Robert G. Vignola

Directing·Aug 5, 1882·Trivignano, Veneto, Italy

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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.

Film	Credit
The Girl from Scotland Yard1937 · Director	Director
The Perfect Clue1935 · Director	Director
The Scarlet Letter1934 · Director	Director
Broken Dreams1933 · Director	Director
The Red Sword1929 · Director	Director
Tropic Madness1928 · Director	Director
Cabaret1927 · Director	Director
Fifth Avenue1926 · Director	Director
Déclassé1925 · Director	Director
The Way of a Girl1925 · Director	Director
Married Flirts1924 · Director	Director
Yolanda1924 · Director	Director
Adam and Eva1923 · Director	Director
When Knighthood Was in Flower1922 · Director	Director
The Young Diana1922 · Director	Director
Beauty's Worth1922 · Director	Director
Enchantment1921 · Director	Director
The Woman God Changed1921 · Director	Director
Straight Is the Way1921 · Director	Director
The Passionate Pilgrim1921 · Director	Director
The World and His Wife1920 · Director	Director
The 13th Commandment1920 · Director	Director
More Deadly Than the Male1919 · Director	Director
The Third Kiss1919 · Director	Director
The Heart of Youth1919 · Director	Director
LLouisiana1919 · Director	Director
An Innocent Adventuress1919 · Director	Director
The Home Town Girl1919 · Director	Director
Experimental Marriage1919 · Director	Director
The Winning Girl1919 · Director	Director
YYou Never Saw Such a Girl1919 · Director	Director
Women's Weapons1918 · Director	Director
The Savage Woman1918 · Director	Director
The Claw1918 · Director	Director
Madame Jealousy1918 · Director	Director
The Knife1918 · Director	Director
The Hungry Heart1917 · Director	Director
Double Crossed1917 · Director	Director
The Love That Lives1917 · Director	Director
Her Better Self1917 · Director	Director
The Fortunes of Fifi1917 · Director	Director
Great Expectations1917 · Director	Director
Seventeen1916 · Director	Director
The Reward of Patience1916 · Director	Director
Under Cover1916 · Director	Director
The Evil Thereof1916 · Director	Director
The Moment Before1916 · Director	Director
Audrey1916 · Director	Director