Virginia Bruce
| This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2009) |
| Virginia Bruce | |
|---|---|
Photographed for CBS Radio, 1948
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| Born | Helen Virginia Briggs September 29, 1910 Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Died | February 24, 1982 (aged 71) Woodland Hills, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress, singer |
| Years active | 1929–1981 |
| Spouse(s) | John Gilbert (m. 1932–34), divorced; 1 child J. Walter Ruben (m. 1937–42), his death; 1 child Ali Ipar (m. 1946–51), divorced Ali Ipar (m. 1952–64), divorced |
| Children | Susan Ann Gilbert (b. 1933) Christopher Ruben (b. 1941) |
Virginia Bruce (September 29, 1910 – February 24, 1982) was an American actress and singer.
Career[edit]
Born Helen Virginia Briggs in Minneapolis, Minnesota, she moved with her family to Los Angeles intending to enroll in the University of California, Los Angeles when a friendly wager sent her seeking film work. She got it as an extra in Why Bring That Up?. In 1930 she appeared on Broadway in the musical Smiles, followed by America's Sweetheart in 1931.[1]
She returned to Hollywood in 1932, where she married John Gilbert, her co-star in the film Downstairs. She retired briefly after the birth of their daughter Susan Ann Gilbert.[2] The couple divorced in 1934, and Virginia returned to a hectic schedule of film appearances. Gilbert died two years later in 1936.
Bruce introduced the Cole Porter standard "I've Got You Under My Skin" in the film Born to Dance and costarred in the MGM musical The Great Ziegfeld. One of her final film appearances was in Strangers When We Meet.[2]
In 1949, Bruce starred in a daily 30-minute radio drama. Make Believe Town was an afternoon program on CBS.[3]
Personal life and death[edit]
Bruce married her second husband, film director J. Walter Ruben, in 1937, making the Wallace Beery western The Bad Man of Brimstone with him that year, and they had a son named Christopher, but she was widowed in 1942. In 1946 she married Ali Ipar. They divorced in 1951 in order for him to receive a commission in the Turkish Military (which forbade promotions of men married to foreigners), but remarried in 1952, divorcing again in 1964.[citation needed]
Virginia Bruce died of cancer on February 24, 1982 in Woodland Hills, California.[2] She was 71.
Partial filmography[edit]
| Film | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
| 1929 | Fugitives | Bit Part | Uncredited | |
| Blue Skies | Party guest | Uncredited | ||
| The Love Parade | Lady-in-Waiting | Uncredited | ||
| Woman Trap | Nurse | |||
| 1930 | Whoopee! | Goldwyn Girl | Uncredited | |
| Let's Go Native | Chorus Girl | Uncredited | ||
| Paramount on Parade | Chorus Girl | Uncredited | ||
| Follow Thru | Bit in Ladies Locker Room | Uncredited | ||
| Slightly Scarlet | Enid Corbett | |||
| Lilies of the Field | Doris | |||
| 1931 | Hell Divers | Girl | Scenes deleted | |
| 1932 | The Miracle Man | Margaret Thornton | ||
| Downstairs | Anna | |||
| Kongo | Ann Whitehall | |||
| 1934 | Jane Eyre | Jane Eyre | ||
| The Mighty Barnum | Jenny Lind | |||
| 1935 | Shadow of Doubt | Trenna Plaice | ||
| Escapade | Gerta | |||
| The Murder Man | Mary Shannon | |||
| 1936 | The Great Ziegfeld | Audrey Dane | ||
| Born to Dance | Lucy James | |||
| 1937 | When Love Is Young | Wanda Werner | ||
| The Bad Man of Brimstone | Loretta Douglas | |||
| 1938 | Arsène Lupin Returns | Lorraine de Grissac | ||
| Yellow Jack | Frances Blake | |||
| There Goes My Heart | Joan Butterfield | |||
| 1939 | Society Lawyer | Pat Abbott | "Let Freedom Ring" | |
| Stronger Than Desire | Elizabeth Flagg | |||
| 1940 | Flight Angels | Mary Norvell | ||
| Hired Wife | Phyllis Walden | |||
| The Invisible Woman | Kitty Carroll | |||
| 1941 | Adventure in Washington | Jane Scott | Alternative title: Female Correspondent | |
| 1942 | Pardon My Sarong | Joan Marshall | ||
| Careful, Soft Shoulder | Connie Mathers | |||
| 1944 | Action in Arabia | Yvonne Danesco | ||
| Brazil | Nicky Henderson | Alternative title: Stars and Guitars | ||
| 1945 | Love, Honor and Goodbye | Roberta Baxter | ||
| 1948 | Night Has a Thousand Eyes | Jenny Courtland | ||
| 1949 | State Department: File 649 | Margaret "Marge" Weldon | Alternative title: Assignment in China | |
| 1954 | Salgin | Nurse | Alternative titles: Epidemic Istanbul |
|
| 1955 | Reluctant Bride | Laura Weeks | Alternative title: Two Grooms for a Bride | |
| 1960 | Strangers When We Meet | Mrs. Wagner | ||
| 1981 | Madame Wang's | Madame Wang | ||
| Television | ||||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
| 1953 | General Electric Theater | Adele | 1 episode | |
| 1955 | Letter to Loretta | Dee Norman | 1 episode | |
| Science Fiction Theatre | Dr. Myrna Griffin Jean Gordon |
2 episodes | ||
| 1957 | The Ford Television Theatre | Ruth Crest | 1 episode | |
References[edit]
- ^ Virginia Bruce at the Internet Broadway Database
- ^ a b c Virginia Bruce at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ "Ethel Merman, Virginia Bruce In Radio Dramas". Freeport Journal-Standard. July 30, 1949. p. 3. Retrieved May 3, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.

- Virginia Bruce: Under My Skin, 2008. (Biography by Scott O'Brien)
External links[edit]
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to Virginia Bruce. |
- Virginia Bruce at AllMovie
- Virginia Bruce at the TCM Movie Database
- Photographs of Virginia Bruce
- Virginia Bruce at Find a Grave
|
- 1910 births
- 1982 deaths
- American Methodists
- Ziegfeld girls
- Actresses from Minnesota
- American female singers
- American film actresses
- American radio actresses
- American memoirists
- American musical theatre actresses
- American television actresses
- Cancer deaths in California
- Actresses from Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Traditional pop music singers
- 20th-century American actresses
- 20th-century American singers