Velma Connor, Vaudeville and Film Actress, Dies at 82

Requiem Mass was celebrated Thursday at Holy Family Catholic Church in Glendale for Velma Connor, who performed in vaudeville with her late twin sister, Thelma, and then went on to a film career in the early 1930s. She was 82.

Velma Connor died on Sunday at Kaiser-Permanente Medical Center in Hollywood, where she was receiving treatment for heart and circulatory problems. Her sister died in 1981.

The Connor Twins began on the stage with Gus Edwards in 1921, then appeared in The Ziegfeld Follies. They were a singing-and-dancing act for 25 years, playing the Globe Theatre in London in 1928 and 1929, then entertaining American troops with USO camp shows during World War II.

They appeared together in a 1932 film, “Million Dollar Baby.” Velma worked on her own in a string of Westerns and other films such as “The Leather Pushers,” in which she starred with Reginald Denny.

She was married twice, once to Rudolph Coles and then to actor Harrison Hearne. Both marriages ended in divorce.

She leaves a son, Phil Cole (who dropped the “s” from his last name), the former executive director of the Alabama State Film Commission. She also leaves several grandchildren.

The family requests that contributions be made to The Actors’ Fund of America, 444 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, 90004.