Viola Essen: Viola Essen. Actress: Specter of the Rose. Viola Essen became living proof that stardom in ballet does not generate equal success on screen. Signed by Republic boss Herbert J. Yates on the strength of her dance pantomime in the short-lived Broadway musical 'Hollywood Pinafore', the diminutive twenty-one year old ballerina was cast in one of the studio's biggest-ever productions, Specter of the Rose (1946). The picture was launched amidst an...
Known For: Specter of the Rose (Haidi), The Desert Song (Azuri), Ford Star Revue (Self), The Ed Sullivan Show (Soundtrack("Challenge"))