biography

Virginia Grey Born in Los Angeles on March 22, 1917, beautiful actress Virginia Grey was born into show business, as her father was silent film actor and director Ray Grey, who had been one of the Keystone Kops in the 1910s. When he passed away suddenly in 1925, Grey's mother went to work at Universal and began taking her young daughter to auditions. At the age of 10, Grey landed the role of Little Eva in the big-budget Universal epic Uncle Tom's Cabin (1927; with George Siegmann). Grey remained under contract to Universal until the onset of the Great Depression to help support her family. As a teenager she worked infrequently in films (often in small, uncredited roles) at a variety of studios. By the time Grey graduated from high school, she was signed by MGM and her career picked up steam. The studio cast Grey in several short subjects, and at 20 years old, she was starring in a number of MGM second features, including Bad Guy (1937; with Bruce Cabot), and was cast in supporting roles in 'A' pictures, such as Rosalie (1937; with Eleanor Powell and Nelson Eddy).

Virginia Grey
After the comedies The Big Store (1941; with the Marx Brothers) and Whistling in the Dark (1941; with Red Skelton), Grey left MGM in 1942, following her appearance in Tarzan's New York Adventure (1942; with Johnny Weissmuller and Johnny Sheffield). She then moved to Republic, starring in a number of westerns including Bells of Capistrano (1942; with Gene Autry) and Idaho (1943; with Roy Rogers) and the noir thriller Secrets of the Underground (1942; with John Hubbard). Unhappy with Republic's offerings, she moved on and freelanced from the mid 1940s through the 1960s acting in such diverse films as the Universal horror film House of Horrors (1946; with Robert Lowery and Rondo Hatton), the romance Glamour Girl (1948; with Gene Krupa), the comedy Mexican Hayride (1948; with Bud Abbott and Lou Costello), and the sci-fi thriller Target Earth (1954; with Richard Denning).


the films of virginia grey

The Captain is a Lady (1940)

Dan Dailey, Virginia Grey, and Helen Westley

From the MGM comedy The Captain is a Lady with Dan Dailey and Helen Westley

Blonde Inspiration (1941)

Charles Butterworth, John Shelton, Virginia Grey, and Albert DekkerJohn Shelton, Marion Martin, and Virginia Grey

From the MGM comedy Blonde Inspiration. LEFT: With Charles Butterworth, John Shelton, and Albert Dekker. RIGHT: With John Shelton and Marion Martin

Blonde Ransom (1945)

Bill Davidson, Pinky Lee, Donald Cook, Collette Lyons, and Virginia Grey

With Bill Davidson, Pinky Lee, Donald Cook, and Collette Lyons in the Universal drama Blonde Ransom

Grissly's Millions (1945)

Paul Kelly, Elisabeth Risdon, and Virginia Grey

With Paul Kelly and Elisabeth Risdon in Republic's film noir release Grissly's Millions

Smooth as Silk (1946)

Virginia GreyVirginia Grey

Gorgeous Grey plays the femme fatale in the Universal film noir release Smooth as Silk

Jungle Jim (1948)

Lita Baron, Johnny Weissmuller, and Virginia Grey

From Columbia's Jungle Jim with Lita Baron and Johnny Weissmuller

So This Is New York (1948)

Rudy Vallee, Dona Drake, Henry Morgan, and Virginia Grey

From the comedy So This Is New York with Rudy Vallee, Dona Drake, and Henry Morgan

The Threat (1949)

Virginia Grey

From the RKO film noir thriller The Threat

Highway 301 (1950)

Virginia Grey and Steve CochranVirginia Grey, Steve Cochran, and Gaby Andre

From the Warner Bros. film noir thriller Highway 301 with Steve Cochran and Gaby Andre

Bullfighter and the Lady (1951)

Virginia Grey

Portrait of Grey from the Republic drama Bullfighter and the Lady

Bachelor in Paradise (1961)

Janis Paige, Virginia Grey, and Paula Prentiss

With Janis Paige and Paula Prentiss in MGM's Bob Hope vehicle Bachelor in Paradise

