Vera Ralston

Vera Ralston
John Wayne and Vera Ralston in Dakota (1945)
Personal information
Full name	Vera Ralston
Alternative names	Věra Helena Hrubá; Vera Hrubá Ralston
Country represented	Czechoslovakia
Born	(1919-07-12)July 12, 1919 Prague. Czechoslovakia
Died	February 9, 2003(2003-02-09) (aged 83) Santa Barbara, California, U.S.

Vera Ralston (born Věra Helena Hrubá; July 12, 1919 – February 9, 2003) was a Czech figure skater and actress. She later became a naturalized American citizen. She worked as an actress during the 1940s and 1950s.

Ralston was born Věra Helena Hrubá to a wealthy jeweler in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Her age was uncertain; Ralston at various times gave 1919, 1920, 1921, and 1923 as her year of birth. Her brother was Rudy Ralston, who later became a film producer in the United States.

As a figure skater, she represented Czechoslovakia in competition under her birth name Věra Hrubá.

She competed at the 1936 European Figure Skating Championships and placed 15th. Later that season, she competed at the 1936 Winter Olympics, where she placed 17th. 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 furious."

Hrubá competed at the 1937 European Figure Skating Championships and placed 7th. She 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. During her career she was known as Vera Hrubá Ralston and later Vera Ralston. She normally played an immigrant girl, because of her limited English skills. Among the 26 films Ralston starred in were Storm Over Lisbon with Erich von Stroheim (1944), Dakota (1945) with John Wayne, I, Jane Doe (1948) with Ruth Hussey and John Carrol, The Fighting Kentuckian, also with John Wayne (1949), A Perilous Journey with David Brian (1953), and Fair Wind to Java with Fred MacMurray (1953). She retired from films in 1958. Reportedly only 2 of her 20 films made money.