Iluminace 2025, 37(2):133-152 | DOI: 10.58193/ilu.1810

The Anti-Star. Věra Hrubá Ralston and Fault Lines of Classic Models of Stardom

Nicholas David Hudac ORCID...
Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic ✉

This article focuses on the Czech actress, Věra Hrubá Ralston, who was a champion athlete, a national celebrity in the United States and Czechoslovakia, stared in over 25 films in nearly two decades in Hollywood alongside some of the most well-known actors of her generation, married the head of her movie studio, and still failed to become a Hollywood star. By examining the career of Hrubá Ralston, we gain new insights as to the limits of star-making power in the postwar studio system as well as the tensions between assimilation and stardom.

Keywords: star studies, celebrity, Czech actresses, interwar celebrity, Věra Hrubá Ralston, B-Movies, cultural assimilation, film industry, models of film stardom

Received: September 12, 2024; Revised: January 29, 2025; Accepted: October 2, 2025; Published: November 10, 2025  Show citation

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Hudac, N.D. (2025). The Anti-Star. Věra Hrubá Ralston and Fault Lines of Classic Models of Stardom. Iluminace, 37(2), 133-152. doi: 10.58193/ilu.1810
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