Vera Miles

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Vera Miles 1959

Vera Miles (* 23. August 1929 as Vera June Ralston in Boise City , Oklahoma ) is a former American actress . She became famous for her roles in the films of Alfred Hitchcock ( The False Man and Psycho ) and John Ford ( The Black Falcon and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance ).

Life

Vera Miles grew up in Kansas . She made the leap to Hollywood via the Miss Kansas election in 1948. She initially had a film contract with Republic Pictures , but where Vera Ralston, an actress of the same name, was under contract. She then took the name of her then husband, the stuntman Bob Miles, as her stage name . Her film career was interrupted by the birth of two children. During the filming of Tarzan and the Black Demon , she met the actor Gordon Scott , whereupon she divorced and in 1956 married Scott for the second time. After she had only had minor roles in rather insignificant films until then, she cast John Ford in 1956 for the female lead in his western epic The Black Falcon . Six years later she played again, under the direction of Ford, the role of waitress Hallie in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance , for whose love both John Wayne and James Stewart vie during the course of the film . Both The Black Hawk and Liberty Valance became classics and are considered masterpieces.

After Grace Kelly was no longer available for the film because of her marriage to Prince Rainer, Alfred Hitchcock was looking for a new leading actress for his films. Hitchcock found her in Miles when she played the lead female role in the first episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents . She then embodied the female lead in Hitchcock's drama The Wrong Man in 1956 . Hitchcock had already planned Miles for Vertigo in 1958 , this was prevented by pregnancy, so that Kim Novak had to play the main role in Vertigo to Hitchcock's dissatisfaction . Hitchcock cast Vera Miles again in 1960 in his thriller Psycho , where she wants to solve the mysterious disappearance of her sister in the role of Lila Crane . In 1960 she divorced Scott and married actor Keith Larsen that same year . In the 1960s and 1970s she appeared in a number of Walt Disney films .

In later years she starred in a number of pilots for various television series, including On the Run , The Outer Limits , Tennis Rackets and Cannons , Cannon , Columbo, and Owen Marshall - Defense Attorney . In 1982 she played the role of Lila Crane again in the sequel Psycho II . She had her last film appearance in 1995 in Separate Lives - Fatal double life at the side of James Belushi , then she retired into private life.

Miles was married four times, all marriages divorced, and the mother of four children. Today she lives in seclusion in Palm Desert, California and refuses to appear in public. In 2012 the film Hitchcock was directed by Sacha Gervasi . The film describes the shooting of Psycho . Miles is portrayed here by Jessica Biel .

Filmography (selection)

Movie

TV Shows

Awards

  • 1960: Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
  • 1963: Bronze Wrangler Award for The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (shared with colleagues)

Web links

Commons : Vera Miles  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Miles, Vera
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ralston, Vera June (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-american actress
DATE OF BIRTH August 23, 1929
PLACE OF BIRTH Boise City , Oklahoma , United States