Joan Valerie
{{Short description|American actress (1911–1983)}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Joan Valerie
| image = Hollywood Comes to MO - Joan Valerie1.jpg
| caption = Valerie in 1939
| birth_name = Helen Vlahakis
| birth_date = {{birth date|1911|7|15}}
| birth_place = Sparta, Wisconsin, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1983|1|30|1911|7|15}}
| death_place = Long Beach, California, U.S.
| occupation = Actress
| yearsactive = 1935–1953
| spouse = Paris Methusis
{{Marriage|Grant Richards|1940|1942|end=divorced}}
}}
Joan Valerie (born Helen Vlahakis; July 15, 1911 – January 30, 1983) was an American actress, who appeared mainly in B movies in the late 1930s and 1940s.
Early years
Born in Sparta, Wisconsin, Valerie was the daughter of Michael Vlahakis.{{cite news|title=Many Here for Wedding Rites|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5599134/the_rhinelander_daily_news/|work=The Rhinelander Daily News|date=June 16, 1931|location=Wisconsin, Rhinelander|page=5|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = June 16, 2016}} {{Open access}}
She was a 1931 graduate of Rhinelander High School.{{cite news|title=Helen Valkis Was Active in School Plays|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5604931/the_rhinelander_daily_news/|work=The Rhinelander Daily News|date=May 18, 1937|location=Wisconsin, Rhinelander|page=5|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = June 16, 2016}} {{Open access}} She participated in local play productions in her hometown{{cite news|title=(ad for play)|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5599274/the_rhinelander_daily_news/|work=The Rhinelander Daily News|date=December 17, 1932|location=Wisconsin, Rhinelander|page=2|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = June 16, 2016}} {{Open access}}{{cite news|title=Announce Personnel for Historical Pageant Here|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5599317/the_rhinelander_daily_news/|work=The Rhinelander Daily News|date=June 30, 1932|location=Wisconsin, Rhinelander|page=2|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = June 16, 2016}} {{Open access}} and was active in theatrical productions{{cite news|title=Beauty of Girl Here Is Lauded by Californian|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5596176/the_rhinelander_daily_news/|work=The Rhinelander Daily News|date=January 4, 1935|location=Wisconsin, Rhinelander|page=5|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = June 15, 2016}} {{Open access}} at Morningside College.{{cite news|title=Orchestra Will Appear During Guild Program|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5599456/the_rhinelander_daily_news/|work=The Rhinelander Daily News|date=December 17, 1932|location=Wisconsin, Rhinelander|page=3|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = June 16, 2016}} {{Open access}}
In 1932, Vlahakis was runner-up for the title of "Miss Wisconsin."[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5599828/the-rhinelander-daily-news/ "Miss Vlahakis Wins Honor as Beauty Queen". The Rhinelander Daily News. Wisconsin, Rhinelander. May 26, 1934. p. 2.]
In 1934, Vlahakis was selected from a group of 44 women as Morningside College's "most beautiful girl,"{{cite news|title=Miss Vlahakis Wins Honor as Beauty Queen|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5599828/the_rhinelander_daily_news/|work=The Rhinelander Daily News|date=May 26, 1934|location=Wisconsin, Rhinelander|page=2|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = June 16, 2016}} {{Open access}} Miss Morningside.
Film
Valerie initially changed her name to "Helen Valkis" for acting purposes. She was discovered by Darryl F. Zanuck on stage at the Pasadena Playhouse.
In 1928, she was the leading lady in Yukon Trails, a Rex Pictures production that was filmed in Valerie's hometown, Rhinelander, Wisconsin, with an all-local cast.{{cite news|title=Rhinelander Movie Is Shown This Week|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5596176/the_rhinelander_daily_news/|work=The Rhinelander Daily News|date=December 26, 1928|location=Wisconsin, Rhinelander|page=2|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = June 15, 2016}} {{Open access}}
Vlahakis's performance as the lead in Edward Elsner's Not So Long Ago in Hollywood led to two film studios' giving her screen tests, one of which resulted in a small part in Reckless (1935).{{cite news|title=Bright Future in Drama Predicted for Local Girl|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5599988/the_rhinelander_daily_news/|work=The Rhinelander Daily News|date=March 29, 1935|location=Wisconsin, Rhinelander|page=8|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = June 16, 2016}} {{Open access}} After signing a contract (as Helen Valkis) with the Independent Productions film company in 1935,{{cite news|title=Signs Movie Contract|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5600198/the_rhinelander_daily_news/|work=The Rhinelander Daily News|date=May 21, 1935|location=Wisconsin, Rhinelander|page=3|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = June 16, 2016}} {{Open access}} she received a contract from Warner Bros. in 1936.{{cite news|title=Warners Sign Helen Valkis|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5600198/the_rhinelander_daily_news/|work=The Rhinelander Daily News|date=October 7, 1936|location=Wisconsin, Rhinelander|page=2|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = June 16, 2016}} {{Open access}} She played ingenues in two musical westerns with Dick Foran, and appeared in Confession, The Prince and the Pauper, Day-Time Wife, and Sergeant Murphy, among others.
