Person Details

Birthday: 1882-08-05 21:26:45

Death: 1953-10-25 21:26:45

Aliases: Robert Vignola

Gender: Male

Place of birth: Trivignano, Veneto, Italy

Homepage:

Movie Involvements: 105

TV Involvements: 0


Most Famous Work

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Robert G. Vignola (born Rocco Giuseppe Vignola, August 5, 1882 – October 25, 1953) was an Italian-born American actor, screenwriter and film director in American cinema. One of the silent screen's most prolific directors, he made a handful of sound films in the early years of talkies but his career essentially ended in the silent era. Born at Trivigno, in the province of Potenza, Vignola left Italy with his family at the age of 3 and was raised in upstate New York. He made his acting debut at 19 performing in "Romeo and Juliet", with Eleanor Robson Belmont and Kyrle Bellew. He began his film career as an actor in 1906 with the short film The Black Hand, directed by Wallace McCutcheon and produced by Biograph Company, generally considered the film that launched the mafia genre. In 1907 he joined Kalem Studios, for which he made numerous movies. One of Vignola's most notable film roles was as Judas Iscariot in From the Manger to the Cross (1912), directed by Sidney Olcott, one of the most successful films of the period. Vignola directed 87 films, most notably The Vampire (1913), sometimes cited as the first "vamp" movie, and Seventeen (1916), where Rudolph Valentino did an uncredited cameo. He had a long association directing the early movies of Pauline Frederick such as Audrey (1916) and Double Crossed (1917). His biggest success was the big-budget epic When Knighthood Was in Flower (1922), starring Marion Davies, which achieved critical and commercial acclaim. Other films include Déclassée (1925), with the uncredited appearance of the then unknown Clark Gable; Broken Dreams (1933), which received a nomination for Best Foreign Film at the Venice Film Festival, and The Scarlet Letter (1934), the last film of Colleen Moore. Vignola died in Hollywood, California in 1953. He lived in a mansion at Whitley Heights owned by William Randolph Hearst. Hearst's mistress Marion Davies was allowed to stay without him at Vignola's mansion, worried that she was having affairs and considering Vignola a trusted companion for her as he was homosexual. He was buried in St. Agnes Cemetery, Menands, New York.

Most Famous Work

The Scarlet Letter
Average
5

The Scarlet Letter

(1934) Director
The Perfect Clue
Average
6

The Perfect Clue

(1935) Director
Enchantment
Average
6

Enchantment

(1921) Director
Adam and Eva
Average
0

Adam and Eva

(1923) Director
Fifth Avenue
Average
0

Fifth Avenue

(1926) Director
Beauty's Worth
Average
6

Beauty's Worth

(1922) Director
Déclassé
Average
0

Déclassé

(1925) Director
When Knighthood Was in Flower
Average
6

Acting

Year Character Movie/Tv
1915 Chick Fenway - a Thief
Railroad Engineer (archive footage) (uncredited)
1914 N/A
1913 Tony
N/A
Undetermined Role
Paola
Hadjji - a Mohammedan Priest
Hal Martin - the Star Reporter
Uncle Tom - the Colonel's Servant
Pablo Florenti - Pepita's Father
The Criminal
Joe Mellon - the Brakeman
Geoffrey Stern
1912 Harvey Duff
Michael Dee
Darby O'Drive
Judas
Mahmoud Pasha
Judge Barnett - the Father
Ayub Kashif
1911 Mr. Corrigan
Black William
Engineer
Dolores' fiance
N/A
1910 N/A
Man in Campaign Office
1908 N/A
N/A
1906 N/A
Year Character Movie/Tv

Directing

Year Role Movie/Tv
1937 Director
1935 Director
1934 Director
1933 Director
1928 Director
1927 Director
1926 Director
1925 Director
Director
1924 Director
Director
1923 Director
1922 Director
Director
Director
1921 Director
Director
Director
Director
1920 Director
Director
1919 Director
Director
1918 Director
Director
1917 Director
Director
Director
Director
1916 Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
1915 Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
1914 Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
1913 Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
1911 Director
Year Role Movie/Tv

Writing

Year Role Movie/Tv
1915 Scenario Writer
1914 Writer
Writer
1913 Scenario Writer
Year Role Movie/Tv

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