Jump to content

Virginia Mayo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 23skidoo (talk | contribs) at 06:22, 18 January 2005 (added to 2005 deaths category). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
File:Mayo,color photo,1944.jpg
Virginia Mayo, 1944

Virginia Mayo (November 30 1920 - January 17 2005) was an American film actress.

Born in St. Louis, Missouri as Virginia Clara Jones, and tutored by a series of dancing instructors engaged by her aunt, she appeared in the St. Louis Municipal Opera chorus, then appeared with six other girls at an act at the Jefferson Hotel, where she was recruited by Andy Mayo to appear in his popular vaudeville act, as a ringmaster for two men in a horse suit. Virginia assumed the stage name of "Mayo" in the process. She appeared in Vaudeville for three years in the act, appearing with Eddie Cantor on Broadway in 1941's Banjo Eyes.

She continued her career as a dancer, then signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn and appeared in several of Goldwyn's movies. With Danny Kaye she made some successful comedies, including: Wonder Man (1945), The Kid from Brooklyn (1946) and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947).

In 1949's White Heat she gave one of her greatest performances as Verna Jarrett the wife of gangster Cody Jarrett (acted by James Cagney).

Also of interest is her role in The Best Years of Our Lives.

Through the 1950s and 1960s she ended up getting roles in B-movies, often westerns and adventure films, but also some musicals. Her singing voice was always dubbed.

Mayo got a star on the Walk of Fame for her work in Television. It can be found at 1751 Vine Street.

Selected Filmography

  • Jack London (1943)
  • The Princess and the Pirate (1944)
  • Wonder Man (1945)
  • The Kid from Brooklyn (1946)
  • The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
  • The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)
  • A Song Is Born (1948)
  • Smart Girls Don't Talk (1948)
  • Flaxy Martin (1949)
  • Colorado Territory (1949)
  • White Heat (1949)
  • Backfire (1950)
  • The Flame and the Arrow (1950)
  • Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. (1951)
  • Along the Great Divide (1951)
  • She's Working Her Way Through College (1952)
  • The Iron Mistress (1952)
  • She's Back on Broadway (1953)
  • King Richard and the Crusaders (1954)
  • The Silver Chalice (1954)
  • Pearl of the South Pacific (1955)
  • Great Day in the Morning (1956)
  • The Proud Ones (1956)
  • The Big Land (1957)
  • The Story of Mankind (1957)
  • The Tall Stranger (1957)
  • Fort Dobbs (1958)
  • Castle of Evil (1966)
  • French Quarter (1977)
  • The Haunted (1979)
  • The Man Next Door (1997)

External iinks

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Virginia_Mayo&oldid=9453121"