West was born Roland Van Zimmer to a theatrical family in Cleveland, Ohio, he began acting in vaudeville productions as a teenager. By his early twenties, he was writing and directing vaudeville productions. \n', '

Shortly afterward, he began directing films such as The Monster (1925) with Lon Chaney, The Bat (1926) based on the novel by Mary Roberts Rinehart (dramatized on stage by Rinehart and Avery Hopwood), Alibi (1929) for which he nominated for Academy Award for Best Picture, The Bat Whispers (1930) (also based on the Rinehart novel and play), and Corsair (1931). \n', "

So established was West by 1930, that The Bat Whispers was billed on posters as Roland West's The Bat Whispers. However, he made only one more film in his career.\n", '

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