Tammy Tell Me True (1961)

Virginia Grey

From the Universal comedy Tammy Tell Me True

Madame X (1966)

Virginia Grey

Grey appeared in many Ross Hunter productions; the drama Madame X starred Lana Turner in her last big picture

later years


Virginia Grey and Lana Turner
Rumored to have dated and considered marrying Clark Gable, with whom she appeared in several films including Test Pilot (1938) and Idiot's Delight (1939), Grey never married. Yet she was very popular and dated often; she and Robert Taylor were an item in the early 1950s. She had many friends in Hollywood, most notably producer Ross Hunter, who had a role for Grey many of his films, and her best friend and frequent costar Lana Turner, with whom she made six films. Her film career was strongest in the 1940s and 1950s. Beginning in 1950, as film production began to slide among the bigger studios, she made numerous appearances on popular TV programs, including Wagon Train, Playhouse 90, and The Red Skelton Show. While Grey had never been a big star, she worked often and was careful with her earnings, allowing her to retire while in her 50s. Her final theatrically released film was Airport (1970; with Burt Lancaster). Her swansong came with a final role in the TV miniseries Arthur Hailey's the Moneychangers (1976; with Kirk Douglas and Joan Collins). The still-beautiful Grey enjoyed a long retirement. Sadly, she passed away at the Motion Picture and Television Retirement Home on July 31, 2004, at age 87. Grey was survived by a sister.

