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Vera Miles Profile
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| (Vera June Ralston / May Ralston) |
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| 23 August 30 | is born on a farm near Boise City, Oklahoma, one of four children of Tom Ralston, a preacher-electrician, and his wife |
| ? | moves with her family north to Kansas |
| ? | her father is off to Alaska, leaving his family behind |
| ? | attends school in Pratt and Wichita, Kansas |
| c. 42 | works at a pasteboard factory at age 12 |
| c. 44 | works in the YWCA and as a clerk for Western Union in Wichita at age 14 |
| 48 | graduates and is crowned "Miss Kansas" |
| places third at the "Miss America" pageant in Atlantic City |
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| at the "Miss America" pageant, she is signed by RKO to a $125-a-week contract and brought to Hollywood |
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| ? | Howard Hughes sends her to acting school. Bob Miles, a young Hughes employee, picks her up each morning and drives her to speech classes. Before long, the two start dating. |
| November 48 | marries Robert J. Miles, Jr., a driver for Howard Hughes. When Hughes learns about it, he’s so enraged that he requests all further drivers be homosexual. |
| c. January 49 | Hughes negotiates a deal that sends her to 20th Century-Fox |
| ? | is dropped by 20th Century-Fox after only six months. In 1957 Bob Miles will recall: "After that, things got tough. I lost my job. Debts started to mount up. For a while, I went back to college, hoping to become a lawyer. Vera went to school with me for one semester. But it was no soap. Our two daughters came along, and with more mouths to feed, things got even tougher." |
| 9 April 50 | her daughter Debra Lynn is born in Los Angeles |
| 5 November 52 | her daughter Kelley Frances is born in Los Angeles. She will later become a TV actress and composer. |
| 53 | as Margo Miles, she is named "Miss Third-Dimension" |
| ? | debuts on TV in a drama called "The Soil" |
| ? | is signed by Warner Brothers |
| together with Joan Weldon she’s considered for House of Wax, but Phyllis Kirk gets the part |
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| 54 | divorces Miles |
| February 55 | films Tarzan's Hidden Jungle opposite Gordon Scott in Hollywood. She and Scott are pictured with Tarzan Ametowo of Liberia, who's instructing Scott in the correct method of throwing a spear. |
| October 55 | columnist Louella Parsons writes: "What a compliment to blonde fast-zooming Vera Miles that she is the first actress ever to be put under personal contract by Alfred Hitchcock. Hitchy, the mystery maker, has been exposed to some mighty fine new talent, including Grace Kelly..." |
| November 55 | will get a trip to London for 23 Paces to Baker Street. "P.S. Vera has made up with Gordon Scott who will be in London at the same time with the Tarzan and the Lost Safari company." |
| 56 | Movieland reports that she hopes to remarry in 1957 and for more religiosity in the country |
| is penciled for Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but producer Walter Wanger insists on British newcomer Dana Wynter |
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| January 56 | columnist Erskine Johnson reports that she "lives it up in London nightclubs with movie actor Gordon Scott during filming of 23 Paces to Baker Street there..." |
| February 56 | columnist Jimmy Fidler thinks that Gordon Scott "has eyes only for Vera Miles..." |
| March 56 | Parsons tells: "While Vera Miles is in New York emoting for Alfred Hitchcock, her fiancé, Gordon Scott, will live in their house and keep an eye on her two small children..." |
| she and Scott are expected to "hop over to Arizona to be married" on the last of April |
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| Early April 56 | columnist Harrison Carroll knows that "she and Gordon will motor to Phoenix, Arizona, for the hitching. The pair will have a 10-day honeymoon before they'll be torn away by her commitment to do interiors for The Lonely Man..." |
| the press tells that she, whose legs helped her win a bathing beauty contest, must not pose for cheesecake. "Hitchcock is giving her a Grace Kelly buildup." |
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| Mid-April 56 | will marry Scott in Yuma, Arizona |
| End April 56 | columnist Walter Winchell tells that "Vera Mile's divorce is expected next month. Gordon Scott will be her next mate..." |
