A Birthday Tribute to Virginia Grey

Lovely actress Virginia Grey was born in Los Angeles on March 22, 1917.

Grey was a beautiful and sensitive actress who never quite made the top rungs of stardom. She nonetheless had quite an interesting career, playing leads in "B" films and supporting roles in a variety of films, including Westerns and melodramas.

Grey began as a child actress late in the silent era, starting with playing Eva in UNCLE TOM'S CABIN (1927).

As a teenager she worked her way through the ranks as a Busby Berkeley chorine, a "B" Western leading lady, and in bit roles at MGM, where she spent several years. Among her '30s MGM roles was a small but memorable part as a department store salesgirl in THE WOMEN (1939).

As her career went on she returned to Westerns in roles opposite top cowboy actors including Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, and Bill Elliott. Her Westerns also included a supporting part in Audie Murphy's great NO NAME ON THE BULLET (1959). There's a terrific Mike Fitzgerald interview with Grey regarding her Western career at Western Clippings.

In the mid '40s her best roles included leads in a pair of "B" suspense films, STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT (1944) for Republic Pictures and SMOOTH AS SILK (1946) at Universal.

Later she was also in the well-regarded "B" crime films THE THREAT (1949) and HIGHWAY 301 (1950). Budd Boetticher's BULLFIGHTER AND THE LADY (1951) is another quite interesting film which appears in her long list of credits.

Grey continued working in supporting roles until the mid '70s, thanks in part to her friendships with producer Ross Hunter and actress Lana Turner, who regularly included her in the casts of their movies.

Offscreen Grey was an only child whose parents both died when she was quite young.

She had a relationship with Clark Gable in the '40s and has been said to have been devastated when he didn't propose. She never married.

Virginia Grey passed away in Woodland Hills on July 31, 2004, at the age of 87.

Virginia Grey may not have hit the heights of top stardom, but she left behind a very interesting and enjoyable body of work which continues to entertain audiences today.

One of my goals as a classic film enthusiast and a fan of Grey's work is to see all of her films. I've now seen around 30, but I have many more still to go!

Virginia Grey films reviewed at Laura's Miscellaneous Musings: FLIRTATION WALK ( 1934), DAMES (1934), GOLD DIGGERS OF 1935 (1935), TEST PILOT (1938), DRAMATIC SCHOOL (1938), RICH MAN, POOR GIRL (1938), ANOTHER THIN MAN (1939), THE HARDYS RIDE HIGH (1939), THE WOMEN (1939), IDIOT'S DELIGHT (1939), BROADWAY SERENADE (1939), HULLABALOO (1940), 3 CHEERS FOR THE IRISH (1940) (also here), WASHINGTON MELODRAMA (1941) GRAND CENTRAL MURDER (1942), STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT (1944), SMOOTH AS SILK (1946), WYOMING (1947), UNCONQUERED (1947), BULLFIGHTER AND THE LADY (1951), DESERT PURSUIT (1952), THE FIGHTING LAWMAN (1953), THE FORTY-NINERS (1954), ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS (1955), NO NAME ON THE BULLET (1959) (also here), PORTRAIT IN BLACK (1960), BACHELOR IN PARADISE (1961) (also here), MADAME X (1966), AIRPORT (1970).

And three years ago I paid tribute to Grey in my Western RoundUp column at Classic Movie Hub, where I briefly reviewed the "B" Western SECRET VALLEY (1937).

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