Ruth Roland

Ruth Roland was, along with Pearl White, the queen of the early movie serials. She came from a show-business family, her father being a San Francisco theater manager and her mother a professional singer. Ruth made her acting debut at age 3-1/2, and soon became a professional actress and singer. Her parents divorced, then her mother died when Ruth was eight and she went to live with an aunt in Los Angeles, where she soon had her own vaudeville act. It was there she was spotted by a director for Kalem Studios. His offer of a movie career was quickly accepted, and she made her film debut in 1911. She made every kind of film for the studio, but was especially good in westerns and comedies. In 1915 she left Kalem for Balboa Pictures, and appeared in her first serial there the same year. She proved so popular that she was able to form her own production company, and over the next several years appeared in 11 serials, each one cementing her popularity. However, by 1923 she decided she had had enough and didn't renew her contract (she didn't need the money, as over the years she had become an astute businesswoman and real estate investor and amassed a fortune). She went back to vaudeville, and spent the next few years on the stage, with a film or two along the way. When sound came to motion pictures in 1929 she decided to try that medium, but the film she made, Reno (1930), was not successful, and she retired from the screen after one more film in 1935.