Background
Elda Voelkel, the daughter of Leonidas ("L C" or "Leo") and Emily (Lockwood) Voelkel, was born in Brownwood, Texas, and grew up in McKinney and Dallas.
Elda Voelkel, the daughter of Leonidas ("L C" or "Leo") and Emily (Lockwood) Voelkel, was born in Brownwood, Texas, and grew up in McKinney and Dallas.
She graduated from Oak Cliff High School in Dallas. Voelkel gained experience at the Little Theater in Dallas and studied expression.
Following a brief career as a Hollywood actress, which lasted from 1930 to 1932 and during which she accumulated four screen credits, Voelkel married filmmaker Irving Hartley, with whom she produced numerous documentary films on a wide range of subjects. In 1976, she created the Hartley Film Foundation, which was dedicated to promoting greater understanding of religion and spirituality. She enjoyed sketching and once entertained the dual ambition of becoming an artist and a novelist.
She spent two years studying at Southern Methodist University, before departing for New York City and dramatic school.
Voelkel appeared on Broadway in the comedy The Greeks Had A Word Foreign lieutenant, in 1931. In June of that year she came to Santa Barbara, California with a troupe.
Dorothy Hall and Wanda Lyon co-starred with her in the play which was written by Zoë Akins. The Belasco and Curran show also featured Armand Kallz and Montagu Love.
Voelkel began a romantic relationship with William Keighley.
He was the Belasco stage director who selected her for the role of Polaire in The Greeks Had A Word Foreign lieutenant In 1940, Voelkel married Charles Irving Hartley (1902–1986). Voelkel enjoyed modernistic furniture, horseback riding, tennis, and swimming.
She read both philosophy and psychology.