
Robert G. Vignola
Personal Info
Known for
Directing
Gender
Male
Birthday
1882-08-05
Day of Death
1953-10-25 (71 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
Acting
(1915)
Honor Thy Father
as Chick Fenway - a Thief
(1915)
The Railroad Raiders of '62
as Railroad Engineer (archive footage) (uncredited)
(1914)
(1913)
Shenandoah
as Undetermined Role
(1913)
The Padrone's Plot
as Tony
(1913)
The War Correspondent
as Hal Martin - the Star Reporter
(1913)
(1913)
A Sawmill Hazard
as Geoffrey Stern
(1913)
A Desperate Chance
as Joe Mellon - the Brakeman
(1913)
The Prosecuting Attorney
as The Criminal
(1913)
The Peril of the Dance Hall
as Pablo Florenti - Pepita's Father
(1913)
The Message of the Palms
as Uncle Tom - the Colonel's Servant
(1913)
The Scimitar of the Prophet
as Hadjji - a Mohammedan Priest
(1913)
The Alien
as Paola
(1913)
The Wives of Jamestown
as Shamus O’Daly
(1913)
Lady Peggy’s Escape
as Preston
(1912)
An Arabian Tragedy
as Ayub Kashif
(1912)
A Prisoner of the Harem
as Mahmoud Pasha
(1912)
The Little Gluers
as Darby O'Drive
(1912)
Ireland, the Oppressed
as Michael Dee
(1912)
The Shaughraun
as Harvey Duff
(1912)
From the Manger to the Cross
as Judas
(1912)
Captured by Bedouins
as Judge Barnett - the Father
(1912)
Tragedy of the Desert
as The Flirtatious Malmoud Bey
(1912)
(1911)
Railroad Raiders of '62
as Engineer
(1911)
The Colleen Bawn
as Mr. Corrigan
(1911)
The Fiddler’s Requiem
as Dolores' fiance
(1911)
Rory O'More
as Black William
(1911)
(1910)
The Lad from Old Ireland
as Man in Campaign Office
(1910)
(1908)
(1908)
(1906)
Crew
(1937)
The Girl from Scotland Yard
Director
(1935)
The Perfect Clue
Director
(1934)
The Scarlet Letter
Director
(1933)
Broken Dreams
Director
(1928)
Tropic Madness
Director
(1927)
Cabaret
Director
(1926)
Fifth Avenue
Director
(1925)
Déclassé
Director
(1925)
The Way of a Girl
Director
(1924)
Yolanda
Director
(1924)
Married Flirts
Director
(1923)
Adam and Eva
Director
(1922)
When Knighthood Was in Flower
Director
(1922)
Beauty's Worth
Director
(1922)
The Young Diana
Director
(1921)
Enchantment
Director
(1921)
Straight Is the Way
Director
(1921)
The Woman God Changed
Director
(1921)
The Passionate Pilgrim
Director
(1920)
The World and His Wife
Director
(1920)
The 13th Commandment
Director
(1919)
The Winning Girl
Director
(1919)
Experimental Marriage
Director
(1918)
The Knife
Director
(1918)
The Claw
Director
(1918)
Women's Weapons
Director
(1917)
The Fortunes of Fifi
Director
(1917)
Great Expectations
Director
(1917)
Her Better Self
Director
(1917)
The Love That Lives
Director
(1916)
The Evil Thereof
Director
(1916)
Under Cover
Director
(1916)
The Black Crook
Director
(1916)
The Moment Before
Director
(1916)
Seventeen
Director
(1916)
The Spider
Director
(1915)
The Scorpion's Sting
Director
(1915)
The Stolen Ruby
Director
(1915)
The Siren's Reign
Director
(1915)
The Destroyer
Director
(1915)
A Sister's Burden
Director
(1915)
The Haunting Fear
Director
(1915)
Honor Thy Father
Director
(1915)
The Crooked Path
Director
(1915)
Don Caesar de Bazan
Director, Scenario Writer
(1915)
The Maker of Dreams
Director
(1915)
The Night Operator at Buxton
Director
(1914)
Her Husband's Friend
Director
(1914)
The Shadow
Director
(1914)
The Cabaret Dancer
Director
(1914)
The Show Girl's Glove
Director
(1914)
Through the Flames
Director
(1914)
The Storm at Sea
Director
(1914)
The Hand of Fate
Director
(1914)
The Devil's Dansant
Director
(1914)
Into the Depths
Director
(1914)
The Barefoot Boy
Director, Writer
(1914)
Seed and the Harvest
Director
(1914)
The False Guardian
Director
(1914)
The Menace of Fate
Director
(1914)
A Midnight Tragedy
Director
(1914)
The Man of Iron
Director
(1914)
Her Bitter Lesson
Director
(1914)
(1914)
The Hate That Withers
Director
(1914)
The Vampire's Trail
Director, Writer
(1913)
Primitive Man
Director
(1913)
The War Correspondent
Director
(1913)
The Vampire
Scenario Writer, Director
(1913)
The Message of the Palms
Director
(1913)
The Scimitar of the Prophet
Director
(1913)
The Alien
Director
(1913)
Man's Greed for Gold
Director
(1913)
A Victim of Heredity
Director
(1913)
The Hidden Witness
Director
(1913)
A Stolen Identity
Director
(1913)
The Lost Diamond
Director
(1913)
The Bribe
Director
(1911)
Rory O'More
Director