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| Yola d'Avril |
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born:
08 April 1906 Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Brussels, Belgium |
died:
02 March 1984 Port Hueneme, California, United States of America (age 77) |
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Belgian-born French actress. She and her family reportedly moved to Paris, France, during her youth at the time of World War I. Yola later claimed her birthplace was Lille, France, which is given as such by most biographies; in her 1929 and 1930 Motion Picture Blue Book bios, she gives her birthplace as Paris. Vital records, most notably a 1921 Canadian passenger declaration and her 1937 petition for naturalization, confirm Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Belgium, as her actual birthplace. Her parents were Gabrielle (née Jonckheere; 1882-1933), later known as Tico d'Avril, and Jules Vermeiren; she had one brother, Edouard Vermeiren (1907-1977), who was also known as Jack Vernon. Per her bios in the Motion Picture Almanacs, she was educated at Sacred Heart Convent and Lycée Michot, both in Paris, and received stage training there and in Lisbon, Barcelona, and Brussels. She began dancing at a young age; her Almanac bios say she began dancing professionally at age 15. She then moved to Canada to continue her dancing career, soon coming to Hollywood and making her film debut in 1925. Per a 1935 edition of Captain Roscoe Fawcett's "Screen Oddities" cartoons, Yvonne Vermeiren adopted the stage name of "Yola d'Avril" because Hollywood producers advised that she have a shorter name; the "Avril" part of "d'Avril" was derived from the French translation of her birth month of April. Yola was married twice, first to composer Edward Ward (1900-1971) in 1930; they filed for divorce several times over the next decade, finally splitting for good in 1941. Union #2 was to screenwriter Josef Montiague (1908-1991), which lasted from 1948 to their 1966 divorce. Yola resided in Ventura County, California, for the last 15 years of her life, eventually settling in the beach city of Port Hueneme, where she passed at her home after a short illness per her Ventura County Star obituary (Elizabeth Ann's bio of Yola on her "Classic Actresses" site says she succumbed to heart disease without a source). She was cremated, and her ashes scattered at sea. |
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Real name: Yvonne Gabrielle Julienne Vermeiren Height: 5'5" |
Films listed on this page: complete Hal Roach filmography. |
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