Voya George — A Hero from Serbia (1928) 🇺🇸

It is the usual thing for foreign players to turn up their noses at Hollywood, if they fail to win a favorable reception at the beginning. It is rare that a foreign actor takes things as they are, and forgets his past performances in Europe.

Voya George has just done that, so he must be counted an exception. Three years ago he arrived in Hollywood. He had played at the Vieux Colombier, a theater in Paris which corresponds to the Theater Guild in New York, and the literary play enlisted his talents.

In Hollywood, Voya was given test after test; in all, seventeen of them. Nothing was wrong with his acting. Many times he was almost promised a rôle, but at the last moment a name with bigger box-office value was used. Prince Danilo, in The Merry Widow, and Radolphe, in La Bohème, were but two of the important rôles he almost played.

Finally, when Vova heard the word “test” he gave up any hope of a job. This nearly made him miss his lucky chance.

William Wellman [William A. Wellman] gave him an interview and heard his history. “I shall have a test taken of you,” he said. Voya’s expression evidently showed what he thought of tests in general. “Great! That’s just how I want you to look for the rôle,” Wellman exclaimed. So Voya got the part of the French aviator, in The Legion of the Condemned.

He is a Serbian, and was born in Belgrade. He was educated in Paris and began his career there. He speaks Serbian, French, German, Russian, Bulgarian, and Italian. And while waiting for work in Hollywood, he learned English at least.

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Collection: Picture Play Magazine, June 1928