Norman Taurog, and based on the 1901 novel by Alice Hegan Rice. It also appeared as a radio series between 1936 and 1938. It is one of two movies that feature a rare film performance by famed Broadway stage actress Pauline...
(1934) - Death Takes a HolidayDeath Takes a HolidayDeath Takes a Holiday is a 1934 romantic drama starring Fredric March, Evelyn Venable and Guy Standing, based on the Italian play La Morte in Vacanze by Alberto Casella.-Synopsis:...
(1934) - Double Door (1934)
- David Harum (1933)
- Cradle Song (1933)