Trivia

Banky spoke no English when first discovered by Samuel Goldwyn, who taught her to answer "Lamp chops and pineapple" to all reporters' questions.

Was an avid golfer who was still teeing off well into her 80s.

Banky's 1927 marriage to fellow silent film star Rod La Roque was arranged by their respective studios in hopes of bolstering both of their fading careers, and the wedding itself was staged like a film premier on a Hollywood sound stage (with guests in the "cheap seats" reputedly served papier mache chickens). Despite its impetus as a publicity stunt, the marriage lasted nearly 50 years, ending only with La Roque's death in 1969.

Her wedding to actor Rod La Rocque was paid for by producer Samuel Goldwyn and was considered one of the most extravagent of all Hollywood parties at the time.

Vilma's first talking picture, "This Is Heaven," proved an awful experience for the almost inaudible Hungarian actress. Therefore, her illustrious silent film career did not survive the change to talkies. She made her very last film only four years later, in 1933.

When she died, she left a sizable estate. She and her husband endowed a foundation to educate children.

When Ms. Banky became ill in late 80s, she was upset with the lack of attention from the media and the public. So there was no offical mention of her death until late 1992.

She was the women's golfing champion in 1950 and 1951 at the Wilshire Country Club.

At her 1927 wedding to Rod La Rocque, Samuel Goldwyn gave the bride away. Cecil B. DeMille was best man and Louella Parsons was matron of honor.

She was brought to Hollywood based on her physical beauty, and was billed as "The Hungarian Rhapsody." Silent era movie fans had no idea Banky could not speak even one word of English, a fact that would contribute to the end of her stardom when "talkies" came into vogue in the late 1920s.

Rudolph Valentino personally picked Vilma Banky as his leading lady in what would be his final film "The Son Of The Sheik".

Her only professional appearance with her husband was in a play entitled "The Cherries Are Ripe," during 1930 and 1931.