filmography

FILM
The Lives of Jenny Dolan (1975) with Shirley Jones, Stephen Boyd, James Darren, Farley Granger, George Grizzard, Charles Drake, and Dana Wynter
Airport (1970) with Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Jacqueline Bisset, George Kennedy, Helen Hayes, Van Heflin, Dana Wynter, and Barbara Hale
Rosie! (1967) with Rosalind Russell, Sandra Dee, Brian Aherne, Audrey Meadows, James Farentino, Leslie Nielsen, Margaret Hamilton, and Juanita Moore
Madame X (1966) with Lana Turner, John Forsythe, Ricardo Montalban, Burgess Meredith, Warren Stevens, Constance Bennett, and Keir Dullea
Love Has Many Faces (1965) with Lana Turner, Cliff Robertson, Hugh O'Brian, Ruth Roman, and Stefanie Powers
The Naked Kiss (1964) with Anthony Eisley, Constance Towers, Michael Dante, Patsy Kelly, and Betty Bronson
Black Zoo (1963) with Michael Gough, Jeanne Cooper, Edward Platt, Jerome Cowan, and Elisha Cook Jr.
Flower Drum Song (1961) with Nancy Kwan, James Shigeta, and Jack Soo
Bachelor in Paradise (1961) with Bob Hope, Lana Turner, Janis Paige, Jim Hutton, Paula Prentiss, Don Porter, and Agnes Moorehead
Back Street (1961) with Susan Hayward, John Gavin, Vera Miles, Charles Drake, and Natalie Schafer
Tammy Tell Me True (1961) with Sandra Dee, John Gavin, Charles Drake, Julia Meade, Cecil Kellaway, Edgar Buchanan, Gigi Perreau, and Juanita Moore
Portrait in Black (1960) with Lana Turner, Anthony Quinn, Richard Basehart, Sandra Dee, John Saxon, Ray Walston, Anna May Wong, and Lloyd Nolan
No Name on the Bullet (1959) with Audie Murphy, Charles Drake, Joan Evans, Warren Stevens, and Willis Bouchey
The Restless Years (1958) with John Saxon, Sandra Dee, Luana Patten, Jody McCrea, Hayden Rorke, and James Whitmore
Jeanne Eagels (1957) with Kim Novak, Jeff Chandler, Charles Drake, and Agnes Moorehead
Crime of Passion (1957) with Barbara Stanwyck, Sterling Hayden, Raymond Burr, Stuart Whitman, and Fay Wray
Accused of Murder (1956) with David Brian, Vera Ralston, Sidney Blackmer, Warren Stevens, Lee Van Cleef, and Elisha Cook Jr.
All That Heaven Allows (1956) with Jane Wyman, Rock Hudson, Agnes Moorehead, Gloria Talbott, William Reynolds, Charles Drake, Hayden Rorke, and Leigh Snowden
The Rose Tattoo (1955) with Anna Magnani, Burt Lancaster, Ben Cooper, and Jo Van Fleet
The Last Command (1955) with Sterling Hayden, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Richard Carlson, Ernest Borgnine, J. Carrol Naish, Ben Cooper, John Russell, and Jim Davis
The Eternal Sea (1955) with Sterling Hayden, Alexis Smith, Dean Jagger, Hayden Rorke, and Ben Cooper
Hurricane at Pilgrim Hill (1954) with Clem Bevans, Cecil Kellaway, and Billy Gray
Target Earth (1954) with Richard Denning, Kathleen Crowley, Richard Reeves, and Whit Bissell
The Forty-Niners (1954) with Bill Elliott and Harry Morgan
Captain Scarface (1953) with Barton MacLane and Leif Erickson
The Fighting Lawman (1953) with Wayne Morris and Myron Healey
A Perilous Journey (1953) with Vera Ralston, David Brian, Scott Brady, Hope Emerson, Leif Erickson, and Veda Ann Borg
Desert Pursuit (1952) with Wayne Morris, Anthony Caruso, George Tobias, and Gloria Talbott
Slaughter Trail (1951) with Brian Donlevy, Gig Young, Andy Devine, Robert Hutton, and Myron Healey
Bullfighter and the Lady (1951) with Robert Stack, Gilbert Roland, and Katy Jurado
Three Desperate Men (1951) with Preston Foster, Jim Davis, Monte Blue, and Sid Melton
Highway 301 (1950) with Steve Cochran, Gaby Andre, and Richard Egan
The Threat (1949) with Michael O'Shea, Charles McGraw, and Julie Bishop
Mexican Hayride (1948) with Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
Miraculous Journey (1948) with Rory Calhoun