| marries Gordon M. Werschkul, a.k.a. Gordon Scott, a former Las Vegas lifeguard, in a civil ceremony in Yuma, Arizona. "A church wedding is planned next month after Miss Miles completes filming of The Wrong Man." |
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| July 56 | is at Scott's bedside when he's back in the hospital for minor surgery |
| Louella Parsons nominates her for stardom |
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| October 56 | she and Scott will adopt a Korean War orphan |
| c. 57 | Hitchcock refuses Kim Novak and rewrites From Amongst the Dead for Vera, but she becomes pregnant |
| 18 March 57 | Melville Shavelson and Jack Rose, the producers of Beau James, go to court in Santa Monica to get permission to use cheesecake pictures of her to publicize the movie. This permission is currently denied by Alfred Hitchcock, who has her under contract. |
| April 57 | she and Scott expect their baby in October |
| Early April 57 | Winchell tells that she "has been on salary at $1,000 a week since mid-November just waiting to do Hitchcock's next film, which she won't be able to do now that she is preggy..." |
| June 57 | tells photographers there are to be no more home layouts for magazines - no cottage cheesecake as it were |
| Mid-July 57 | she and Scott receive legal permission to abandon their surname of Werschkul and change it to Scott. The change of name is approved for the two Werschkul daughters, Kelley, 7, and Deborah, 4, as well as for the parents. |
| 1 October 57 | her son Michael G. is born in Los Angeles |
| March 58 | she and Scott announce they will build a $80,000 beach house at Malibu "with a miniature gym to keep Tarzan in shape" |
| November 58 | seems to be replacing June Allyson as “everybody’s favorite wife.“ Her husband Gordon Scott’s solo weekends in Malibu started some rumors. |
| March 59 | Scott tells columnist Hedda Hopper that Vera will join him in London "where I'll finish a picture and we return home in April" |
| 3 June 59 | announces her separation from Scott. "Just chalk it up to one of those things. Maybe a trial separation will do us good." She says she is withholding a decision on whether to file for a divorce until she sees how the trial separation works out. |
| Mid-June 59 | columnist Harrison Carroll tells that "the irony of the split between Vera Miles and Gordon Scott is that they had just added 1,500 square feet to their house and had the place completely done over..." |
| July 59 | columnist Dorothy Kilgallen writes "Gordon Scott, currently touring for Tarzan's Greatest Adventure, will return to starlet Marilyn Walker's embrace when the personal appearance trek is over. He recently separated from his wife, Vera Miles..." |
| Summer 59 | films Jovanka and the Others in Rome, Italy. Gina Lollobridgida, originally slated for the lead, balks at having her tresses cut. Silvana Mangano, wife of producer Dino de Laurentiis, takes over. |
| October 59 | returning after a long, exhausting European schedule of Jovanka and the Others, she tells Harrison Carroll "I'm sorry, but our marriage is finished. I'll file suit for divorce before I start my next picture in November." |
| c. November 59 | starts filming Psycho wearing a blond wig |
| Mid-January 60 | Carroll tells: "Vera Miles still hasn't made a final decision on whether she will divorce Gordon Scott in Mexico or in California but, about one thing, she is very sure. After she finishes the Alfred Hitchcock picture Psycho, she will take a rest and, after that, by summer at the latest, will go away with the children on a vacation. It may be to Hawaii or it may be to Jamaica." |
| 2 March 60 | flies to Juarez, Mexico, gets a divorce from Scott in two hours, and comes home in time for dinner. She insists the only reason for a Mexican divorce was "to get the thing over as quickly as possible." She says she's in no hurry to marry anyone else and retains custody of their son, Michael, 2. Scott is in London making a new Tarzan movie. |
| June 60 | is among the stars at a gala luncheon for three visiting Scandinavian princesses, Margrethe of Denmark, Astrid of Norway, and Margaretha of Sweden, at the Paramount Studio commissary. Others are Jane Russell, Stella Stevens and Tab Hunter. |
| ? | Tom Tryon takes her to a premiere |
| 16 July 60 | marries actor Keith Larsen Burt, a.k.a. Keith Larsen, the ex of actress Susan Cummings, at the Last Frontier Chapel in Las Vegas. He's 34; she's 30. "They have known each other nine years and played in two movies together." |
| ? | the newlyweds divide their spare time between Keith’s old Malibu house and her old house in Sherman Oaks |
