Virginia Pearson

Virginia Pearson

1886-03-07 – 1958-06-06 (age 72) Anchorage, Kentucky, USA
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Biography

From Wikipedia

Virginia Belle Pearson (March 7, 1886 - June 6, 1958) was an American stage and film actress. She made fifty-one films in a career which extended from 1910 until 1932.

Born in Anchorage, Kentucky, Pearson worked for a brief time as an assistant in the public library in Louisville, Kentucky after completing school. Pearson trained in the tradition of the stars of the American stage, and played in stock productions in Washington, D.C. and New York City. In New York she played the heroine in Hypocrisy, a story which laid bare "the shame of society." She was promoted by William Fox of Fox Film Corporation for the same kind of strong vamp parts as those played by Theda Bara. Among her movies is Blazing Love (1916), Wildness of Youth (1922), The Vital Question (1916), Sister Against Sister (1917), The Red Kimona (1925), Wizard of Oz (1925), and The Phantom of the Opera (1925).

In 1916 Pearson and her husband, movie actor Sheldon Lewis, severed their ties with the Virginia Pearson Producing Company. The couple affiliated themselves with the Independent Productions Company, capitalized at $1,000,000. In 1924 the couple were forced to declare bankruptcy. In 1928, Pearson was legally divorced from Lewis. At the time, it was considered bad box office for screen actresses to be married. However the two remained constant companions., and resided for many years at the old Hollywood Hotel. Later they lived at the Motion Picture Country Hom.

Virginia Pearson died of uremic poisoning in Hollywood on June 6, 1958 nearly a month to the day after Sheldon Lewis. She was 72. Funeral services were held at the Pierce Brothers Hollywood Chapel. She was buried with an unmarked grave in Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery.

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Known For

The Phantom of the Opera
Stolen Honor
Stolen Honor

1918

as Virginia Lake

The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz

1925

as Lady Vishuss

Back Street
Back Street

1932

as Minor Role (uncredited)

Thou Shalt Not Steal
Thou Shalt Not Steal

1917

as Mary Bruce

The War Bride's Secret
The War Bride's Secret

1916

as Jean MacDougal

The Firebrand
The Firebrand

1918

as Princess Natalya

Silence
Silence

1926

as Millie Burke

A Prince of a King
A Prince of a King

1923

as Queen Claudia

The Red Kimona
The Red Kimona

1925

as Mrs. Beverly Fontaine

The Love Auction
The Love Auction

1919

as Lea Montrose, Mrs. Vanderveer

Wrath of Love
Wrath of Love

1917

as Roma Winnet

Driven from Home
Wildness of Youth
Wildness of Youth

1922

as Louise Wesley

The Actress
The Actress

1928

as Mrs. Telfer

Smilin' Guns
Smilin' Guns

1929

as Mrs. van Smythe

Impossible Catherine
Impossible Catherine

1919

as Catherine Kimberly

All for a Husband
All for a Husband

1917

as Henrietta Downs

Lightning Hutch
Lightning Hutch

1926

as Janet Thornwall

The Primrose Path
The Primrose Path

1931

as Marie Randeau