Virginia Bruce
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- September 29, 1910
- Died
- February 24, 1982 (aged 71)
- Birthplace
- Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Biography
Virginia Bruce (born Helen Virginia Briggs; September 29, 1910 – February 24, 1982) was an American actress and singer. Born Helen Virginia Briggs in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 1928, 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. She returned to Hollywood in 1932, where on August 10, 1932, she married John Gilbert, her co-star in the film Downstairs. She retired briefly after the birth of their daughter Susan Ann Gilbert. 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 co-starred in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical The Great Ziegfeld. One of her final film appearances was in Strangers When We Meet. In 1949, Bruce starred in a daily 30-minute radio drama. Make Believe Town was an afternoon program on CBS. 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. Together they had a son named Christopher (b. 1941), before Ruben's death in 1942. In 1946, Bruce 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 before divorcing again in 1964. Bruce died of cancer on February 24, 1982, at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. She was 71.
Known For
Photos
Filmography
Complicated Women
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
That's Entertainment!
Movie · as (archive footage) (uncredited)
Strangers When We Meet
Movie · as Mrs. Wagner
The Reluctant Bride
Movie · as Laura Weeks
Matinee Theater
TV · 1 ep
The Plague
Movie · as Nurse
General Electric Theater
TV · as Adele · 1 ep
Letter to Loretta
TV · as Dee Norman · 1 ep
Lux Video Theatre
TV · as Pauline Travis, Mildred Pierce, Jo Cathcart Archer · 1 ep
State Department: File 649
Movie · as Marge
Night Has a Thousand Eyes
Movie · as Jenny
Love, Honor and Goodbye
Movie · as Roberta Baxter
Action in Arabia
Movie · as Yvonne
Brazil
Movie · as Nicky Henderson
Careful, Soft Shoulders
Movie · as Connie Mathers
Butch Minds the Baby
Movie · as Susie O'Neill
Pardon My Sarong
Movie · as Joan Marshall
Adventure in Washington
Movie · as Jane Scott
The Invisible Woman
Movie · as Kitty Carroll
Hired Wife
Movie · as Phyllis Walden
Flight Angels
Movie · as Mary Norvell
The Man Who Talked Too Much
Movie · as Joan Reed
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
Movie · as Self
Let Freedom Ring
Movie · as Maggie Adams
Stronger Than Desire
Movie · as Elizabeth Flagg
Society Lawyer
Movie · as Pat Abbott
Hollywood Hobbies
Movie · as Self (uncredited)
Land of Liberty
Movie · as (archive footage)
There Goes My Heart
Movie · as Joan Butterfield
Arsène Lupin Returns
Movie · as Lorraine de Grissac
Yellow Jack
Movie · as Frances Blake
The First Hundred Years
Movie · as Lynn Conway
Woman Against Woman
Movie · as Maris Kent
There's That Woman Again
Movie · as Sally Reardon
Hollywood Goes to Town
Movie · as Self
Between Two Women
Movie · as Patricia Sloan
The Bad Man of Brimstone
Movie · as Loretta Douglas
Wife, Doctor and Nurse
Movie · as Nurse Stephens
Women of Glamour
Movie · as Gloria Hudson
When Love Is Young
Movie · as Wanda Werner
The Great Ziegfeld
Movie · as Audrey Dane
Born to Dance
Movie · as Lucy James
The Garden Murder Case
Movie · as Zalia Graem
The Murder Man
Movie · as Mary Shannon
Society Doctor
Movie · as Madge
Let 'em Have It
Movie · as Eleanor Spencer
Escapade
Movie · as Gerta
Shadow of Doubt
Movie · as Trenna
Metropolitan
Movie · as Anne Merrill
Times Square Lady
Movie · as Toni Bradley
Here Comes the Band
Movie · as Margaret
A Dream Comes True
Movie · as Herself (uncredited)
Pirate Party on Catalina Isle
Movie · as Virginia Bruce (uncredited)
The Mighty Barnum
Movie · as Jenny Lind
Dangerous Corner
Movie · as Ann Beale
Jane Eyre
Movie · as Jane Eyre
Winner Take All
Movie · as Joan Gibson
Kongo
Movie · as Ann
Downstairs
Movie · as Anna
The Miracle Man
Movie · as Margaret Thornton
Sky Bride
Movie · as Ruth Dunning
Raffles
Movie · as Gwen's Friend (uncredited)
The Social Lion
Movie · as Society Girl
Young Eagles
Movie · as Florence Welford
Follow Thru
Movie · as Woman in Ladies' Locker Room (uncredited)
Safety in Numbers
Movie · as Alma McGregor
Only the Brave
Movie · as Elizabeth
Whoopee!
Movie · as Goldwyn Girl (uncredited)
Paramount on Parade
Movie · as Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Slightly Scarlet
Movie · as Enid Corbett
Lilies of the Field
Movie · as Doris
Let's Go Native
Movie · as Wendell Sr.'s Secretary (uncredited)
Woman Trap
Movie · as Nurse
The River of Romance
Movie · as Southern Belle
Hard to Get
Movie · as Young Woman (uncredited)
Pointed Heels
Movie · as Chorus Girl (uncredited)
The Love Parade
Movie · as Lady-in-Waiting
Fugitives
Movie · as Extra (uncredited)