Biography

Valora Noland

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Valora Noland was born Valor Baum in Seattle, Washington, Dec. 8, 1941, the day after Pearl Harbor. Her parents moved to Santa Cruz, California, in 1943, and that is where she grew up. Following graduation from Santa Cruz High School, Valora attended the Pasadena Playhouse College of Theatre Arts for one and one-half years until a talent scout introduced her to her first agent, Dick Clayton. This was the start of her Hollywood career, which began in January 1961. During the following seven years, she played a number of roles in films and television shows while continuing to study acting in various actors' workshops, headed up by Jeff Corey, Robert Gist and, finally, Sherman Marks. The three roles she thinks were her best (because they show different character types) are: "Vickie" in Sex and the College Girl (1964); "Duchess Victoria" in The Round Table Affair (1966); and "Amanda Harley" in The Girl on the Pinto (1967).

Valora left the business and the area in January 1968.
- IMDb mini biography by: Valora Noland

Originated the character Animal (aka Rhonda) in the "Beach Party" movie series.
Left acting after her guest appearance on the "Star Trek: TOS" episode Patterns of Force (1968) (filmed in December 1967), where she had to wear a swastika arm band as well as hat pin which were added to the costume just before filming began on the first day. She felt ashamed to wear them because of what they represent, and would not have accepted the role if she had known the hateful symbol was going to be part of her attire (not shown when she went for costume fitting). She was forced to carry on with it.
Her maternal grandfather was the American historian and US Senator (Indiana) Albert J. Beveridge. Beveridge was a key figure in the Progressive Party (Bull Moose Party) formed by Theodore Roosevelt.
Her mother, Abby Beveridge, married German artist Franz Baum, who was one of her teachers at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts. They married in Germany in 1934 but fled Nazi rule in 1939, settling in the United States.
Her birth certificate carried no first name originally; her parents hadn't chosen a name. She added it when she applied for her driver's license in 1958.

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