Vera Ralston

Description

Vera Ralston (1919-February 9, 2003), was an American actress during the 1940s and 1950s.<p>Ralston was born Věra Helena Hrubá to a wealthy jeweler in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Her age is uncertain; Ralston at various times gave 1919, 1920, and 1923 as her year of birth. Ralston gained fame in the 1930s as a figure skater, where she competed in the 1936 Winter Olympics against gold medalist Sonja Henie. During the games she personally met and insulted Adolf Hitler. Hitler asked her if she would like to "skate for the swastika." As she later recalled, "I looked him right in the eye, and said that I'd rather skate on the swastika. The Führer was livid."<p>Hruba emigrated to the United States in the early 1940s and became a naturalized citizen in 1946. She moved to Hollywood with her mother and signed a contract in 1943 with Republic Pictures. Ralston later married the head of the studio Herbert J. Yates in 1952. Yates was nearly 40 years her senior, and had left his wife and children to be with...