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Robert G. Vignola

Known For
Directing

Known Credits
35

Gender
Male

Birthday
August 5, 1882 (143 years old)

Place of Birth
Trivignano, Veneto, Italy

Robert G. Vignola

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.

Known For

Directing

1937The Girl from Scotland Yard...Director
1935The Perfect Clue...Director
1934The Scarlet Letter...Director
1933Broken Dreams...Director
1929The Red Sword...Director
1928Tropic Madness...Director
1927Cabaret...Director
1926Fifth Avenue...Director
1925Déclassé...Director
1925The Way of a Girl...Director
1924Married Flirts...Director
1924Yolanda...Director
1923Adam and Eva...Director
1922When Knighthood Was in Flower...Director
1922The Young Diana...Director
1922Beauty's Worth...Director
1921Enchantment...Director
1921The Woman God Changed...Director
1921Straight Is the Way...Director
1921The Passionate Pilgrim...Director
1920The World and His Wife...Director
1920The 13th Commandment...Director
1919More Deadly Than the Male...Director
1919The Third Kiss...Director
1919The Heart of Youth...Director
1919Louisiana...Director
1919An Innocent Adventuress...Director
1919The Home Town Girl...Director
1919Experimental Marriage...Director
1919The Winning Girl...Director
1919You Never Saw Such a Girl...Director
1918Women's Weapons...Director
1918The Savage Woman...Director
1918The Claw...Director
1918Madame Jealousy...Director
1918The Knife...Director
1917The Hungry Heart...Director
1917Double Crossed...Director
1917The Love That Lives...Director
1917Her Better Self...Director
1917The Fortunes of Fifi...Director
1917Great Expectations...Director
1916Seventeen...Director
1916The Reward of Patience...Director
1916Under Cover...Director
1916The Evil Thereof...Director
1916The Moment Before...Director
1916Audrey...Director
1916The Spider...Director
1916The Black Crook...Director
1915The Maker of Dreams...Director
1915The Crooked Path...Director
1915Don Caesar de Bazan...Director
1915Honor Thy Father...Director
1915The Haunting Fear...Director
1915A Sister's Burden...Director
1915The Destroyer...Director
1915The Siren's Reign...Director
1915The Night Operator at Buxton...Director
1915The Stolen Ruby...Director
1915The Scorpion's Sting...Director
1914The Hate That Withers...Director
1914The Mystery of the Yellow Sunbonnet...Director
1914Her Bitter Lesson...Director
1914The Man of Iron...Director
1914A Midnight Tragedy...Director
1914The Menace of Fate...Director
1914The False Guardian...Director
1914Seed and the Harvest...Director
1914Into the Depths...Director
1914The Devil's Dansant...Director
1914The Hand of Fate...Director
1914The Barefoot Boy...Director
1914The Storm at Sea...Director
1914The Vampire's Trail...Director
1914Through the Flames...Director
1914The Show Girl's Glove...Director
1914The Cabaret Dancer...Director
1914The Shadow...Director
1914Her Husband's Friend...Director
1913Primitive Man...Director
1913The Vampire...Director
1913The Bribe...Director
1913The Lost Diamond...Director
1913A Stolen Identity...Director
1913The Hidden Witness...Director
1913A Victim of Heredity...Director
1913Man's Greed for Gold...Director
1913The Alien...Director
1913The Scimitar of the Prophet...Director
1913The War Correspondent...Director
1913The Message of the Palms...Director
1911Rory O'More...Director
The Reason Why...Director

Writing

1915Don Caesar de Bazan...Scenario Writer
1914The Barefoot Boy...Writer
1914The Vampire's Trail...Writer
1913The Vampire...Scenario Writer

Acting

1915Honor Thy Fatheras Chick Fenway - a Thief
1915The Railroad Raiders of '62as Railroad Engineer (archive footage) (uncredited)
1914The Show Girl's Gloveas
1913The Padrone's Plotas Tony
1913The Vampireas
1913Shenandoahas Undetermined Role
1913The Alienas Paola
1913The Scimitar of the Prophetas Hadjji - a Mohammedan Priest
1913The War Correspondentas Hal Martin - the Star Reporter
1913The Message of the Palmsas Uncle Tom - the Colonel's Servant
1913The Peril of the Dance Hallas Pablo Florenti - Pepita's Father
1913Lady Peggy’s Escapeas Preston
1913The Prosecuting Attorneyas The Criminal
1913A Desperate Chanceas Joe Mellon - the Brakeman
1913A Sawmill Hazardas Geoffrey Stern
1913The Wives of Jamestownas Shamus O’Daly
1912The Shaughraunas Harvey Duff
1912Ireland, the Oppressedas Michael Dee
1912The Little Gluersas Darby O'Drive
1912From the Manger to the Crossas Judas
1912A Prisoner of the Haremas Mahmoud Pasha
1912Tragedy of the Desertas The Flirtatious Malmoud Bey
1912Captured by Bedouinsas Judge Barnett - the Father
1912An Arabian Tragedyas Ayub Kashif
1912The O'Neillas
1911The Colleen Bawnas Mr. Corrigan
1911Rory O'Moreas Black William
1911Railroad Raiders of '62as Engineer
1911The Fiddler’s Requiemas Dolores' fiance
1911A Sawmill Heroas
1910When Lovers Partas
1910The Lad from Old Irelandas Man in Campaign Office
1908The Fight for Freedomas
1908Over the Hills to the Poor Houseas
1906The Black Handas