So This Is New York (1948) with Henry Morgan, Rudy Vallee, Hugh Herbert, Leo Gorcey, Jerome Cowan, and Bill Williams
Jungle Jim (1948) with Johnny Weissmuller, George Reeves, and Lita Baron
Leather Gloves (1948) with Cameron Mitchell and Blake Edwards
Unknown Island (1948) with Richard Denning and Ray 'Crash' Corrigan
Who Killed Doc Robbin? (1948) with George Zucco
Glamour Girl (1948) with Noel Neill
Unconquered (1947) with Gary Cooper, Paulette Goddard, Boris Karloff, Lloyd Bridges, Cecil Kellaway, Ward Bond, and Katherine DeMille
Wyoming (1947) with Bill Elliott, Vera Ralston, Gabby Hayes, and Albert Dekker
Smooth as Silk (1946) with Kent Taylor and Milburn Stone
Swamp Fire (1946) with Johnny Weissmuller and Buster Crabbe
House of Horrors (1946) with Robert Lowery and Rondo Hatton
Blonde Ransom (1945) with Pinky Lee and Jerome Cowan
Men in Her Diary (1945) with Jon Hall, Peggy Ryan, and Louise Allbritton
Flame of Barbary Coast (1945) with John Wayne, Ann Dvorak, and William Frawley
Grissly's Millions (1945) with Paul Kelly and Grady Sutton
Strangers in the Night (1944)
Sweet Rosie O'Grady (1943) with Betty Grable, Robert Young, and Adolphe Menjou
Idaho (1943) with Roy Rogers and Smiley Burnette
Secrets of the Underground (1942)
Tish (1942) with Marjorie Main and Zasu Pitts
Bells of Capistrano (1942) with Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, and Morgan Conway
Tarzan's New York Adventure (1942) with Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O'Sullivan, Johnny Sheffield, Charles Bickford, Paul Kelly, and Chill Wills
Grand Central Murder (1942) with Van Heflin, Stephen McNally, and Tom Conway
Mr. and Mrs. North (1942) with Gracie Allen, Paul Kelly, and Tom Conway
Whistling in the Dark (1941) with Red Skelton, Conrad Veidt, Ann Rutherford, and Eve Arden
The Big Store (1941) with the Marx Brothers, Tony Martin, and Margaret Dumont
Washington Melodrama (1941) with Frank Morgan, Ann Rutherford, Kent Taylor, Dan Dailey, and Anne Gwynne
Blonde Inspiration (1941) with Albert Dekker
Keeping Company (1940) with Frank Morgan, Ann Rutherford, Dan Dailey, and Gloria DeHaven
Hullabaloo (1940) with Frank Morgan, Dan Dailey, and Billie Burke
The Golden Fleecing (1940) with Lew Ayres, Lloyd Nolan, Nat Pendleton, Leon Errol, and Ralph Byrd
The Captain Is a Lady (1940) with Charles Coburn, Beulah Bondi, Helen Broderick, Billie Burke, Dan Dailey, and Marjorie Main
Three Cheers for the Irish (1940) with Priscilla Lane, Thomas Mitchell, Dennis Morgan, Irene Hervey, and William Lundigan
Another Thin Man (1939) with William Powell, Myrna Loy, Otto Kruger, Nat Pendleton, and Tom Neal
Thunder Afloat (1939) with Wallace Beery and Chester Morris
The Women (1939) with Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, Paulette Goddard, Joan Fontaine, Marjorie Main, Hedda Hopper, and Mary Beth Hughes
The Hardys Ride High (1939) with Mickey Rooney, Lewis Stone, Fay Holden, and Ann Rutherford
Broadway Serenade (1939) with Jeanette MacDonald and Lew Ayres
Idiot's Delight (1939) with Norma Shearer, Clark Gable, Charles Coburn, and Burgess Meredith
Dramatic School (1938) with Luise Rainer, Paulette Goddard, Lana Turner, Gale Sondergaard, Melville Cooper, and Ann Rutherford
Youth Takes a Fling (1938) with Joel McCrea
Rich Man, Poor Girl (1938) with Robert Young, Lew Ayres, and Lana Turner
Ladies in Distress (1938)
Test Pilot (1938) with Clark Gable, Myrna Loy, Spencer Tracy, Lionel Barrymore, Marjorie Main, and Gloria Holden
Rosalie (1937) with Nelson Eddy, Eleanor Powell, Ray Bolger, and Ilona Massey
Bad Guy (1937) with Bruce Cabot
Secret Valley (1937) with Richard Arlen
Old Hutch (1936) with Wallace Beery
Misbehaving Ladies (1931) with Lila Lee, Ben Lyon, and Louise Fazenda
The Michigan Kid (1928) with Conrad Nagel
Uncle Tom's Cabin (1927)

