- #Grave of virginia mayo movie#
- #Grave of virginia mayo professional#
- #Grave of virginia mayo series#
(1951), Warners most popular film of the year. She co-starred again with James Cagney and a young Doris Day in The West Point Story (1950), singing and dancing with Cagney, and was Gregory Peck's leading lady in Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. Mayo was top billed in the film noir Backfire (1950), and she was a huge hit in The Flame and the Arrow (1950) as Burt Lancaster's love interest. Roy Del Ruth borrowed her to play opposite George Raft in Red Light (1949) and she was Milton Berle's leading lady in Always Leave Them Laughing (1949). Mayo admitted she was frightened by Cagney as the psychotic gunman in White Heat because he was so realistic. Mayo received excellent reviews in another unsympathetic role, playing James Cagney's sultry and scheming wife in the gangster classic White Heat (1949), also for Walsh. They starred her in another film noir, Flaxy Martin (1949) with Zachary Scott, then she did a Western with Joel McCrea and director Raoul Walsh, Colorado Territory (1949), and a comedy with Ronald Reagan, The Girl from Jones Beach (1949). Warner Bros ended up taking over her contract from Goldwyn. Warner Bros Mayo in White Heat (1949) with James Cagney In between, Warners borrowed her for the lead in a film noir, Smart Girls Don't Talk (1948). Mayo was reunited with Kaye in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947), another big success, and A Song Is Born (1948), a box office disappointment. It was said that she "looked like a pinup painting come to life." According to widely published reports from the late 1940s, the Sultan of Morocco declared her beauty to be "tangible proof of the existence of God." Įagle-Lion Films borrowed her to play the lead in Out of the Blue (1947), a comedy with George Brent. At the zenith of her career, Mayo was seen as the quintessential voluptuous Hollywood beauty. Her performance drew favorable reviews from critics, as the film also became the highest-grossing film in the US since Gone with the Wind. Going against the previous stereotype, Mayo accepted the supporting role of unsympathetic gold-digger Marie Derry in William Wyler's drama The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) for Goldwyn. Goldwyn then made her Danny Kaye's leading lady for the musicals Wonder Man (1945) and The Kid from Brooklyn (1946), both very popular. It earned over $3 million at the box office.
Mayo's first starring role came in 1944 opposite comedian Bob Hope in The Princess and the Pirate (1944), a spoof of pirate movies made by Goldwyn. Then RKO borrowed her for a support role in a musical, Seven Days Ashore (1944). Mayo was placed in the chorus of the film Up in Arms just so she could learn, but she was never officially a member of the Goldwyn Girls. Her first notable role was in Jack London (1943), which starred her future husband Michael O'Shea for producer Samuel Bronston. Goldwyn only made a few films a year and usually loaned out the actors he had under contract to other producers.
#Grave of virginia mayo movie#
In the early 1940s, Virginia Mayo's talent and striking beauty came to the attention of movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn, who signed her to an acting contract with his company. In 1941, now officially known by her stage name Virginia Mayo, she got another career break as she appeared on Broadway with Eddie Cantor in Banjo Eyes. They appeared together in some short films and were a huge hit at Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe nightclub in the Broadway theater district, where she was spotted by Samuel Goldwyn. Mayo toured the American vaudeville circuit for three years, serving as ringmaster and comedic foil for "Pansy the Horse," as Mayo and his partner, Nonnie Morton, performed in a horse suit. Performer Andy Mayo, impressed with her ability, recruited her to appear in his act, " Morton and Mayo". Louis Municipal Opera Theatre (more commonly known as The Muny) and in an act with six other girls at the Hotel Jefferson.
#Grave of virginia mayo professional#
Vaudeville įollowing her graduation from Soldan High School in 1937, she landed her first professional acting and dancing jobs at the St.
#Grave of virginia mayo series#
She also had a series of dancing instructors engaged by her aunt. Louis area, which Virginia began attending at age six. Young Virginia's aunt operated an acting school in the St. Her family had roots back to the earliest days of St Louis, including great-great-great grandfather Captain James Piggott, who founded East St. Louis, Missouri, the daughter of newspaper reporter Luke and his wife, Martha Henrietta (née Rautenstrauch) Jones. She also co-starred in the 1946 Oscar-winning movie The Best Years of Our Lives and White Heat (1949). She was in a series of comedy films with Danny Kaye and was Warner Brothers' biggest box-office money-maker in the late 1940s. Virginia Mayo (born Virginia Clara Jones Novem– January 17, 2005) was an American actress and dancer.
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