Warners dropped her option after one year. In 1938 she freelanced, landing a role in a Gene Autry western and a lead in a low-budget animal adventure (for which she used the pseudonym Helen Hughes). That same year Twentieth Century-Fox chief Darryl F. Zanuck saw her in a play and offered her a contact. Under the new name Joan Valerie, she was featured in many of Fox's "A" and "B" pictures, including the Charlie Chan and Michael Shayne mysteries.
Fox curtailed most of its "B" productions in 1942 and released Joan Valerie. She accepted two assignments at RKO, and then withdrew from the screen temporarily. She resumed her movie career in 1947, freelancing again, and retired in 1953.
Personal life
She was married to Paris Methusis and, in 1940, to Grant Richards.{{cite web|url=http://www.omnilexica.com/?q=joan+valerie+%28actress%29|title=Joan Valerie|publisher=Omnilexica|accessdate=25 April 2013}} She and Richards, with whom she had a daughter, Jo-Ellen Rose, were divorced September 9, 1942. A newspaper report said that Valerie "sued under her true name of Helen Jaffe."{{cite news|title=Wins Custody of Daughter|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1338&dat=19420910&id=ytZXAAAAIBAJ&pg=3268,1897320&hl=en|accessdate=16 June 2016|work=Spokane Daily Chronicle|agency=Associated Press|date=September 10, 1942|page=12}} She also had a son, George.{{cite news|last1=Muller|first1=Pat|title=Movie Actress Is Vacationing In Home Town|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5600812/the_rhinelander_daily_news/|work=The Rhinelander Daily News|date=August 1, 1951|location=Wisconsin, Rhinelander|page=5|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = June 16, 2016}} {{Open access}}
Partial filmography
{{Div col}}
- Fighting Youth (1935) - Sorority Girl (uncredited)
- Ready, Willing, and Able (1937) - Switchboard Operator (uncredited)
- The Prince and the Pauper (1937) - Lady Jane Seymour
- The Cherokee Strip (1937) - Ruth Valley
- The Go Getter (1937) - Skinner's Secretary
- Blazing Sixes (1937) - Barbara Morgan
- Talent Scout (1937) - Ruth - Secretary
- Confession (1937) - Wanda
- It's Love I'm After (1937) - Autograph Seeker (uncredited)
- Alcatraz Island (1937) - Drake's Secretary (uncredited)
- Missing Witnesses (1937) - Simpering Girl (uncredited)
- Hollywood Hotel (1937) - Girl at Premiere (uncredited)
- Sergeant Murphy (1938) - Bess Merrill
- The Old Barn Dance (1938) - Sally Dawson
- Topa Topa (1938) - Margaret Weston
- A Trip to Paris (1938) - Marguerite Varloff
- Safety in Numbers (1938) - Toni Stewart (replaced by Iva Stewart) (uncredited)
- Submarine Patrol (1938) - Anne
- Road Demon (1938) - Joan Rogers
- Kentucky (1939) - Lucy Pemberton (uncredited)
- Tail Spin (1939) - Sunny
- Day-Time Wife (1939) - Mrs. Dexter
- The Man Who Wouldn't Talk (1940) - Miss Norton
- Young as You Feel (1940) - Bonnie Jones
- Free, Blonde and 21 (1940) - Vickie
- Lillian Russell (1940) - Lillian Russell's Sister
- Girl in 313 (1940) - Francine Edwards
- Pier 13 (1940) - Helen Kelly
- The Great Profile (1940) - Understudy
- Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum (1940) - Lily Latimer
- Murder Over New York (1940) - June Preston
- Michael Shayne, Private Detective (1940) - Marsha Gordon
- Jennie (1940) - Clara Schermer
- Who Is Hope Schuyler? (1942) - Phyllis Guerney
- Rio Rita (1942) - Dotty
- Just Off Broadway (1942) - Rita Darling
- Government Girl (1943) - Miss Jane MacVickers (uncredited)
- Around the World (1943) - Countess Olga (uncredited)
- Lost Honeymoon (1947) - Nurse (uncredited)
- The Hucksters (1947) - Receptionist (uncredited)
- Three Daring Daughters (1948) - Hostess (uncredited)
- Any Number Can Play (1949) - Minor Role (uncredited)
- The Skipper Surprised His Wife (1950) - Nurse (uncredited)
- A Life of Her Own (1950) - Party Guest (uncredited)
- Mister 880 (1950) - Cashier (uncredited)
- Roaring City (1951) - Irma Rand
- Father Takes the Air (1951) - Blonde
- Westward the Women (1951) - Flashy Woman (uncredited)
- The Girl in White (1952) - Nurse Hanson
{{div col end}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons}}
- {{imdb name|0884542}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valerie, Joan}}
Category:American film actresses
Category:American stage actresses
Category:Actresses from Wisconsin
Category:American people of Greek descent
Category:People from Rhinelander, Wisconsin
Category:20th-century American actresses