| July 60 | columnist Hedda Hopper tells that the Larsens own six homes. "They'll have a week to honeymoon at one of his Malibu homes. Two days after their surprise marriage he started his TV series, "Aquanauts," which is underwater and in color. Vera's three children adore him and want to join them on the honeymoon trip..." |
| November 60 | she and Larsen announce they expect a baby next May |
| Mid-November 60 | notifies Hitchcock that she will not perform in four pictures remaining under her seven-year contract |
| 30 April 61 | her son Erik Keith is born in Burbank |
| 21 June 61 | a Los Angeles court settlement ends her suit against Scott asking for $300 a month for care of their 3-year-old son, Michael, on the grounds that no support provision was made when she divorced him in March 1960. The court orders Scott to pay $175 monthly. |
| 20 December 61 | goes to court in Los Angeles asking $300 a month from her first husband, Robert J. Miles, Jr., for support of their children Debra, 11, and Kelley, 9. She says no provision for the children was made when they were divorced in 1956, after an eight year marriage. |
| June 62 | columnist Harrison Carroll reports Scott back in town to see their son, Michael. "No serious new love interest in his life, says Gordon. However, he frequently dates Italian actress Scilla Gabel..." |
| November 63 | she and Larson are reported being very prominent in a group of TV and film stars who appear in workshop stage productions in the Hollywood area |
| March 64 | returns to Wichita for the premiere of A Tiger Walks and for a visit with relatives |
| Late January 65 | is back with Alfred Hitchcock for a segment of "Hitchcock Presents" |
| June 66 | is pictured attending the fire prevention education of volunteers training at Encino hospital with her daughter, Debra Larsen, of Sherman Oaks |
| November 68 | is seen at the Seven Seas with her husband |
| 19 December 68 | attends the world gala premiere of Hellfighters in Houston, Texas. Others in the party are John Wayne, Bruce Cabot, and director Andrew McLaglen. Several girls compete for the title of "Miss Hellfighter." |
| 2 November 69 | she and Larsen separate |
| November 69 | sues for divorce from Larsen in Los Angeles after an 11-year-marriage charging extreme cruelty. Her Superior Court complaint asks alimony, support for their 8-year-old son, Erik, and an equitable division of community property. He's 44; she's 39. |
| Late October 71 | her divorce from Larsen is granted in Los Angeles Superior Court. Larsen is ordered to pay $150 a month child support; she's awarded custody of their son Erik, 10. They also evenly divide assets totaling $231,471 including real estate, stocks and bonds, and motion picture story rights. |
| January 73 | her daughter Kelley Miles is selected "Miss Golden Globe of 1973" by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association |
| September 73 | is signed by Disney for their upcoming Hawaiian screen adventure, Paniolo |
| October 73 | she and her daughter Kelley star together in a segment of "Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law" |
| c. End 73 | marries film technician Bob Jones |
| November 74 | she and Jones live on a ranchette in California |
| will star at Drury Lane Theater in Evergreen Park in the comedy Finishing Touches, which continues till January 12 |
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| June 75 | columnist Marilyn Beck writes: "In the wake of Vera Miles' decision to give up her West San Fernando Valley ranch and move into a Century City apartment comes news that the actress is going to lead the bachelorette life. She and husband Bob Jones (assistant director on NBC's "The Rockford Files") are calling an end to their union of 18 months. It's Ms. Miles' fourth marriage." |
| 99 | for good reasons she doesn’t participate in the hundredth anniversary of Hichcock’s birthday |
| Sources: I Was a Monster Movie Maker by Tom Weaver, Howard Hughes: The Untold Story by Peter Harry Brown and Pat H. Broeske, Parade, The Hammond Times, The Newark Advocate, Long Beach Press-Telegram, The Daily Review, The Portsmouth Herald, Kingsport Times, The Vidette Messenger, Charleston Daily Mail, The Sun, Albuquerque Journal, Movieland, Modern Screen, The Fresno Bee, The Times Recorder, Burlington Daily Times-News, Pasadena Star-News, Screen Stories, The Zanesville Signal, Lancaster Eagle-Gazette, The Oneonta Daily Star, The Odessa American, Long Beach Independent, Oakland Tribune, The Kansas City Times, Daily Mail, Western Kansas Press, Van Nuys News, Indiana Evening Gazette, Economist Newspapers, pro.Corbis.com, www.Ancestry.com | |
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| Links: Filmography | |