Vera Sisson

Biography

Vera Sisson was born on July 31, 1891 in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was educated at the Brownlee Collegiate school for girls in Denver, Colorado. When she was twenty-one she applied to Universal Studios for extra work. She made her film debut in the 1913 drama The Helping Hand. Vera costarred with J. Warren Kerrigan's in seven hit westerns including and The Sandhill Lovers and The Oyster Dredger. In an interview she said her greatest ambition was to have her own studio. She lived with her mother in a small home in Los Angeles. Vera was offered a contract at Biograph studios in 1915. The following year she married director Richard Rosson. She continued to make movies but she was mostly cast in supporting roles. Vera costarred with Rudoph Valentino in The Married Virgin and with Constance Talmadge in Experimental Marriage. She decided to retire from acting to be a full-time wife. Her final role was in the 1926 comedy Love 'Em and Leave 'Em. In 1939 she and her husband Richard were arrested in Germany and charged with photographing military secrets. They were released after thirty-four days in solitary confinement. The couple bought a home on Amalfi Drive in Pacific Palisades. They never had children. Tragically Richard took his own life on May 31, 1953. Vera became very depressed after his death. On August 6, 1954 she committed suicide by overdosing on barbiturates. She was sixty-three years old. Vera was buried at Hollywood Forever cemetery in Los Angeles.