Noland was born in Seattle, as Valor Baum, on December 8, 1941, the day after Pearl Harbor. Her mother named her "Valor", inspired by a speech by
Winston Churchill. Her family moved from Seattle to the countryside near
Santa Cruz, California in 1943. Sometime around 1959 she decided to become an actress. After graduating from
Santa Cruz High School, she was accepted by the
Pasadena Playhouse and, while studying there for a year and a half, settled on "Valora Noland" for her stage name and moved to Hollywood. Valora's first job was an improvised scene with three other actors for the film
Five Finger Exercise, later cut before distribution. Still, it enabled her to buy her
SAG card, and somewhat larger parts in TV shows followed. She had a small role in a 1961 episode of the TV western
The Rifleman entitled "High Country". She played Vinnie in
The Donna Reed Show episode entitled "Everywhere That Mary Goes." Her first movie role was in
Beach Party (1963), and the next year, 1964, she played a part in an independent production,
Summer Children, made on
Catalina Island. It was never officially released. This was followed by
Muscle Beach Party and after that a film titled
Sex and the College Girl, which took place on
Puerto Rico. A third "island" film came in 1965 when she was chosen to play the unfaithful wife in
The Passionate Strangers, a Philippine production. Back in Hollywood, Valora joined the cast of
The War Wagon for a minimal role and appeared in guest roles in television shows including
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,
The Virginian,
Star Trek, and
Mannix as Cindy Gier in "Live Blueberries". Season 1 episode 7. Noland was also active as a photographer and, as
Valora Tree, authored the books
"Horse Stories", and
Water Lily Ponds, a volume of poetry. Noland died on March 27, 2022, at the age of 80 in
Sebastopol, California. ==Characters==