TELEVISION GUEST APPEARANCES
Love, American Style, episode Love and the Hand Maiden/Love and the Hot Spell/Love and the Laughing Lover/Love and the Perfect Set-Up, originally aired February 2, 1973
Marcus Welby, M.D., episode Rebel Doctor, originally aired April 14, 1970
Ironside, episode The Challenge, originally aired February 8, 1968
I Spy, episode Magic Mirror, originally aired March 15, 1967
My Three Sons, episode Fly Away Home, originally aired September 22, 1966
The Virginian, episode Nobody Said Hello, originally aired January 5, 1966
Burke's Law, episode Who Killed What's His Name?, originally aired January 17, 1964
The Red Skelton Hour, episode Advice to the Loveworn, originally aired February 19, 1963
The Christophers, episode Lift Up Your Eyes, originally aired February 3, 1963
Bonanza, episode The Artist, originally aired October 7, 1962
The Red Skelton Hour, episode Somebody Up There Should Stay There, originally aired September 25, 1962
The Red Skelton Hour, episode Appleby's Anniversary, originally aired January 16, 1962
Peter Gunn, episode Death Is a Four Letter Word, originally aired June 5, 1961
Wagon Train, episode The Beth Pearson Story, originally aired February 22, 1961
Stagecoach West, episode Life Sentence, originally aired December 6, 1960
The Red Skelton Hour, episode George Appleby's Time Machine, originally aired November 15, 1960
The DuPont Show with June Allyson, episode Slip of the Tongue, originally aired April 11, 1960
The Red Skelton Hour, episode Freddie in Las Vegas, originally aired January 19, 1960
G.E. True Theater, episode R.S.V.P., originally aired January 10, 1960
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, episode The Day the Town Stood Up, originally aired October 2, 1959
The David Niven Show, episode Good Deed, originally aired July 7, 1959
Yancy Derringer, episode V as in Voodoo, originally aired May 14, 1959
Wagon Train, episode The Kate Parker Story, originally aired May 6, 1959
U.S. Marshal, episode Grandfather, originally aired February 21, 1959
The Red Skelton Hour, episode Clem, the Interior Decorator, originally aired December 16, 1958
Trackdown, episode Trapped, originally aired October 10, 1958
Playhouse 90, episode The Great Gatsby, originally aired June 28, 1958
Wagon Train, episode The Major Adams Story: Parts 1 and 2, originally aired April 23 and 30, 1958
Goodyear Theatre, episode Taps for Jeffrey, originally aired March 31, 1958
Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre, episode A Guilty Woman, originally aired January 30, 1958
Wagon Train, episode The Honorable Don Charlie Story, originally aired January 22, 1958
The Millionaire, episode The Marjorie Martinson Story, originally aired January 8, 1958
The Red Skelton Hour, episode Appleby's Cake, originally aired October 15, 1957
Schlitz Playhouse, episode Easy Going Man, originally aired August 2, 1957
The Christophers, episode Two Worlds of Ann Foster, originally aired May 19, 1957
The Red Skelton Hour, episode Bolivar's Double, originally aired April 23, 1957
Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre, episode The Wildcatter, originally aired March 19, 1957
The Red Skelton Hour, episode Appleby's House, originally aired March 19, 1957
Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre, episode A Point of Law, originally aired December 18, 1956
The Red Skelton Hour, episode Appleby's Millions, originally aired November 13, 1956
Ethel Barrymore Theater, episode General Delivery, originally aired October 26, 1956
Climax!, episode Spin Into Darkness, originally aired April 5, 1956
The 20th Century-Fox Hour, episode Crack-Up, originally aired February 8, 1956
Chevron Hall of Stars, episode The Lone Hand, originally aired January 1, 1956
Science Fiction Theatre, episode The Water Maker, originally aired November 4, 1955
The Red Skelton Hour, episode Halloween Show, originally aired November 1, 1955
The Millionaire, episode The Iris Miller Story, originally aired October 19, 1955
Fireside Theatre, episode The 99th Day, originally aired May 31, 1955
Fireside Theatre, episode No Captain Material, originally aired January 25, 1955
Fireside Theatre, episode Three Missions West, originally aired November 30, 1954
Four Star Playhouse, episode The Bad Streak, originally aired January 14, 1954
Waterfront, episode Tailor-Made Trouble, originally aired January 1, 1954
The Ford Television Theatre, episode Tangier Lady, originally aired October 1, 1953
The Ford Television Theatre, episode The Lady and the Champ, originally aired May 7, 1953
G.E. True Theater, episode Winners Never Lose, originally aired March 15, 1953
The Ford Television Theatre, episode They Also Serve, originally aired January 1, 1953
Four Star Playhouse, episode Dante's Inferno, originally aired October 9, 1952
The Unexpected, episode The Professional Touch, originally aired May 21, 1952
The Magnavox Theatre, episode The Hurricane at Pilgrim Hill, originally aired December 8, 1950

virginia grey trailers now showing

Watch the trailer for Virginia Grey's 1942 noir thriller Grand Central Murder

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Watch Virginia Grey's 1946 horror flick House of Horrors
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This page premiered July 22, 2004.
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